Six-on-Saturday 01-08-2020

Into August already, goodness. I spent Tuesday morning in the river sorting the weeds on my side since we have shared responsibility with the council, called “riparian rites”, I think I mentioned it before. It is the first time I have ventured down there since we had a concrete wall put in to stop our riverbank collapsing. The brown bin was completely filled, plus, I saved a bucket full of Horse Tail to make the stew that Fred showed us last week. 😋😉

After that exciting start, I will proceed to this week’s Six-on-Saturday.

1)

The gladioli are starting to show their true colours. I planted them 2 or 3 years ago but this year they are bigger than before and showing more buds.

2)

The first picking. They were very nice too.

3)

I removed the cornflowers from the troughs and replaced them with these begonias from a local garden centre. I think of them as municipal garden plants really, but they do look very nice. (Yes, he decided to get into the photo.)

4)

Riverbank before……

……and after. I hope the other side will be done soon.

5)

Well, I like the bog standard crocosmia. It’s much brighter than it looks here.

6)

This dahlia should be opening soon. The others are well behind as I mentioned recently.

I understand that my link wasn’t working properly last week, we will see how it goes this time.

Have a good weekend and enjoy your garden.

Six-on-Saturday 25-07-2020

I will be more careful this week. Many thanks to Catherine for investigating my problem which was of my own making.

Anyway, on to this week. Mixed weather here but mostly dry. My sister visited for the first time in probably 5 months. She enjoys her garden as well but along with heavy clay, she says many of her plants have some disease or are being destroyed by black fly. I have noticed black fly on some of my runner beans, rhubarb and courgette leaves. Not their usual habitats.

Enough moaning, here are my Six-on-Saturday for this week.

1)

I do wish the camera could do justice to this beautiful rose which has an almost fluorescent glow to it.

2)

I have 5 troughs with cornflowers in them. Not the best choice – too leggy. I may venture out to a garden centre to buy some instant replacements for them. Perhaps violas? I’m looking forward to choosing.

3)

Why do I keep thinking of the film “Day of the Triffids” ?

4)

You don’t need to look too closely to see dozens of little runner beans. 😋😋

5)

Rhapsody in blue and Rosa?🤷‍♀️ showing multiple blooms on one stalk. Lovely.

6)

Finally, with thanks to Mr Propagator, I planted the red, climbing “Rose Danse de feu” in plenty of garden compost ready for its climbing frame or obelisk which I may make from some lilac branches, because that’s what I have.

Then the second picture shows the Loosestrife, again thanks to Mr Propagator many years ago, plus a little, overshadowed astilbe from the same source.

Well, another week flies by. I hope you are all keeping well. Enjoy your garden this weekend.

Six-on-Saturday 18-07-2020

We had a most enjoyable visit to Mr and Mrs Propagator and their delightful family this week- at a safe distance. The garden is so much better than it looks on any of Mr P’s photos, lush and packed with a big variety of healthy plants everywhere I looked. He has a beautiful, red, climbing rose – Rose Danse de feu – which I admired. Needless to say (as if by magic) one of the cuttings accompanied me in the car on the way home, along with a few other propagated young plants……lucky me!On to this week’s Six-on-Saturday.1)Robin and Gaura. The lavender, pelargonium and perennial geranium are sneaking into the photo down below.2)The top picture shows my bounty from this week’s visit and the bottom one shows the plants from some HPS seeds Mr P gave me a couple of years ago. They will be planted out this weekend. I’ll let you read its name for yourselves.3)The crabapple is loaded with fruit. I don’t dare remove the supports because the prevailing wind can be very strong.A couple of problems in this flowerbed: the garden compost must have contained hundreds of seeds from a very attractive plant I featured a couple of years ago…..I put plenty of compost on this flowerbed. 🤔 Also, how does one deadhead an azalea? That brown splodge behind the crabapple tree is that stunning azalea two weeks after it was in full bloom, I’m not sure how to remove all the dead flowers, there aren’t any obvious dead heads.4)The perennial sweet peas are very healthy but so awkward to tie up. I probably need some mesh against the fence. It really needs to tumble over a stone wall or to climb through a hedge – I don’t have those handy, I’m afraid.5)This week’s produce : I have used several onions already. They are rather small but not a bad harvest. There are masses of tomatoes but not ready yet.6)Unfortunately, the Veronica tends to collapse in any heavy rain, so it has to be tied up but it looks rather “tied up”. Also in the picture the Lychnis Coronaria, the gladioli, the perennial geranium and lots and lots of cerinthe seedlings – some very tiny ones at the bottom.Have a good weekend and, as always, enjoy your garden.

Six-on-Saturday 11-07-2020

There are too many things worth mentioning in the garden now. I’m not going to show you a picture of the soil, but I could actually pull weeds out WITH their roots and I could gently fork over the top of the soil…….bliss! Yes, we had plenty of heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday.

The clover didn’t snuggle down into the grass this week. The previous two mowings removed a small percentage of the clover blooms but the lawn still didn’t look very neat, however, today it looks lovely and green with very few heads of clover left after I finished mowing.

I’ve had to tie up several plants that were battered by the heavy rain, but nothing has been wrecked.

On to this week’s Six-on-Saturday.

1)

What could be better than to start with a view of the compost heap through the self-seeded hollyhock in the evening sun yesterday?

2)

One of the salvias that the lovely Mr Propagator gave me at least 2 years ago. It’s doing very well and looking healthy…..the bees like it. You can see a small zonal pelargonium on the lower right side of the picture, one of the ones that were in the hanging baskets last year which I kept in the greenhouse all winter. I planted about half a dozen at the front of the borders in the back garden and they are providing nice, bright, small splashes of colour there.

3)

The hydrangea is back on form again. The various stages are very pretty.

4)

I gave the dianthus a short-back-and-sides so we shall see whether it will flower again. The Persicaria has come back after being frosted earlier in the season. The miniature fuchsia (Cornish pixie) that Jim gave me last year has been moved from the other side of the bird bath, where it was being bullied by the gaura and the lavender. It has been here for a couple of days and looks quite happy with the move.

5)

The euonymus in the front garden is looking good. Some of the leaves are a pure yellow. The perennial geranium is on its second flowering and, on the left, the Nigella seedlings are taking over again. I cleared them all away only a couple of weeks ago.😡

6)

The sempervivum in the middle of the trough is nearly in flower as are all the chicks around it. The cornflowers have all bloomed but are far too tall for the troughs, so I have tried to stake them, unsuccessfully, they are just lolling about, but the colours are lovely.

That’s it for another week. Hope you are all keeping well. I will try to do as much weeding as possible before the soil becomes impossible in the forecast dry weather.

Have a good weekend in your garden. 👩‍🌾 🌺🍷

Six-on-Saturday 04-07-2020

I thought I might have difficulty finding six more different things to include this week : I’ve done the penstemons, roses, fuchsias, lavender, hollyhocks so what else is there? After 5 minutes in the garden with my tablet, I had found a few new plants and many repeats, but still worth a mention, I hope. Let’s get started.1)This is the beautiful rose that was hidden by an overgrown shrub last year. I showed it in bud form a couple of weeks ago but I think it is stunning when fully open. The photo doesn’t do it justice.2)Last week.This week. Yes, spot the difference. I have cut the top 2 to 3 metres off the lilac tree. I did have fun with my saw and shredder for the next couple of hours!It looks awful and we now have a view of a few more gravestones, but from further up the garden, it looks fine. I need to keep it under control, it grows so quickly.3)Some of the lilac branches fell onto the potato plants. They seem to have recovered, so (before anyone else cracks the joke) I won’t be digging up ready mashed potatoes! 🤭😄🤣4)This patch of hollyhocks contained all deep burgundy flowers. I wasn’t expecting the other colours to muscle in.5)The first sweet pea flower climbing up the bird table support. The ones I replanted by the obelisk are struggling a bit but should be fine eventually.6)I just thought that the rose at its various stages from bud to fully open looked pretty on the one stem.That’s it again. Unfortunately, Grannysgardenhimindoors and I must have spent an hour trying to find where WordPress was telling me I had used all my allotted space. It was refusing to allow me to download my photos onto my post. I binned some very old posts…….wrong, then a few photos from my gallery…….wrong. We found that we needed to delete photos that had (unknown to me) been stored in WordPress media. Sorted.Finally, a question to Mr Propagator .If I just chop off the top of the dianthus, below, will it flower again?Have a good weekend in your garden, all.

Six-on-Saturday 27-06-2020

Rather hot here this week but with none of the frightening hail storms reported in the North East of England. I hope everyone there is all right. There is plenty to do in the garden but, in general, it looks quite good from a distance. I have put in a couple of long shots, one in the morning light and one from the conservatory in the evening, later on.

Here is this week’s Six-on-Saturday.

1)

There are a few buds further down the rose but all the present blooms are right at the top. It looks better in the morning light.(Apologies for that dark shadow.)

2)

I like the gentler morning light in the first picture. Then that verbena boniarensis in the second picture is amazing. So long as I keep its seedlings under control in amongst the patio stones, it is an excellent plant in a tiny patch of soil.

3)

The Peace rose is looking much better this year after a disappointing season in 2019 when there were very few blooms and those that opened were shrivelled and pathetic.

4)

You may have noticed in the long shots that the hollyhocks are starting to show some colour. The beautiful darker burgundy coloured ones are not in flower yet unless they have all turned into these dark salmon-pink ones. We shall see soon.

5)

The “hedge” fuchsia is just beginning to flower now……another of my many favourite plants. (That bindweed has been removed since.)

6)

The heuchera is responding well to being allowed air space since I cut back the Cerinthe major a couple of weeks ago. The Veronica behind it has struggled for years and was on its final warning. Either that warning, or the well rotted horse manure I put around it in the spring have done the trick – I will show it in flower soon. Behind the Veronica the gladioli are looking healthy.

Another week goes by. I hope to cut back the lilac tree near the garden shed this weekend. It has grown rather tall since its last drastic prune about 4 years ago. Also, general weeding and deadheading are on the list.

Have a good weekend.

Six-on-Saturday 20-06-2020

Something has been eating the large broad beans, not just the newly formed ones. 😡 So, that’s it with the broad beans; the black flies (and whatever else) have won. I will try peas next season.

We had to go to Cheltenham on Thursday and we experienced the most awful thunderstorm and flooding. It was quite frightening to drive in. The garden loved it, although some plants were rather battered. All survived and the top couple of centimetres of soil is easier to dig.

Anyway, on to this week’s Six-on-Saturday. The penstemons are showing colour – I didn’t realise I had so many different ones.

1)

Just a selection. There are some more but I would be being rather greedy. I think the penultimate one is upside down. 🙃

2)

Remember that azalea that was struggling a few months ago?

3)

The front lavender hedge took a bashing from the rain but should pick up, I think. You can see a couple of happy bees on it.

4)

The tall, white gaura in the middle bed is suddenly flowering away. The small one I thought had died, but then showed lots of leaves……is dead.

5)

Some of this week’s harvest. I shared the raspberry crop with Grannysgardenhimindoors this time. Some of the red onions have bolted but, I think, are still tasty enough. I pruned one of the bay trees that had been caught by the frost and salvaged several leaves which have been drying in the greenhouse.

6)

The hanging baskets (flowers courtesy of the milkman) are filling out nicely.

(A quick update on that clematis:

it swayed quite dramatically in the wind, but came through undamaged. )

That’s it again. I hope no one is counting.😉 I think tomorrow is a pottering, weeding and tying back day, plus mowing the lawns. The forecast here is fine and I hope it’s good for you too. Have a good weekend.

Six-on-Saturday 13-06-2020

We had our first taste of the broad beans, well just the tops because although they are a dwarf variety, some are pushing against the top of the fruit cage and I understand that the tops should be snipped off anyway at this stage. I think I should have steamed them for a couple of seconds rather than a couple of minutes, but quite tasty.

Last week, just after I had published my post, that angelic cat stretched up the window then knocked over the vase with the red hydrangea in it slightly damaging the blooms. It’s fixed with a bit of well-hidden sticky tape.

On to this week’s Six-on-Saturday.

1)

The jackmanii is completely covered in buds. (There’s a pretty white bindweed flower the other side but I decided against showing that.)

2)

The first, slightly pathetic, delphinium. They seem to struggle in this soil – at least, so I thought until I looked at my neighbour’s plant which is huge and well into flowering mode.

3)

The first of the autumn raspberries. I ate it all myself…..very tasty too. (I have now pulled out the Horse Tail plants you can see.)

4)

Tomato flowers. The plants look very healthy and maybe are a bit late but not a problem.

5)

The Brussels plants are getting rather squashed! I am hoping to dig out the red onions in the section to the right so that I can plant the Brussels there. Unfortunately, the onions aren’t quite ready. I may risk removing the central wire section to give them space. Will the pigeons and caterpillars still be interested ? Not sure.

6)

Penstemons getting started. There is quite a variety of colours around the garden but not many are flowering yet.

Who? Me? As if…………….. he has to get into the photos.

That’s it again. Are we getting closer to normality? I hope so but a long way to go, I fear.

Have a good weekend. The forecast is fine here, so, with some rain this evening, 🤞💦☔ we should be able to get some gardening done.

Six-on-Saturday 06-06-2020

I’ve been playing Hide and Seek, or Search and Rescue in the garden this week. I decided the perennial geranium had done very well this spring but was looking decidedly untidy now. So, I removed nearly 2 sacks full of it (plus a rampant Cat-mint) and rescued..

●2 miniature roses

●several gladioli

●a creeping calendula

●a dianthus

and allowed the fresh air to get to many of the alliums which were being overshadowed by the geranium.

There is still more anticipation of blooms than actual blooms themselves in the garden at the moment, but soon……..🤞😉

Here are my Six-on-Saturday for this week.

1)

The first of the Lychnis Coronaria. Such a striking pink against the soft green foliage.

2)

This Euonymus in the front garden is in full bloom and covered in very busy bees. You can’t see them but take it from me, the noise is quite loud.

3)

I know I showed the first pink poppy recently, but they look even more striking en masse.

4)

The tiny flowered fuchsia that Jim kindly gave me last June is coming on well now. I was rather worried that the frost last winter had killed it but it behaved like our larger, common,”hedge” fuchsia which also “dies off” after the first frost but comes back strongly each spring.

5)

Suddenly, broad beans are appearing, albeit small just now. I’m hoping for our first picking in a couple of weeks’ time. Meanwhile, in the fruit garden, or trough….

Yes! Strawberries – well, a strawberry each for tea.

6)

That small, dark pink gaura has been stuck at this stage for weeks, i.e. lots of twigs and a few shoots. I think I will do as Mr Propagator’s done and dig it out.

I didn’t want to finish on a negative note so one of my tasks this week was to paint some dried hydrangea heads which I have had hanging around the garage waiting to be used for a couple of years now. Mrs Propagator gave me a boiled wool vase* a few years ago but it didn’t look right with fresh flowers in it. My idea was to use these hydrangea heads and I think they look right.

The vase is on a shelf in the bathroom and I do like it. I am in two minds as to whether I should give it another spray of white paint or leave it as it is with the slightly antique look.🤔

Meanwhile, in the conservatory

Red goes nicely against black and white. 😄🙂

*The idea is to put a jam jar into the woolen vase and fill with flowers and water or, in my case, sand and dried flowers.

Have a good weekend.

Six-on-Saturday 30-05-2020

Another beautiful weather week, but no much-needed rain in the foreseeable future according to my forecast. I think I have completely de-forget-me-notted the garden this week but, like Arnie, they will be back! The hanging basket plants from my milkman arrived on Thursday evening. Not cheap but very good quality. The garden is still on the verge of erupting into colour. There are a couple more roses showing but still plenty to come.

Let’s get on with this week’s Six-on-Saturday.

1)

The first rose was smothered by the large shrub I cut back rather too late in the season to allow the rose to show properly last year. It’s a lovely, delicate shade.

The second one is the start of the Special Child rose which usually has at least three sessions of flowering.

2)

The salvia “Hot Lips” is looking very good, in spite of me treading on it at least twice when I was tidying the front garden at the start of Lockdown.

3)

One of the three hanging baskets just planted with pelagoniums and lobelias. I have made a dip in the centre of the soil to try to prevent the water running off the top…..I hope it works.

4)

A rogue lavender that self-seeded in the tiniest of spaces with about 1/2 cm of soil. I used to have that strip filled with compost but it kept “disappearing”. Since many stones seem to be making their way to the surface of the soil all over the garden just now, I decided to use them instead of compost. It certainly “killed two birds with…” well, perhaps not one stone.🤭🦆🦚😉

5)

The courgettes and the potatoes are suddenly coming on in leaps and bounds. There is one courgette flower and the “eaten” plant at the left is bouncing back. I need to put something bordering the potatoes so that I can earth them up some more. I haven’t any more pallets, so, if we can demolish the contents of another box of wine, cardboard may contain it well enough.🍾🍷 Watch this space next week.

6)

Finishing still on the vegetable theme, those fruit cages seem to have protected the broad beans, Brussels, Swiss Chard* and broccoli**. (I do hope I am not speaking too soon.) I managed to fit five Brussels in the space between the two fruit cages. I had to make a removable bit of netting to cover them…..it appears to have worked, too.

*Hiding to the left of the broad beans. We’ve had a few pickings from them already.

** Not shown in these photos, but doing well the other side of the red onions.

Anyway, that’s it again. Another week goes by. Perhaps in a few more weeks we will be able to see our families without the Social Distancing. We look forward to that. Have a good weekend.