Six on Saturday: 27/6/20

Tags

Crocosmia Lucifer, Echinacea Delicious Candy, hemerocallis Little Grapette, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, Nigella papillosa African Bride, Sisyrinchium Quaint and Queer, six on saturday

The month of June is progressing too quickly for my liking. I want it to slow a little so we can savour the summer, the long hours of daylight, the weather. It’s been said before but I for one would like an endless summer.

Maybe not if it is 31 degrees though!

My six today to share with you and our host The Propagator are a snapshot of the season in my garden.

Sisyrinchium Quaint and Queer

These tiny flowers are a favourite of mine not least because they are quaint and definitely a queer colour. Don’t be distracted by the foliage, that is from a neighbouring box plant. Q&Q has typical strap leaves of a Sisyrinchium.

Nigella papillosa African Bride

Grown from seed these are much bigger than a regular Nigella. My new favourite I think. Good white petals and dark black centres. Good in a vase.

Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle

The flower heads on the Hydrangeas have suddenly grown and are even beginning to colour up from their starting green. They are growing under Vitis coignetiae Crimson Glory vine and next to Geranium Johnson’s Blue. Such pleasing shades of green.

Crocosmia Lucifer

Crocosmia Lucifer is a devil to grow. See what I did there?!

This is about my third attempt in various gardens. Finally I seem to have cracked it here: sunny open position and well drained soil. In a raised bed it seems happy returning for this it’s third summer.

Stipa tenuissima Penstemon Garnet and Crocosmia Lucifer

Hemerocallis also are doing well and flowering beautifully right now.

Hemerocallis Little Grapette

This is a useful front of border sized Hemerocallis in a rich dark grape colour looking properly juicy with raindrops this morning.

Echinacea Delicious Candy

I love a daisy and the Echinacea Delicious Candy are no exception to that pretty daisy look. This one is an especially vibrant pink. Smaller in stature than E purpurea but seriously more colourful. Echinacea like the open position my garden offers and need elbow room to flower well.

These are my six. I hope you have an enjoyable weekend wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: midsummer

Tags

Aeoniums, Alchemilla mollis, Catalpa pulverulentum, David Austin Roses, Dianthus carthusianorum, lilies, Rose 'Gertrude Jekyll', six on saturday, speckled Indian bean tree, supermarket plants, variegated Indian bean tree

After the deluge the last couple of days I can almost hear the garden sighing in relief. I am joining The Propagator our host for this meme of six things in the garden on a Saturday. Simple. Do join in. Take a look at his blog for details.

Come into the garden with me

Firstly the roses are coming into their own. Rose Gertrude Jekyll smells divine and in early light her colour sings.

Rose Gertrude Jekyll

Another pink ( I did not realise I had chosen as much pink as this, I don’t think of myself as a pinky sort of girl).

Lily the pink the pink the pink

Unscented these supermarket bulbs were popped in a few years ago. Normally I get half a dozen to enjoy . Alas this year, the lily beetle has eaten the rest to a stump.

To counter all the pink I like Alchemilla mollis. As an edging it is delightful and I allow it to seed around. The chartreuse colour is great when against pink.

Alchemilla mollis

Another similar shade of green is from the foliage of the variegated Indian bean tree species Catalpa pulverulentum.

Catalpa pulverulentum

The leaves had started to emerge and then they were hit by the late frost. I won’t lie but I was rather worried that I might have lost it. Thankfully new leaves have emerged and it is looking gorgeous.

Back to more pinks and it seems I really do like them after all. This time Dianthus.

Dianthus Carthusianorum

I love this Dianthus for its tall willowy habit that blends so well with Verbena bonariensis.

Aeonium corner

In the run up to my open garden last year, I received over 30 Aeoniums which had been generously donated. ( Thank you Anthony if you are reading). I sold some entire plants on the day and lots and lots of cuttings. I have overwintered the leftovers in the house and taken cuttings to grow on for further sales. As I have had to cancel my prearranged openings I shall grow them on for another year. Now outside I have created a little collection.

These are my Six for today. I hope you have a good weekend and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: 30/5/20

Tags

Allium christophii, allium schubertii, clematis Annabelle, clematis Arabella, nigella, penstemon, Sambucus Nigra, six on saturday

It is 1800hrs and I have quickly taken some pictures in the garden. The light is still too bright for good photos but unless I leave things for another two or three hours, there will be no discernible difference. May has officially been the driest on record and we have had the sunniest Spring since 1929.

Joining our host The Propagator and other bloggers from round and about, here are my quick six for this, the last Saturday in May.

Nigella and Allium christophii

The Allium Purple sensation has finished and the A christophii are stepping up next. A steely or metallic looking pale purple, these are bigger than Purple Sensation but shorter. In the foreground is the first of my Nigellas.

Allium christophii

Nigella

I love annuals. I love it when they self seed and appear where they choose. One packet of seed, costing a couple of quid can give years of joy.

Penstemon

I thought my garden might be too cold, too exposed and too heavy for these lovely perennials. Planted in a raised bed to help drainage I leave it long and shaggy all winter, resisting the urge to tidy up until April. Dark claret bells are quietly forming. Yay!

Sambucus Black Lace

This is a shrub I would not be without. I love the deeply divided, dark foliage, the froth of flowers and dark berries. To encourage more foliage, I cut it back by a third each spring.

black lace

Clematis Annabelle

I have admired herbaceous clematis for many years and finally I have introduced Arabella into my borders. Rather than climbing, she will scramble through the borders. Neat, tidy, single, purple flowers. I am so pleased to introduce this to my garden. From Westcountry Nurseries (north Devon) ltd.

Clematis Arabella AGM

Another Allium, this time Allium schubertii .

Allium schubertii

I love this bonkers Allium. Arms waving like a conductor leading his orchestra.

I hope you have a good weekend wherever you are and thanks for reading. Stay safe. D.

Six on Saturday: 23/5/20

Tags

Allium siculum, bearded iris, David Austin Roses, Erigeron karvinskianus, Hosta Big Daddy, Hosta Sum and Substance, Iris Midnight Caller, Mexican fleabane, Nectarscordium siculum, Rose 'Gertrude Jekyll', Sicilian honey garlic, six on saturday, weather, woottensplants.com

The weather. May is proving to be a tough month weather wise. Nighttime frosts followed by hot dry summer days and now winds of 19mph. The consequences can be seen all over: new foliage which was burned by the frost has now dried and died back. Damage is on most things from the tips of the Ash trees to shrubs, roses and iris. I have started watering as if it is mid July and this morning I have dragged hostas into the garage to give them shelter from the battering wind.

I especially hate the wind. My garden is very exposed as there really is not much more than open fields between it and the Chilterns. Consequently when it blows it really is damaging. My six today starts with my two hostas now cowering in the garage.

Hosta Sum & Substance

These dinner plate sized leaves do not take kindly to 19mph wind. I can see some of the leaves have been bent and this will spoil their handsome form.

Hosta Big Daddy

Now parked under cover Big Daddy is also suffering. The edge of some of it leaves are browning from the wind and from the earlier cold snap.

Not troubled by the heat the cold or the wind is Fleabane. Erigeron Karvinskianus has self sown around the drive, it is everywhere. I do love a daisy so it generally is allowed to stay.

Erigeron

My roses were subjected to standing in water for almost three months this winter into spring. I feared I may have lost them, especially those in the blue clay borders. Phew they have just started flowering. This is the opening Gertrude Jekyll rose. Rich pink with the most heavenly rose scent. It is mega prickly and that is her main failing. No issue with pest or disease a David Austin gem.

Rose Gertrude Jekyll

I love to see Alliums after the Tulips and thankfully they do well in my garden. My favourite is perhaps this one for its hanging lantern flowers which the bees literally disappear into. Allium siculum.

Nectarscordium siculum
Sicilian honey garlic

At the garden where I work the soil is thin over chalk. Free draining, the contrast to my own garden couldn’t be more different. Here I can grow bearded iris as they must have full sun and sharp drainage. The Iris are looking fabulous this year thanks to a great deal of splitting and dividing last year. The pale ones look extra special thanks to the addition of the near black Iris Midnight Caller from Woottens nursery, a specialism of theirs.

These are my six for this week. Joining our host The Propagator and bloggers from all over.

Have a great long weekend, stay home, stay safe and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: win some, lose some 16 May 20

Tags

Aquilegias, Cercis candanensis, crimson glory vine, David Austin Roses, digitalis, fig, fiscus Brown Turkey, Forest pansy, foxgloves, frost damage, Rose Morning Mist, six on saturday, Vitis coignetiae

We had overnight surface frosts this week. Darn it. Some plants sadly have lost their new foliage and are looking a tad sick and sorry. My six this week share those plus a couple of better sights. Joining The Propagator and others from around the globe with my six this Saturday.

Rose ‘Morning Mist’

A single rose with a gentle rose scent

This rose, a David Austin climber is against a south facing wall and has got away unharmed. So far, so lovely.

Foxgloves have started to open. Digitalis purpurea. Common as they come, they are tough and appear to have shrugged off the cold without a second glance. I rather like these against the backdrop of the Acer palmatum and Sambucus niger.

Aquilegias

These Aquilegias are undeterred by the cold. They are continuing to open their bonnets and I love seeing their long ‘straps’ behind them.

Now for the ugly. Brace.

Here are the baby leaves of the Vitis coignetiae

Not looking either Crimson or glory, this poor vine has taken a hammering.

Then there’s the Forest pansy.

Cercis candanensis

Ouch, that’s got to hurt. New leaves burnt to a black crisp. I hope the damage will not be long term but I am not sure.

Oh fig

This poor thing has turned up its leaves and blackened its fruit. Curtains for fruit this year.

That is my six. Some good, some bad. Have a good week wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: 9 May 2020

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, Allium shubertii, digitalis, foxgloves, geranium macorrhizum, Iris Sibirica, six on saturday

May is a month of great promise. It is also a phenomenally busy month. Perhaps I should rephrase that, a busy month for growing plants. Tender plants are desperate to get outside yet sudden cold nights could kill them off. Consequently there is a seemingly perpetual motion of succulents between the house and the garden.

The same can be said for pelargoniums and any other bedding plants. They need to be growing, given space, soil and light but the nights might burn them. Inside they remain for a few more weeks.

Half hardy annuals can be hardened off before going into the ground. There is watering to be done, grass to be cut and never ending weeding. The weeds are loving the warming soil, the lengthening daylight hours and it is good practice to keep on top of the blighters before they set seed.

In between all the shuffling of plants I am taking time to look at what is happening all on its own. Just growing quietly, flowering or budding these are my six to share with you and our host The Propagator this week.

Fantastic Foxgloves

I hope that these are white foxgloves as I cast some seed a couple of years ago. How eager they look, reaching up and up to the sunshine.

Allium schubertii

I purchased three, yes three fat bulbs, three years ago. I seem to remember they cost about £7 which seemed rather a lot for just three bulbs. Yet what great value they turned out to be as I have three magnificent, bonkers flowers coming again.

Allium Purple Sensation

Alliums have rather ugly leaves which get tatty and brown. The flower heads are loved by everyone. Grown in between shrubs such as Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ the leaves are not seen and the flower heads stand clear above the foliage ready to be admired.

Pink ground cover

Ground cover can be tricky when creating a new border. The geranium family are one of my favourite, go to ground cover plants. The pink flowers here are small and insignificant but en masse they dominate the soil between the line of Euphorbia amygdaloides purpurea and and Aquilegias. This is Geranium macorrhizum It copes with my heavy clay soil very well.

Iris sibirica

Another happy plant is Iris sibirica. These were tight buds as recently as yesterday but the warm sunshine has encouraged them to open. I would have liked them to have staggered the opening so that I might enjoy them for a little longer. No matter, I am enjoying them now.

Iris

This Iris was a gift from Sandra. I am so thrilled to have this beauty in the garden. I adore its colour and markings and it too has opened today in this incredibly lovely weather.

Zebra stripes and rainbow shades

These are my six to share this Saturday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are. Thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: 2 May 2020

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, asiatic lilies, buxus, Cercis canadensis, Foeniculum vulgare purpureum, Forest pansy, forget me nots, Hebe hulkeana, May, myosotis sylvatica, New Zealand lilac, Purple fennel, Sambucus Nigra, six on saturday, Sweet cicely, Thalictrum Elin

Forget me not

Do you feel a little bit like I am feeling? I feel as though we didn’t really ‘have’ an April. The days and weeks of lockdown are merging and although we did have some standout weather, we strangely haven’t been anywhere or seen anyone. It might be that May is going to be the same. Weird.

That said, the garden is making rapid progress now. The warm weather, the rain and longer daylight hours are creating a massive growth spurt. If we were going places and seeing people we might have missed the detail of this happening. My six today reflect the changes.

Above is a carpet of forget me nots, drifting across the ground, encircling the box ball ( loosely ball shape). By next week they will need ripping out as they begin to set seed. The space they leave behind will be perfect for annuals.

New Zealand Lilac and fennel

The fennel has doubled in size since last week and the NZ Lilac which is not a lilac at all is starting to open. It has no scent to enjoy which is disappointing but it’s flowers are very pretty.

Sweet cicely, purple cow parsley, flowering Thalictrum and Sambucus

The froth from umbellifers has filled out more. The Thalictrum has opened its pinky flowers and the sweet cicely has opened more flowers. The dark divided foliage of the Sambucus is contrasting in a pleasing fashion with the divided foliage of the the green and white sweet cicely.

Emerging lilies

I really like the dark pointy leaves on the spines of lilies. These flower well each year and are a very very dark maroon lily. On the lookout for the orange lily beetle so far so good.

Alliums are opening offering purple clusters of star shaped flowers to make a globe. They are a splash of interest, a layer of colour after the tulips and before the Hydrangeas flower.

Looking through to the seating area

Looking through the emerging red heart shaped foliage of the Forest Pansy. My favourite shrub/tree. It’s petals dropped in the rain but still the beautiful foliage is emerging.

These are my six for this Saturday joining our host The Propagator and other bloggers from around the globe.

Have a good week wherever you are. Stay safe and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: 25April2020

Tags

Aesculus hippocastanum, Anthriscus sylvestris, apple blossom, Cameraria ohridella, Cercis canadensis, cow parsley, Foeniculum vulgare purpureum, Forest pansy, Hebe hulkeana, Horse chestnut tree, leaf miner, New Zealand lilac, Purple fennel, six on saturday

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather as it seems it is forecast to change. I have been grass cutting just now (groan) and weeding again (bigger groan). I am not moaning though, I feel very lucky to have space outside and I love my garden, it is just that those particular tasks are about as exciting as the washing up.

More exciting are the beautiful sights and these are my six to share with the Propagator and you.

First off is this huge bunch of Anthriscus sylvestris, Cow Parsley. Picked to stop it seeding around the garden and picked because I adore it for its airy and delicate freshness. This is adorning the zinc table in my summer house. Sounds a bit fancy but it really is not a house as it has no doors or windows.

More lovely white flowers. These are veritable candelabras compared to the Cow parsley. The flowers of the Horse chestnut tree. Aesculus hippocastanum.

The trees look magnificent at this time of year and I don’t want to visualise the sorry sight they become by late Summer due to leaf miner Cameraria ohridella.

Then there is the lovely apple blossom which I am enjoying everyday knowing that as soon as the rain comes it will be gone, washed away, curtains.

Combinations of foliage are always interesting to me. I am liking the foliage of purple fennel, Foeniculum vulgare Purpureum, behind the emerging flowers of the New Zealand LilacThe blue grey foliage is from Thalictrum Elin. Not actually a Lilac it is Hebe hulkeana.

Then there is the emerging foliage of Cercis canadensis , Forest pansy.

The pea like pink flowers are beginning to drop and this year the branches have been covered. A first.

Lastly there is this view to share

A seating area backed by the garage wall. Just trying not to look at all the grass that needs weeding out to make way for the annuals. Big groan.

Wishing you all a good weekend, wherever you are. Thanks for reading. D.

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Six on Saturday: 18 April

Tags

Anthriscus sylvestris, apple blossom, carpinus betula, cow parsley, Hornbeam, hostas, six on saturday, Sweet cicely, Veratrum, violas

Avoiding any references to that virus or lockdown., my six to share with you are nothing but pure garden escapism.

Veratrum and Violas

Pot grown and displayed with my hostas the emerging foliage is always pleated and pleasing. Not dissimilar to hostas, in that the foliage is irresistible to slugs and snails and so the battle to keep the molluscs off and the plant looking ‘pleats please’ is tricky. This is arguably Veratrum at its best.

Next is apple blossom, it is blossom time.

Emerging Apple blossom on the old tree.

Hopefully we will not get a hard frost. Last year I got 44 bottles of apple juice and the previous year 72! Hoping for a good crop.

More pleats, this time from the new leaves of the Hornbeam hedge.

This is not Cow parsley but Sweet cicely. It is much lower growing than Anthriscus and it’s deeply divided foliage tastes slightly of aniseed and is sweet. It is good cooked with rhubarb.

Anthriscus sylvestris or Cow parsley is taking over rather.

Here with Euphorbia amygdaloides and against my WillowFencing. Tall, billowy, romantic, it is running amok and will need deheading to stop it self seeding everywhere.

Finally my pots of hostas are beginning to emerge. More about who, what, where, when, another time.

Wishing you, Master Dorris and our host The Propagator a good weekend wherever you are. Stay home, stay safe, save lives. D.

Six on Saturday: who are you calling ugly?

Tags

Daylesford Garden seeds, Gardens Illustrated seeds, goodbye concrete, Jekkas Herb Farm seeds, manure and tree compost, new project, packets of seeds, recycling, Sarah Raven seeds, seed sowing, so x on saturday, Suffolk Herbs seeds

Around the side of my house is a rather dark concrete spot. To look out from the window on to these dirty dark grey slabs is very unattractive and definitely ugly. I could clean them, I have in the past believe it or not. Anyway I thought I would take them up and create a new planting area. Out came the slabs. The cut slabs were edged in a rustic fashion, ie. wonky, with some old bricks that had been taken out from elsewhere in the garden. Full of sand and blue clay, perhaps this wasn’t such a great idea after all.

I added a bucket of manure and a load of tree and shrub compost. The big lumps of brick and and cement were removed.

Initially my plan was to order in some box edging, a large urn perhaps or some topiary to be mixed with colour themed annuals and seasonal bedding in the form of bulbs and annuals.

For now I shall make do with seed sowing.

To this bunch I shall add squash, spinach and dahlias.

It will be a riot of colour and certainly a whole lot prettier than previously. I will keep you posted.

So these are my six to share with you and The Propagator . ‘Hold up!’ I hear you say, there’s only five there. That’s right, I owe you one.

Strange times. Stay safe wherever you are. Thanks for reading. D.