Six on Saturday is a weekly meme orignally hosted by The Propagator but now in the tender care of Jim at Garden Ruminations. If you can find the time, do check out the posts by other participants or share your own six.
The garden is getting ready for its winter slumber – here in the UK at least – but there is still colour and fragrance to be found if you look hard enough.
One – (Left) The bell-shaped flowers of arbutus unedo. I planted two earlier this year which I’m hoping will eventually form part of a low hedge to replace one of box which developed the dreaded blight.
Two – (Right) A butter yellow rose – variety unknown – flowering for the third time this year and pushing its way through the berries on a pyracantha.
Three – (Left) A hebe – variety unknown – rewarding me for chopping back several shrubs that had overwhelmed it by producing a few pale mauve flowers.
Four – (Right) An apple – or possibly pineapple – mint fighting a battle with Japanese anemones that have spread everywhere in this patch of the garden. I think it’s winning at the moment.
Five – (Left) There are only a few berries on this holly bush probably because I gave it a drastic prune a few months ago as it was crowding out one of our apple trees. By the way, is there anything more lethal to a gardener’s fingers than dead holly leaves?
Six – (Below) An autumn/winter medley of winter jasmine, cotoneaster and ivy berries. A splash of colour for the gardener. Breakfast, lunch and dinner for the birds and pollinators.
One – The rosemary bushes (right) have started flowering again, much to the delight of the bees. I spent a lovely few days in Falmouth recently and spotted a rosemary with a much darker blue flower in the garden of the hotel where we were staying so of course I nicked a cutting.
Two – The choiysa (left) also has a second flush of flowers. It has pretty much taken over one corner of the garden between the hawthorn hedge and a crab apple tree so it is overdue for some taming.
Three – Despite giving it a drastic chop back a month or so ago in an attempt to give it a better shape (or perhaps because of) this bay laurel (right) is covered with beautifully scented flowers.
Four – The Japanese anemones (left) can be relied upon to deliver some late colour to the garden. They spread everywhere but I tend to leave them, especially as they are a pain to dig out.
Five – I have no idea how this cyclamen (right) found its way into the garden and managed to make itself at home at the edge of a gravel path but I’m glad it did. And yes, I should have cleared away the leaves from the hazel before taking the picture.
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