#SixOnSaturday – Six things happening in my garden this week

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

With apologies to Irving Berlin – ‘We’re having a heat wave, A tropical heat wave, The temperature’s rising, It isn’t surprising… Some plants are not thriving.’

One – Reprising last week’s pink theme, a rose of unknown variety.

Two – Tanacetum coccineum ‘Robinson’s Red’ growing alongside viola. In the background are two, now very tall, teasels I sowed last year that I hope will attract goldfinch once their prickly flower heads have appeared.

Three – The wildlife pond I constructed last year has developed a lot of algae. I probably didn’t choose the best location for it although in fairness there weren’t that many other options. A lot of leaves fell in the pond last autumn and have sunk to the bottom. I think another factor is the pond is in full sun at certain points in the day. I’ve started to plant along the front edge in an effort to create more shade. I hope this sesleria autumnalis, also known as autumn moor-grass, will do the trick.

Four – I have a fondness for heuchera and I couldn’t resist this heuchera pulchella with its delicate pinky-white flowers when I spotted it on a recent garden centre trip.

Five – Chive flowers and fennel foliage in the herb garden.

Six – A rather tatty looking flower of Leucanthemum × superbum but it’s welcome anyway.

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.

#WWWWednesday – 20th May 2026

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Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

What I’m Currently Reading

Once the Deed Is Done by Rachel Seiffert (Virago) Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2026

To be truly alive means having to make choices.To be truly alive is also, quite simply, to love.

Northern Germany, 1945. Dead of night and dead of winter, a boy hears soldiers and sees strangers – forced labourers – fleeing across the heathland by his small town: shawls and skirts in the snowfall. The end days are close, war brings risk and chance, and Benno is witness to something he barely understands.

Peace brings more soldiers – but English this time – and Red Cross staff officers. Ruth, on her first posting from London, is given charge of a refugee camp on the heathland, crowded with former forced labourers. As ever more keep arriving, she hears whispers, rumours of dark secrets about that snowy night.

The townspeople close ranks, shutting their mouths and minds to the winter’s events, but the town children are curious about the refugees on their doorstep, and Benno can’t carry his secret alone.

Carrion Crow by Heather Parry (Pushkin Press via NetGalley)

Marguerite Périgord is locked in the attic of her family home, a towering Chelsea house overlooking the stinking Thames.

For company she has a sewing machine, Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, and a carrion crow who has come to nest in the rafters. Restless, she spends her waning energies on the fascinations of her own body, memorising Mrs. Beeton’s advice and longing for life outside.

Cécile Périgord has confined her daughter Marguerite for her own good.

Cécile is concerned that Marguerite’s engagement to a much older, near-penniless solicitor, will drag the family name – her husband’s name, that is – into disrepute. And for Cécile, who has worked hard at her own betterment, this simply won’t do. Cécile’s life has taught her that no matter how high a woman climbs she can just as readily fall.

Of course, both have their secrets, intentions and histories to hide. As Marguerite’s patience turns into rage, the boundaries of her mind and body start to fray.

And neither woman can recognise what the other is becoming.

What I’ve Just Read

Bane of Bernicia (The Bernicia Chronicles #11) by Matthew Harffy (Head of Zeus)

What I’ll Be Reading Next

Dwell by Rue Baldry (ARC, Northodox Press)

For a while they are within a painting, both openly staring, with the only movement the glittering of dust motes. Light halos the marble-white figure on the floor, burnishing his hair, sharpening his features with shadows… 

January 1919. A new gardener at a snowbound boys’ boarding school catches everyone’s attention. There is a rumour that he is a war hero. 

Nineteen-year-old Albert is haunted by his experiences in The Great War, and fighting the temptation of one particular prefect. What they want is illegal. Being caught would ruin them both. 

When Albert’s past catches up to him, their quest for a place where love can safely dwell comes under even greater threat. 

Dwell uncovers those experiences of ordinary gay men in the early twentieth century which had to be kept secret in their lifetimes. It is a tender, evocative coming-of-age love story exploring themes of privilege and oppression, healing from trauma, redemption, belonging, and hope.