#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 plea for rain last week went unanswered so it’s still watering cans and rapidly emptying water butts. On a more positive note, it’s been entertaining to watch a male and female blackbird flitting about the garden. I think they’re nesting in one of the hedges but haven’t quite worked out which one yet. Weeding is taking up a lot of time – they don’t seem to mind parched soil – but there’s one thing that won’t take up time this month because it’s No Mow May. Hooray! Here are my six:

One – The first flowers are opening on this rhododendron. No idea of the variety, it came with the house.

Two – What I think is an appealing combination of leaf colour and shape formed by a hardy geranium and a bronze-leaved heuchera nestled up against each other.

Three – Depending on your point of view this Dutch iris is either a bold or a garish yellow.

Four – The first climbing French bean has made an appearance, a week on from being sown. The variety is Cobra.

Five – Another attractive combination I think – apple mint growing alongside thyme in our gravel garden. The mint will win the battle eventually.

Six – What started life as two lily bulbs last year has become a plethora.

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.