Tag: discussion

Six on Saturday is a weekly meme originally hosted by The Propagator but now in the tender care of Jim at Garden Ruminations. If you can find the time, check out the posts of other participants by following the links in the comments section of Jim’s post – or share your own six.

The continuing dry spell means no sooner have our six water butts collected a meagre amount of rainwater than they’re empty again. Anyway, enough grumbling, here’s my six:

One – (Below, left) The chocolate coloured flowers of sunflower ‘Rouge’ which have grown taller than the ‘Giant’ variety planted at the same time.

Two – (Below, top right) Japanese anemones have made themselves at home in our garden and pop up all over the place.

Three – (Below, bottom right) This year was my first attempt at creating a wildflower patch. Although it was just from a fairly cheap box of annual seed mixture, I’m pretty pleased with it and the number of pollinators it’s attracting. It’s in an area of the garden that had been used to grow vegetables, then to grow weeds and then covered with ground cover for a year so we didn’t have to look at the weeds.

Four – (Below, left) – This is looking like the year we might actually get some pears from two trees being grown as cordons. The varieties are Doyenné du Comice and Buerre Hardy, although the photo makes them look bigger than they actually are yet! If we do it will make up for the total wipeout of cherries as a result of a combination of hungry pigeons and rampant cherry aphid.

Five – (Below, top right) – One of the new raised beds we put in this year containing carrots, beetroot and sweetcorn.

Six – (Below, bottom right) – The Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’ grown from tiny plugs are finally flowering.

Six on Saturday is a weekly meme originally hosted by The Propagator but now in the tender care of Jim at Garden Ruminations. If you can find the time, check out the posts of other participants by following the links in the comments section of Jim’s post – or share your own six. The long dry spell (although we are “promised” rain tomorrow) means it’s still a tiresome case of collecting the last trickle from your water butts and lugging watering cans up and down the garden. Anyway, enough grumbling, here’s my six:

One – (Below, left) Proof, if it were needed, that a relaxed attitude to self-seeders can bring unexpected pleasures such as this gloriously frilly poppy. I’ll be collecting seed.

Two – (Below, top right) And talking of self-seeders – and resilience – here’s a white campanula that’s found a place for itself amongst a lavender bush growing in a very inhospitable spot next to our garage.

Three – (Below, bottom right) The second early potatoes (the variety is Charlotte) that we are growing in bags are looking good, at least on top. As they were planted coming up to 10 weeks ago we may harvest a bag just to see if they’ve reached a decent enough size. It’s become an annual tradition to eat the first harvest in the garden. Freshly steamed potatoes, scented with mint and garnished with butter and black pepper… what’s better than that?

Four – (Below, left) – A white rose scrambling up the crab apple tree. Not sure of the variety as we inherited it but possibly ‘Iceberg’?

Five – (Below, top right) – Dianthus ‘Rockin Red’ living up to its name. Grown on from very small plug plants purchased last year.

Six – (Below, bottom right) – Coreopsis ‘Golden Joy’ bringing a splash of yellow to a former patch of lawn I’m in the process of wrestling into submission in an effort to transform it into a border.  Impossible to disguise the parched ground I’m expecting the poor things to grow in.