Six on Saturday – Blessings

Posted byofftheedgegardeningPosted inSix on Saturday, Welsh WalesTags:, , , , ,

Another challenging week, weather-wise. Another challenging week, work-wise. There has been an awful lot of bulb planting and a seriously daunting amount are lurking on the horizon. My back has been playing up and ibuprofen, Voltarol and a heated pad have been my constant companions. Still, it’s nearly spring, so I really mustn’t complain. Yes, I know I have just been moaning on, but apart from incessant rain it has been a fine week. Things have been achieved, delicious banana and chocolate muffins have been eaten and the leaking boiler fixed with relative ease. Blessings must be counted. I will do my best to deliver an upbeat and positive Six on Saturday. Visit Jim over at Garden Ruminations and I am sure the other SoSers will lift any spirits still floundering in the mush. Shall we get on with the task at hand?

First we have Malva trimestris ex Ruby Regis. I was a little disappointed when I found out this mallow is an annual. I have been proven wrong, it has flowered and flowered and flowered. Not only that, it has produced lots of seed for next year. Win, win!

Fuchsia macrophylla was knocked back so hard last winter I feared it wouldn’t get back up again. Rummaging in the back of the border, looking for photo opportunities, I found it has risen from near death. Of course I really should have looked before now and taken precautionary cuttings, but it is too late now and I must hope for the best.

In the five minutes of sunshine between putting the washing out and the rain starting again, I noticed next door’s fence steaming in the warmth. It’s both art and science.

I was always led to believe that blue centred osteospermum are the hardy type, namely Osteospermum jucundum. Hopefully, this is true as there is no room in the greenhouse for this lovely little, admittedly blurry, daisy.

I just can’t resist a seed head. All that promise.

Finally, Dahlia ‘Labyrinth’, a little ragged but still having a go. A lesson to us all.

That is your six for this week. I hope all chins are up. Have fun!

33 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – Blessings”

  1. Your poor back. I’ve got one of those Japanese shiatsu back massager gizmos in the attic. Shall I locate it for you?

    O. jacundum may also have yellow centres and still be hardy. I have several; 30+ years old. Tho can be difficult to establish.

    It’s NOT too late to propagate F. macrophylla. Try hardwood cuttings in the “traditional” way and if you can get some decent softwood ones without flowers, root in water like wot I do. If we can find mine, I’ll try some for you.

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      1. No. We connect you to the electricity with a bit of spare flex and an old plug. When we turn it on, you jiggle around a bit on the massager thingy. After a minute or two, your back problems are permanently resolved.

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  2. The dahlia flowers are over here and I had to take care of lifting the plants this weekend, but with all that rain, I’m going to wait for it to dry a little… The cold/frost is not yet forecast before at least 15 days here in the north of France. Good luck for your back, massage and heat will be good friends. (The wet weather doesn’t help unfortunately.)

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  4. When I was taking pictures yesterday I took one of a Fuchsia microphylla in our front garden, then noticed it was just slightly different from one a few feet away. So there are different forms around, maybe some less hardy than others. We’ve always regarded it as being as hardy as any Fuchsia we grow, sometimes flowering right through the winter.

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  6. The banana and chocolate muffins caught my attention. Maybe over the winter we should be sharing recipes 🤔 As for the Fuchsia microphylla my ‘Cornish Pixie’ has been flowering continuously since I bought it from the Eden Project as a tiny plant back in 2018. Though I do have to keep rescuing it from under the Jasmine. Hope your back improves soon, I know how painful and debilitating a bad back can be.

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  7. I love the casual way you declared “still, it’s nearly spring”. I had to scroll back to check the date. Perhaps if I remember that it’ll encourage me through the looming gloom of winter!
    I hope your Osteospermum makes it through the winter – it’s very pretty and deserves a medal for flowering right now.
    We’ve had frost and the dahlias were blackened – husband had to lift them all by himself so I’m hoping he’s done a good job storing the tubers.
    Hope your back heals soon!

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    1. No frosts here yet, although the weather person said that next weekend it might get a little colder. Dahlias still in the ground although it is tempting to start the clear. Thank you, much better today, back to work tomorrow and we will see how it fairs!

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  8. I’ve been counting the days till the days start to get longer again! You ‘conversation’ with John at the top got me giggling. Yes try the cuttings it isn’t too late, and watching steam rise from fences is a very noble activity for this time of the year, particularly when one has a bad back. Hope you feel better soon Sis. xx

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    1. I went out to feed the birds earlier, during a lapse in the rain, saw the fuchsia and thought I’ll grab some cuttings next. Then promptly came back inside again. Pouring down again now, in the next interval I shall be out there! Thanks Sis x

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  13. Do other Osteospermum rot in the damp weather, or succumb to frost? They certainly have gotten diverse during the past several years. The trailing sort used to be so common, but is now unavailable.

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      1. Some of ours have spread a bit too vigorously. Now that it is raining, I cut bits that are migrating where they are not wanted, and plug them elsewhere, including in the bald spots that develop where the original plants were. They could eventually fill in their own bald spots, but are more likely to do so with a bit of help. They are never without bloom for long, even through winter.

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  14. What an adorable fuchsia! I’d take a cutting anyway, no harm in trying. Huge sympathies about the sore back — the chill and gloomy weather always seem to make it worse 😦 Those muffins sound wonderful, though, and now I’ve gone and looked up chocolate chip banana bread to make this evening as well! Thank you for sharing, despite the difficulties — seeing lovely green plants in people’s gardens is a weekly escape I look forward to as our own snowy winter continues.

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      1. It turned out really well, thanks! Even the husband liked it, and he doesn’t usually touch banana bread. Couldn’t resist the chocolate chips lol. The kid, on the other hand, loves both bananas and chocolate and looked like he would sneak away with the entire loaf 😀

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