Tag: SixOnSaturday

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

OK, enough of the heatwaves now. I’m fed up with lugging watering cans up and down the garden and seeing unhappy looking plants. However I’ve still found things in the garden to cheer me up:

One – Allium sphaerocephalon is one of my favourite alliums. Really reliable, doesn’t seem to mind the heat and is beloved by bees.

Two – I wanted to grow a lavender hedge along the path to the bottom of our garden and these are some of the plants two years on. They could be either ‘Hidcote’ or ‘Munstead’ as the hedge is a combination of both. Further along, but out of sight in this picture, are lavender plants I grew from cuttings which are still quite small.

Three – Yay, first courgette (AKA summer squash) spotted. The variety is ‘Romanesco’ which I find has a very sweet taste. The other variety we’re growing, ‘Firenze’, is a bit further behind.

Four – Combination of Penstemon (unknown variety), Leucanthemum ‘Crazy Daisy’ and self-seeded Hollyhock in one of the borders.

Five – The tallest plants in the garden at the moment, with the exception of trees, are these teasels grown from seed, planted out last year and now taller than I am. If they don’t attract some goldfinches I shall be sorely disappointed. I need some reward for all the effort involved plus I hadn’t realised what prickly devils teasels are.

Six – There’s a story to this one. We inherited this clematis which was growing up a mature crab apple tree. The clematis didn’t get pruned so the flowers appeared further and further up the tree each year to the point where you could hardly see them. Last autumn we had the crab apple reduced because it was casting too much shade and at the same time the stems of the ivy that was growing all over it were severed near the base. (The ivy wasn’t pulled off for fear of damaging the bark of the tree.) Unfortunately the clematis got severed at the same time and I thought it had been lost. Lo and behold, earlier this year when I was trying to remove what I thought was vinca from around the base of the tree, I spotted a shoot and realised it was the clematis. Now it’s climbing up the tree again but this time with its flowers at a height where we can actually see them. And what a gorgeous colour they are.

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.

Another heatwave on the way, more days of lugging watering cans up and down the garden, more grumbling about rapidly depleting water butts. But enough of that, here are six things in my garden that have cheered me up:

One – Always exciting to spot the first climbing French bean has set. The variety is Cobra. Last year they got attacked by blackfly and eventually gave up the ghost so I had to sow a second lot. This year I’ve already sowed back-ups just in case.

Two – I love hollyhocks. Although they’re described as shortlived perennials this clump has returned year after year. I’ve probably given them the kiss of death saying that so I must remember to save some of the seed.

Three – This Hypericum has grown so fond of the compost bin it’s decided to give it a cuddle. There’s actually a path running between them but that has disappeared for the time being.

Four – Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’ very happy in the sun. You might be able to spot one of nature’s little helpers in the top right hand corner.

Five – Pennisetum orientale. Difficult to photograph when the wind’s blowing and it’s doing its wavy thing.

Six – Luma apiculata ‘Glanleam Gold’ planted last autumn and flowering for the first time, although a bit earlier than expected.

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.