Six-on-Saturday 13-08-2022

This week’s challenge: try to find 6 things without mentioning lack of water and hot weather………..😖😯🤔..?…No, sorry, I’ve failed the challenge.

1)

One of the smaller cracks in the lawn as indicated by the Garden Supervisor.

2)

The roses are still flowering away and looking beautiful. For the first time in years, I have been watering them as well as the rest of the garden.

3)

The rudbeckia is starting to flower now and looking healthy – well most of it is.

4)

Although they are not quite ready to flower, the sedums have a slightly ghostly look to them, but very pretty, I think, and worth including.

5)

I have been watering these runner beans more frequently than any other plants but the leaves are scorched and the blackfly have taken over completely. So, I bought a couple of hand sprayers from Amazon – with good reviews – and put in the soapy water with a pinch of cayenne pepper but after a couple of squirts, they gave up! I resorted to drilling the spray holes, but a couple of squirts again and they gave up. I think I will give up too.😡🤬😫

6)

As I mentioned last week, two of our huge grandsons trimmed all the front lavender hedge, then cleared the back patio of the weeds between the blocks. They were very helpful. They were also quite relieved when our neighbour’s brother took his hedge cutter further down the riverbank and cleared our weeds as well.

That’s it again. We will keep throwing our “grey water” on the garden and keep trudging up and down with the watering cans. Unfortunately, those helpful grandsons have gone, so it is down to GGHI and me to keep the plants alive. The washing machine is still going, four loads yesterday and another couple today. The house is quiet and tidy but rather lonely now.

Have a good weekend in your garden. 👩‍🌾🌺🍅🌹🦋🐛🐦🐈‍⬛🌤

Six-on-Saturday 06-08-2022

I think the prospect of rather hot weather dampens one’s enthusiasm for the garden. Well, dampen may be an inappropriate word, but never mind. There is an emphasis on hollyhocks this week (not again, you cry 🙄), there is such a variety of colours.

1)

Probably the darkest red.

2)

A shade down.

3)

Almost peachy.

4)

Definitely peachy.

5)

The only two-toned one I have, plus a couple of insects and a few small holes.

6)

………and finally the creamy-white.

I have been very busy in the garden but it’s all cutting back, weeding and shredding so not very picturesque. I did a lot of work on the escallonia (with help from Grannysgardenhimindoors) and tidying the rampant tamarisk tree (again, with a lot of help from GGHI). While I was working on the tamarisk tree, our resident cat decided to climb up and keep an eye on my progress. Unfortunately, he didn’t stay there while I took a photo.

We have our younger daughter, husband and 3 of her children coming to stay next week. You may see a tidy lavender hedge, a weeded river bank and a weed-free drive and patio next Saturday! I haven’t mentioned it to them yet but they should just be grateful that I don’t have a chimney to send them up to sweep. 😉

Enjoy your garden and have a good weekend. 👩‍🌾🌺🍅🌹🦋🐛🐦🐈‍⬛ 👪 🧹

Six-on-Saturday 30-07-2022

It’s becoming more and more difficult to find different plants to include in my Six-on-Saturday, even the cat hasn’t been around posing for photos, he must be sheltering from the sun. So here are my not very original pictures for this week.

1)

The Salvia Hot Lips has lost its redness completely. I think Mr Propagator told me it is due to the hot weather.

2)

The last photo of that giant hollyhock. It has reached about 50 cm above the conservatory roof and every morning I clear up dozens of the spent blooms from the patio.

3)

Meanwhile, down the garden, the wind played havoc with the rather sorry looking remnants of what was a good display. I think it’s time the secateurs were put into action.

4)

Another collapsed plant. This time not due to the wind but due to the gaura being a very leggy item which needs firm staking………this stake had snapped.

5)

I tend to overlook this geranium which flowers and spreads quite happily over the front garden every year. I pull it out quite ruthlessly several times during the summer and it perks up within days looking as though it hasn’t been touched.

6)

Last week Grannysgardenhimindoors and I spent a happy few hours scraping off and cutting back the ivy from the front and side walls of the house before it invaded the roof and crept into the downstairs room. There were 3 sacks full of cuttings from that and the clematis.

That’s it again. I’m going to try to make the garden look a bit tidier this week. There is slight rain forecast for tomorrow but I don’t think it will fill the water buts.

Have a good weekend in your garden. 👩‍🌾🌺🍅🌹🦋🐛🐦🐈‍⬛ 🥵

Six-on-Saturday 23-07-2022

I’m afraid a few plants have been badly affected by the hot weather, but,in general, most are fine even though some of the vegetables have bolted. Anyway, no grandchildren to blame for any brevity so here we go……but still quite brief. 🙄

1)

My new toy, a cordless mower. The last mower worked fine until I managed to mangle the wire. Anyway, the grass hasn’t been growing this week so it’s only been used once. Does anyone else notice that however low you set the blades, the clover manages to duck under them?

2)

A kind friend gave me a garden centre voucher for my birthday and this week I bought the hebe and myrtle. They will be planted out this weekend.

3)

Fred’s snapdragons are doing so well. This is at least the second flowering this year.

4)

You’ve seen my Leucanthemum Superbum before and, if it carries on growing, you will see it again. (Even the verbena boniarensis are struggling to keep up with it!)

5)

The crocosmia are suddenly showing their orange flowers. (No prizes for spotting the bindweed which I didn’t spot when I took the photo.)

6)

The lawn is starting to recover after that hot weather which didn’t have much effect on the clover. I feel an untidy lawn makes the whole garden untidy though. What do you mean “There’s that cat again!”? He just happened to be drinking the birds’ water. Apparently it is much tastier than the clean water in his dish. 😉 😁 🐈‍⬛

That’s it for this week. I hope you all managed to keep cool last week and had some rain. This weekend should be a lot more pleasant. 👩‍🌾🌺🍅🌹🦋🐛🐦🐈‍⬛

Six-on-Saturday 16-07-2022

We had a good week with our granddaughter. She has gone to see some of her other cousins but will be back later in the holidays, if we are lucky. Meanwhile, in the garden, the grass is getting browner, the flowerbeds are now impossible to dig but the hollyhocks are looking really good. The spinach and kale are going berserk but it’s not really the weather for hot meals with green vegetables. I haven’t planted lettuce but I must start that next season.

On to this week’s Six-on-Saturday.

1)

We start with a plant Mr Propagator gave me ages ago. It has kept itself to the back of the flowerbed which is good since it is quite tall.

2)

Anyone for blackcurrants? This is about one third of the fruits so I need get picking again today. I don’t particularly want jams or jellies so I will freeze them and use for Summer Pudding or stewed with a little sugar and poured over ice cream. 😋🍧

3)

The first of the “hedge” fuchsia flowers. It looks lovely against the spring flowering pulmonaria leaves.

4)

The first of the gaura in the round flowerbed in the middle of the lawn.

5)

This hollyhock by the compost container is a different colour from the pale yellow ones which took up residence a few years ago. It seems to come from the same root as them though.

6)

Right……if I want to get into this blog, I have to get near those ever popular compost containers beside the about-to-flower sedum.

That’s it again for another week. Although there are plenty of things to include in my Six-on-Saturday, there isn’t a big variety of plants certainly very few that haven’t been included before.

Well, all right, I have included the resident cat before, but he does appear in different parts of the garden, usually within a couple of metres of where I am “working”.

Have a good weekend in your garden but keep cool. 👩‍🌾🌺🍅🌹🦋🐛🐦🐈‍⬛🌤🥵

Six-on-Saturday 09-07-2022

This week we have our granddaughter from Dubai staying with us, so that’s the excuse set up. 🙄😉 We are expecting to do a lot of watering with the hot forecast for the days ahead – no rain for the foreseeable future. 😎

1)

One of my new toys. I do have an old pair of edging shears but they just chew some of the grass so I ordered these from Wilko and I am very pleased with their performance.

2)

It never ceases to amaze me how the beans “latch on to” the poles within a few hours of a little help from me. I tied the stem where you see the string, then, although it had been flopping well away from the pole, the next morning it had wound this far up. ( I spent well, over an hour removing those weeds you see behind and on the path around the raised bed yesterday. It does look so much better but takes ages.)

3)

Well, some of it is in focus and it was very breezy. That plant Mr Propagator gave me is doing well.

4)

…….and another of his. I showed this rose last week but I think it looks nice with the pale yellow of the hollyhock behind.

5)

This has to be my favourite part of the flowerbeds at the moment. Neither plant is from Mr Propagator though. 😄

6)

You remember the story of Jack and the Beanstalk? Well, this is Granny and the hollyhock, not that I intend to climb up it to visit the giant. I thought it would stop growing once it started flowering, but it hasn’t. 😱😯

That’s it again. I must look up some more vegan recipes since this granddaughter is one of the ever growing contingent of descendants who have gone down the meat-free route.

Have a good weekend. 👩‍🌾🌺🍅🌹🦋🐛🐦🐈‍⬛🌤🥫🍇🍌🫑🌽🍏…..and any other fruit, vegetables and lentils you can think of!!

Six-on-Saturday 02-07-2022

As usual, this is going to be a short one. I had two days not deadheading due to a busy week, so the roses are in a bit of a state and the lawn (or clover field) is needing a trim. Off we go then.

1)

The Danse du feu, (I think that’s its name) from Mr Propagator a couple of years ago, is looking lovely. I can’t see it from the house but it’s worth a trip down the garden to admire.

2)

One of my favourite roses. It turns a pale yellow after it has been open for a couple of days. Beside it is the white, perennial sweet pea.

3)

……..and at the other side of the garden is the pink, perennial sweet pea. I haven’t tied it to the fence yet so it’s trying to get to the front of the border.

4)

This lavender is a pretty, gentle shade of pink which doesn’t show properly here.

5)

The flowers on my bog standard hydrangea are much smaller this year, still very pretty during all its phases.

6)

That giant Leucanthemum Superbum has started to flower. It’s over 1.5 metres tall, but has it stopped growing now?

I’m off out to the garden now. Have a good weekend. 👩‍🌾🌺🍅🌹🦋🐛🐦🐈‍⬛🌤

Six-on-Saturday 25-06-2022

These Saturdays come around so quickly, we can’t do anything about it so let’s do Six-on-Saturday again.

1)

Mr Propagator says his petals have blown away but he gave me some seeds a few years ago and mine are doing very nicely, thank you.

2)

These little troughs at either side of the front door are filled with the bedding plants I bought from our milkman, of course.

3)

I was rather worried when I saw these pretty purple flowers growing inside the Mexican Orange blossom. Unless I’m mistaken, they sre Deadly Nightshade. Needless to say, they are not there any more.

4)

The jackmanii has started and will be flowering non-stop for a few months. I start off carefully removing deadheads but it becomes a full time job after a little while.🙄

5)

Last year I bought a couple of pinks and put them in pots with silver leafed plants. They survived the winter outside but I removed the silver plants and put the pinks together this week. They are fine and smell lovely.

6)

The first hollyhocks and the Lychnis Coronaria are flowering now. I don’t know why this hollyhock is only about 1 metre tall whereas the one against the conservatory is still growing at well over 2 metres! The conservatory one isn’t flowering yet though.

That’s it for this week. Have a good weekend in your garden. 👩‍🌾 🌺🍅🌹🦋🐛🐦🐈‍⬛🌤🙂

Six-on-Saturday 18-06-2022

We are off out later so another quick Six-on-Saturday, but not quite as quick as Mr Propagator’s. The week has been sunny here but is due to break today so maybe the water butt I showed last week will fill up. It is the only one that is “high” enough in the garden to enable me to attach the hose and water the vegetables at the bottom of the garden.

1)

“I can’t believe it’s that tall either!” Yes, it’s still growing. 🤨

2)

On the subject of tall plants, this has been mentioned before, but it self-seeded last year, survived the winter, is in probably no more than a couple of centimetres of soil and has had no special treatment so, clearly, has thrived. 🤔

3)

The Peace rose is doing its best again. It looks good every year.

4)

Another rose that improves every year.

5)

A few of the lavender plants have died leaving some gaps in the hedge. Meanwhile, the Potentilla is flowering but not looking as healthy, but another ash seedling has appeared right in the middle of it! Maybe I will dig them both up. 😱

6)

In the front garden, the Salvia Hot Lips is turning darker now the weather is warming up.

Not much new in the garden this week but with the roses and penstemon opening out, there should be plenty of colour until well into the autumn.

Have a good weekend whateveryou may be doing. 👩‍🌾 🐛🐦🐈‍⬛🍅🌹🦋🌤🏃

Six-on-Saturday 11-06-2022

A lovely, sunny, windy day so I need to get the washing out soon, but Six-on-Saturday comes first, of course.

1)

Will we actually get edible figs this year? Looking good so far.

2)

I can’t remember what this is called but Hey Jude commented last year that it is a thug of a plant. Well, it hasn’t spread but last year it was about 30 cm tall, this year it is well over a meter tall……..hmmmm.

3)

So, what’s interesting about a water butt? I noticed an Ash tree seedling behind it in a very small space and to reach it, the water butt had to be emptied, moved, cleaned out then put back. I couldn’t dig out the roots so cut it as low as I could and put some root poison on it. There’s nothing to harm near it so I hope it works.

4)

The dianthus is trying its best to be noticed among the spirea, perennial geranium and the rose.

5)

That spirea is looking at its best just now.

6)

Those huge, pink poppies will continue to do well for a few more days.

That’s it again. We enjoyed seeing our younger daughter and our grandson for a brief visit this week but it will be a couple of months before she comes over for the summer.

Have a good weekend in your garden. 👩‍🌾 🐛🐦🐈‍⬛🍅🌹🦋🌤