Six on Saturday – Back

I’m sure Peggy would write a note for me if needed, but I am equally confident you will believe that I missed last week’s SoS because my back was being a diva. It had started to grumble the previous weekend, possibly due to pent up fencer rage. Things did not improve even though I imposed a strict regime of totally ignoring the problem, downing analgesics, growling and wallowing in denial. Odd. Perversely, sitting at my computer was the most painful exercise, bending to take photos equally so. Which is why there was no SoS action. This week I have pushed on through, using the same holistic healing methods, during one of the soggiest, windiest most miserable weeks for months. I’m feeling much better now, my system obviously works. Please feel free to duplicate my modus operandi, copyright pending. I can especially recommend the grumpy bit. Enough of my troubles, pop over to Jim at Garden Ruminations to show you the Six on Saturday way. Shall we get on?

First we have Digitalis lutea, the straw foxglove, which is just coming into flower. Understated, delicate, slightly out of focus; remind you of anyone?

It’s rhodohypoxis time, always a joy. A little/lot of rain has really helped these come into their own.

The B side of Elvis Costello’s better known hit is, It’s Been a Good Year for the Peonies. Shirley Temple would definitely agree.

The impatiens are on the march, this Impatiens stenantha has formed a sturdy group. It is always the first of the gang to flower, doesn’t seed itself everywhere and even after a drought sulk, pops back up to shine again.

Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ is having her moment. This bloom is squooshed between bud and bud.

Lastly we have Geranium ‘Splish Splash’. Perhaps a little more splish than splash or is it the other way round?

That is your lot, next time it will be summer!

Six on Saturday – Fence

A problem has been resolved this week, one which was out of our control but was both niggling and invasive. We do not own any of the fences surrounding our garden. Horrah! you might think, no maintenance costs or stormy weather worries. A fair point. Let us consider another scenario. What if a fence, shall we say, is shedding planks into your garden behind a border that is called, off the top of my head, The Bed of Anarchy, and ominously teetering towards a much loved greenhouse. And suppose two years pass of lies and false promises. Thursday they fixed it. They stood on my cannas. It is worth the loss. I am jubilant and can now plant into the twilight zone. Should we be talking about Six on Saturday? I think so. Jim will show you the way, take a look, don’t be afraid.

Whoever sowed this foxglove in the front of the shady border (more interesting name pending) I’d like to shake your hand. Or perhaps your wing.

Whoever sowed this geranium in the dark leaved acer pot I’d like to shake their hand. Or perhaps wing.

Whoever ….. only kidding, this is Rosa ‘Grace’, liberated from The Prof a couple of years ago. Full of bud with a few spent flowers, I chose potential over what has been. Perhaps a metaphor, perhaps not.

A fresh new Cercis canadenis ‘Forest Pansy’ leaf. Shiny, shiny, very very shiny, its very shiny.

The only flower spike of Iris sibirica ‘Papillon’. Could try harder. I’m hopeful for next year, which is the gardener’s way.

Roscoea caultelyoides, I know who put it there but I forgot that I had. No wings here. Just a halo. Stop laughing.

Another six, another Saturday, always pleased to be in such good company,

Six on Saturday – Home Again

We are home again after last weekend’s exploits. This week has been busy catching up with work and stuff “that can wait until we get back”. The back boiler was overflowing. Today is ear marked for potting on and general garden pottering and peering. For more tales of horti joys and woes, pop over to Jim at Garden Ruminations and take your fill.

Hands up whose got an allium in this week’s SoS! Its not a bad gang to be in.

This little geranium came from Welsh Ann. I wasn’t sure what colour it would be and nor was she. I’m wondering if it is Kashmir White. Whatever its name, I’m very pleased.

Last week I was lamenting the pathetic display of this little generic evergreen azalea, labelled “pink”. It goes to show a few words of encouragement can make all the difference.

I bought this Cestrum x cultum ‘Cretan Pink’ last year from a local nursery. I’m not sure about the colour, a bit insipid. The cat isn’t looking too impressed either.

I had a few of these candelabra primula and one of the two survivors is this deep pink beauty. It, undoubtedly, has a proper name which, undoubtedly, is somewhere out there.

My last offering today is Semiaquilegia adoxoides semi-double pink, well that was what was on the seed packet. Do I care it has gone a little off piste? Not at all.

All done, another six, another Saturday. Next SoS I’ve pencilled in the subject of “constant watering”. Have a great week.

Six on Saturday – Scandal

Usually I take my photos and write some of my Six on Saturday the day before, tweaking  and posting on Saturday morning. No great scandal there. This week is different. I am not here. I am somewhere else with OH and Lady Mantle. Also no scandal. Actually, the day is young, so no promises. It would be sensible to have the week off.  The problem lies in the fact that I have things that I really, really, really, really want to show you and they might not be here next week. Who knows, none of us might be. Now that would be a scandal.  Although much was constructed earlier in the week, here I am, attempting to blog from my phone in a far away country called Cheltenham.  Wish me luck. A man not unknown to the tabloids, Jim at Garden Ruminations, will reveal much more. Let’s shake a leg, there’s fun to be had!

Rhododendron ‘Graziella’ is beginning to flower. We bought this a couple of years ago when, on the way to a family holiday in Cornwall, we stopped off for refreshments at a Somerset garden centre. It would have been rude not to have purchased a little momento and I am a very polite individual.

One for Tony. Eschscholtizia californica, California Poppy, in all its perfectly pure glory.

My first tomato flowers of the year. I may have been a little ambitious with my variety choices. And the amount of plants. Clients will be taking some, even those not keen, and friends and family will be strongarmed. There is little hope for me. I’m just a gal who can’t say no. This is Orange Banana.

Each year I get a little fonder of geums. This is Mai Tai. The delicate peach flowers are most suitable for soft focus. That is my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

I first saw Jovellana punctana in the walled garden shop of Marwood Hill Gardens. There are many things to relish in that statement. One of my favourite gardens, where I have met some wonderful people and bought some amazing plants.

I grew this Iochroma australe (possibly called other things which in this moment of time do not concern me) from seed last year. They are extremely variable in colour. Apparently white is quite rare. I am ecstatic and slightly indigo bereft at the same time.

There we have it, Six on (nearly) Saturday.  Have a great weekend. We certainly plan to!

Six on Saturday – There Will Always Be Nasturtium

On the swingometer known as The British Weather, the arrow is apparently shifting to “mini-heatwave”. We should, however, put this into perspective. On a world scale, this is small beer, we are not talking high summer in Death Valley or even sub-Saharan spring. It is going to be a bit warm after being a bit wet and a bit dry and a bit windy. We are a land of mediocre and I am quite happy with that. Still, beware, it may well be hot enough to frazzle your seedlings, as I think Frankie Howerd once said. You may have to research that reference. Someone who definitely is not middling, and will know who FH is, is our Six on Saturday mediator, Jim at Garden Ruminations. Take a look at his site and find others of like minds, if you don’t like plants I probably wouldn’t bother. You are in charge of your own fate, but if you ask me, maybe you should take a chance. Shall we start sixing?

Lamium ‘Silver Beacon’ has spread nicely in the Guano Bed, perhaps a little too well. It is forgiven this dominance for it lives in a hostile environment; dry and shady with blundering woodpigeons (Mr and Mrs Einstein) and sparrows with anger issues.

The Woolies acers have sprung back into action reminding me once again of our nation’s great loss.

An unremarkable, unnamed pelargonium has survived the winter, tucked into the plastic greenhouse and ignored for many months. This little white wonder, along with five assorted mates, have been potted up into terracotta and lined up outside the back door. They are going to enjoy the Mediterranean themed week on its way.

I am jubilant. Every dahlia, which with great jeopardy were left in the ground over-winter, is shooting. I am on 24 hour mollusc watch. Not really, I’m just crossing my fingers.

The Enkianthus campanulata is full of flower, when it is finished I must pot it on to a larger pot. Will you remind me, please?

The last tulip horrah, in this garden anyway, is this rather blousy ‘Tabledance’. I’m a bit embarrassed about the name. The exuberant blooms help to make up for its lack of political correctness.

All done, Six on Saturday completed for another week and we are undoubtedly on the way up. Of course, there is much that can go wrong between now and the imagined idyllic future. If the worst happened, and all else fails, there will always be nasturtium. Evermore.

Six on Saturday – Here Comes the Rain

We wished for it and our hopes were answered. You can, however, have too much of a good thing. Enough rain now. Please. Have a nosey at our SoS leader’s site, Jim at Garden Ruminations, to find out if anyone else is acting like a spoilt brat. Shall we mosey on?

This delicate umbellifer, Chaerophyllum hirsutum ‘Roseum’, is flowering in spite of being squished and elbowed by its neighbours. Never forming the beautiful patch of joy that I envisaged, it would be harsh to complain. This is user problem rather than plant failure.

The fabulous Aquilegia canadensis was grown from seed last year. It is still in a pot, indecision has thwarted me, but that is the story of my, and by association, my plants’ lives.

At this time of year I spend a lot of time peering at the ground wondering if or when something will emerge. I am not very good at remembering when one plant or the other is due to start up. This Rogersia ‘Heavenly Gill’ has arrived. Whether it is early or late, I couldn’t tell you.

A couple of weeks ago, I went shopping with Professor Gadget. It was the best kind of shopping. Although, ostensibly, we were buying plants for His Professorship’s garden, I couldn’t resist this little Rhododendron ‘Ginny Gee’. My dad called me Ginny. He was the best. No one could blame me.

Anemone coronaria ‘Bordeaux’ was a gift from my fabulous friend Mrs Swotty. Last weekend we spent a wonderful few days Chez Swot, and, along with Mr S. they didn’t disappoint in their ability to be skilled at everything, to the point of slight irritation. Luckily, my big love for them negates any small annoyance.

Hestercombe Gardens in Somerset is marvelous, to me, for many reasons. It is a place I visited during my first incarnation as a gardener, when I was fresh-souled and wide-eyed and full of wonder at all things. It was here I first saw Uvalaria grandiflora, flowering on the steep banks, between follies, headed towards the waterfall. I was smitten. I still am, even though on a much smaller scale. Which is plenty.

That is your lot. Another six, another Saturday. Let’s hope there are many more to come.

Six on Saturday – Awakenings

Well, this is more like it. Stuff seems to be happening in the garden. Good stuff. That, to me, is the definition of spring. Positivity. And don’t we need it?! Shoots and blossom and frogspawn are useful allies in reminding us of stronger forces. We need less reporting by mainstream media on the deluded and more about those who are standing up, putting their heads above the parapet, swimming against the tide. And there are plenty who are doing just that. Many are awakening, we just need reminding. A fine spring analogy.

Time to get on with the task in hand, that is Six on Saturday. If this concept is puzzling, and to be honest I wouldn’t be surprised, then Jim at Garden Ruminations will reveal all. Let us shake a leg.

First a survivor. This Tulipa sylvestris was planted in the whiskey barrel two seasons ago and is the only one to show it’s face this year. Fair play.

I love a blue flower. This Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’ is doing me proud. In a week or so it will be completely forgotten, shoved about by later players, lingering in the background, hopefully to return next year.

Last week my SoS Sis mentioned this, perhaps, a little unusual ornamental currant, Ribes x gordonianum. Just coming into flower, it is the pale and interesting cousin of last week’s blousy Ribes sanguineum. No favourites here, they both have a place in my heart.

Anemone blanda. I rest my case.

This is a gurt big hosta, a gift from Welsh John, looking about as determined as a plant doomed to mollusc attack could be. WJ’s always seem to be untouched. I must keep the faith.

Always end on a slam dunk. Tulipa ‘Orange Dynasty’, didn’t even touch the back board.

There we have it, another Six on Saturday.

The One that Didn’t Get Away

In our house, there are many things that elicit rolling of eyes and tut-tutting. High on the list of irritants are quiz show contestants who say, after getting a question wrong, “oh, I was going to say that!”. Well this is the blog posting equivalent.

Last weekend I noticed that the Pseudowintera colorata ‘Moulin Rouge’ was flowering prolifically. I had never seen one so full of bloom, tiny margarine yellow flowers, lining the branches in splendour. Subtle but effective. I even sent OH out to have a look. Admittedly his reaction was muted, but to be honest I’m not sure he actually knows what a pseudowintera looks like and therefore randomly gazed about the garden for what he considered an appropriate amount of time. This didn’t dampen my enthusiasm. “I’ll share that wonderous sight next week and everyone will be so impressed. I will be the talk of the blogosphere and riches will be mine”, I thought.

Surprisingly, this morning I remembered the joyful spectacle and went out to take my, bound to be, impressive photograph. Horror! All the flowers had gone over, just stalks remaining, all except this one pathetic example.

Honestly, I knew I should have posted it earlier!

Six on Saturday – Competition

On a day of bright sunshine, bluster and showers so shocking to make you chuckle, it was a minor challenge to get any decent photos. This makes me ponder as to what is the most important, Six on Saturday-wise, the shots or the words? The most important to me or to you? Words are more my thing, although I do enjoy taking pictures. Does it really matter? No, it doesn’t. This is not a competition, either literary or visual. Sound like a very healthy environment? Spot on! Want to know more? Jim at Garden Ruminations is the man. Enough question marks for a year of blogging, perhaps more, shall we get on? Oops, there goes another one!

First we have Narcissus ‘Thalia’, bobbing about in the wind, in a picture I thought I might call Daffs in Motion. This is a well loved variety and quite rightly so; deliciously creamy, multiheaded and fragrant, a real beauty.

My SoS Sister, Noelle, posted me a box of delights, five different primulas, straight from the Planet Cute. There were also a couple of oregano to add to my herb collection. I’m still smiling.

At the moment Pyrus ‘Chanticleer’ is reminding me of its many merits, other than as a meeting place for the resident delinquent sparrow population. Fabulous flowers, fresh young foliage, bringing structure and wildlife into the garden.

Last year I bought some plugs of Meconopsis ‘Lingholm’; they struggled and sulked and I almost lost patience with them. A couple of weeks ago I spied a little growth in their over-wintering pots and wondered if there was yet hope. I planted them out into a terracotta window box, in semi-shade and into ericaceous soil. They seem happy. We will see. I’ve been fooled before.

Just saying Omphalodes cappadocica ‘Cherry Ingram’ is enough to brighten your day. I have done it several times already this morning.

Ribes sanguineum ‘King Edward VII’, a runner from JK’s mother plant, is as happy as Larry here. Not sure who Larry is, but I am sure he is a man of great taste. In fact I have had to substantially chop this spring wonder to prevent it from taking over the garden. You must learn to share.

There we have it, another six, another Saturday. Here’s to many more.

Six on Saturday – Whinge Free

No whinging this week, I promise. I’m too scared of Jude to try that lark again. Of course, she is quite right and I have given myself a serious talking to. And for once I actually listened. So, for one day only, which is all I can promise, all will be happy, upbeat and optimistic. There may be skipping. If you would like to learn more about Six on Saturday, Jim at Garden Ruminations is your man. Shall we proceed?

Some consider lesser celandine, Fiscaria verna, a noxious weed. Although nigh on impossible to eradicate, due to the tiny root tubers which drop off when the plant is disturbed, they are invaluable for early pollinators. They disappear below ground before summer is here and what is more they are a little ray of sun shine. Just like me.

A couple of Muscari latifolium have popped up unannounced. My favourite grape hyacinth. That is wonderful thing about lost labels and goldfish memory, you are given a gift on every spring emergence.

A self-seeder is a joy indeed, especially when it has as much to contribute as honesty, Lunaria annua ‘Corfu Blue’ (perhaps). Violet spring flowers are followed by decorative seed heads. Win, win.

This could be the year! Our peach tree is flowering well and all it has to do it be pollinated, avoid frost and hold on any fruit until picking time. I feel it has the strength to succeed and I will be cheering from the wings.

Does anything fill a gardener’s heart with glee more than a freshly germinated seed. Not much. This is Glaucidium palmatum (hopefully) which I have never actually seen in real live but have always admired in photographs. A long way to go, but a strong first step.

These hyacinths were dug up from their terracotta pot and stuck in this pink plastic one after they had finished and replaced by some other floozie. The plan was to replant them in the autumn. The gardener forgot. The hyacinths went ahead anyway. Yet again, surplus to requirements.

There we have it. Have a wonderful week everyone. The only way is up, baby!