#SixOnSaturday – Six things happening in my garden this week

Six on Saturday is a weekly meme originally hosted by The Propagator but now in the tender care of Jim at Garden Ruminations.

My apologies that the rain I pleaded for last week came in the form of torrential (albeit brief) downpours or hailstones, accompanied at times by high winds. And here in Berkshire we’ve still had some really cold nights, although hopefully not for much longer. I have a pink and lilac themed six this week:

One – I only had one flower to show on this rhododendron last week, now there’s a whole host of them.

Two – Somehow this sweet pea has managed to seed itself and climb its way up through the perennials around it. I really like the delicate blush pink colour so I’ll try to remember to save some seed for next year.

Three – Perennial wallflower Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’.

Four – The rather beautifully patterned flower of Clematis ‘Nelly Moser’.

Five – A lovely dusky pink foxglove.

Six – I hope you’re not sick of pink yet because here’s Geranium sanguineum

Do check out the posts of other participants by following the links in the comments section of Jim’s post. If you fancy taking part yourself but don’t know where to start, here’s the participant’s guide.

My list for The Classics Club Spin 44 #ccspin

Classics Club Spin

It’s time for another Classics Club Spin. If you’re wondering how it works, read on:

Before 17th May, create a post listing twenty books that remain to be read on your Classics Club list. This is your Spin list. On 17th May the folks at The Classics Club will post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin list by 5th July 2026.

My Spin List

I enjoyed the book chosen for me in the last Classics Club Spin – Thunderball by Ian Fleming – so I have my fingers crossed for this one. The perfect scenario would be that the number chosen is either 4 or 18 as those two books are also on my 20 Books of Summer list. Kill two birds with one stone and all that…

  1. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories by Edgar Allan Poe
  2. The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
  3. The Hound of Death and Other Stories by Agatha Christie
  4. Victoria Four-Thirty by Cecil Roberts
  5. The Smiler with the Knife by Nicholas Blake
  6. The King’s General by Daphne du Maurier
  7. A Maigret Christmas and Other Stories by George Simenon
  8. The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier
  9. A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
  10. Beyond the Black Stump by Nevil Shute
  11. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
  12. Trial by Terror by Paul Gallico
  13. The Story of Esther Costello by Nicholas Montserrat
  14. The Red Rock Wilderness by Elspeth Huxley
  15. The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden
  16. Good-bye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton
  17. Lord Hornblower by C. S. Forester
  18. Creatures of Circumstance by W. Somerset Maugham
  19. The Satanist by Denis Wheatley
  20. Stephen Morris by Nevil Shute

If this was your list, which book would you be hoping for?