Six-on-Saturday 26-5-2018

The rain has done a lot of good in the garden but suddenly the peonies, lilac and even the perennial geranium look very ragged. The forecast is not too promising either so I think I will sort the standard geraniums into containers and put the new sempervivums into the troughs by the front door – but that will be in next week’s Six.

1) (Warning – the next item contains material that some viewers may find distressing, so have the hankies and violins ready.)

You may remember that beautiful plum blossom several weeks ago, well, after the frost it started dying back – not just the blossom, but the leaves, the little plums and some of the branches started shrivelling up, too! This happened a long time ago to a plum tree in our previous garden which just died completely. I decided to cut back the affected branches (i.e. all of them) except one which still has a couple of dozen little plums on, although I don’t hold out much hope for it. The result is awful, as you can see, but I will give it until next year before it comes out completely, or picks up.

(Apparently, in Portugal, the fruit trees are often planted in valleys and if a frost is forecast, several bonfires are lit among the trees to form a warm atmosphere and protect the blossom – information from a horticulturalist friend of mine!)

2)!

The raised bed is almost complete, I just need to strengthen the sides. It should be easier to hammer a couple of stakes into the ground now the rain has softened the clay! The fence pieces were covered in green so I scrubbed them, dried them then sanded the worst marks that didn’t wash off. (Unfortunately, my electric sander was shooting out pieces of metal the last time I used it so that went and I had to do it the old fashioned way!) I gave the fence pieces a coat of linseed oil which made them look better – I decided not to paint it to match the shed.

3)

The courgettes seedlings are coming on now – as I have mentioned, I am late with my seeds this year.

4)

I planted a few perennial Sweet Pea seeds many years ago. Each year they come up in abundance and I have to tie them to the fence. The climbing rose was pretty last year and has plenty of buds this time.

5)

The geum could do with some better support, I need to see to that stray stem.

6)

I have had bluebells, pinkbells and now whitebells! This is nearly over so looks rather similar to the wild garlic, but it definitely isn’t!

Well, not a very colourful Six-on-Saturday this week but I have been neglecting the flowers and concentrating on construction and destruction. Looking forward to seeing your Sixes.