Tag: gardening

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

There’s a real feel of autumn in the air. Does anyone else find it slightly depressing to have to put lights on in the house in the evening? There’s a sense this year’s growing season is coming to an end and it will soon be time to tuck up the garden for the winter. Before that though, there are lots of things to do: collecting seeds, sowing hardy annuals, harvesting the remaining summer vegetables, mulching.

One – Talking of mulching, one of my favourite sights is the arrival of a large bag of this lovely stuff. Following the recent rain, a few beds in the front garden have already had a thick layer applied. Once that’s completed it’s on to the back garden. Quite a few wheelbarrow trips.

Two – A flower head of Verbena bonariensis against the feathery Pennisetum villosum.

Three – The seed heads of Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstsonne’ just waiting to ripen and become both food for the birds and plants for next year.

Four – Berries on the hawthorn hedges.

Five – A seed head of Echinacea purpurea. I’ve already got several drying in the potting shed.

Six – Fruits forming on Arbutus unedo which will soon change their colour to justify its common name – strawberry tree. It’s a shrub that has tolerated the dry conditions quite well.

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.

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

Well, we’ve had rain but of course not really enough to make up for the weeks of drought. Only fellow gardeners will understand the joy that full water butts can bring…

One – Finally some beetroot worth harvesting. The variety is the reliable ‘Boltardy’.

Two – I spotted the first Cyclamen hederifolium, as usual sans label.

Three – Berries on one of our holly trees, and quite a lot of them as well. I’ve also noticed a proliferation of berries forming on pyracantha, cotoneaster and our hawthorn hedge. Folklore says it’s the sign of a harsh winter but I’m not sure there’s scientific evidence to support that.

Four – The lovely foliage of Pittosporum ‘John Flanagan’, one of the evergreen shrubs I planted last year following the makeover of our front garden. It seems to have coped well with the hot, dry conditions.

Five – The pretty pink flower of Geranium ‘Mavis Simpson’.

Six – The gift of rain. Water droplets on the leaves of Stachys byzantina.

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.