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.

It’s now coming up to a month since we had any rain worth talking about here in Berkshire with no prospect of any for at least another week if the forecasts are correct. Then it may be brief downpours when what we really need is long periods of persistent rain to really soak the soil. There’s only so much you can do with a watering can.

From amongst the wilted and withered, I’ve managed to come up with six, the first three of which are a bit of a cheat:

One, Two & Three – There are plants dying and the earth is too hard to dig so of course I’ve bought some new plants: Penstemon ‘White Bedder’ to provide a contrast in a mostly pink/purple border, ‘Aster x frikarti ‘Mönch’ for some late summer/autumn flower and Erysium ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ which I know can withstand hot, dry conditions. I won’t be planting them out until we’ve had some rain and they have a good chance of survival. I might even pot them on and wait until the autumn. In the meantime they’re being moved from one shady spot to another and kept well watered.

Four – Goodness knows how it’s managed it given the lack of rain but the squash in one of the raised beds in the front garden has produced two fruits now. Do you want a bet it will be nothing but cloud and rain when it comes time for them to ripen?

Five – Finally the first ‘Chocolate Cherry’ tomatoes in the greenhouse are becoming, well…chocolate coloured.

Six – Just to prove how mad everything is this year, there is already fruit on the damson tree.

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.

Phew, what a scorcher! It’s at least three weeks since we had any rain here in Berkshire and it may be another week before there’s even the prospect of any. I was tempted to make this week’s update pictures of things dying from the effects of extreme heat and lack of water, except there would be many more than six to choose from. Also it would be defeatist and I think gardeners are by nature optimists. Gosh how we need to be at the moment. From amongst the wilted and withered, here are my six:

One – Dahlia ‘Missis Amy’ flowering in one of the raised beds in the (very hot and sunny) front garden. The first time I’ve grown dahlias so pretty chuffed.

Two – Crocosmia ‘Hot Spot’ doesn’t seem to mind its hot spot in the garden.

Three – Despite putting shading over the greenhouse, the temperature is still reaching over 40 degrees at times.

Four – This hosta has found itself a shady spot in order to produce flower stalks. Garden hose in background model’s own.

Five – Squash trying to make a getaway from one of the raised beds in the front garden. This photo was taken a week ago and there are now fruits forming but you’ll have to take my word for it because it was way too hot to go out to take another picture.

Six – Rather out of focus bee trying to get the last of the nectar from a drumstick allium.

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.