Six On Saturday: Looking on the bright side

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Venturing out into the garden is a challenge these days. Sometimes difficult as the effect of the drought continue to take its toll and sometimes joyful as something fights back. We had a few minutes of drizzle, gone before it hit the ground. The temperatures have dropped at least and I did manage to spend some time in the garden cutting back the alchemilla mollis. A moment of joy because I found the long lost hand fork buried under their leaves. This completed the well known gardening rule – as soon as you buy the replacement the lost item will be found. Here’s six other things that I found in the garden this week.

One

I cut back geranium ‘Brookside’ about a month ago. It’s great for sprawling amongst the roses in June but quickly becomes an untidy bully by July. It gets cut to the ground and this year I didn’t expect anything more from it. But here it is putting out a few flowers again. No watering here at all.

Two

The aforementioned ‘Brookside’ sprawls through the rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’. Here it is putting out a perfectly formed new rose bud. I couldn’t resist featuring Gertie again.

Three

This is another repeat I’m sure, but Pennisetum villosum looks just lovely with its sandy coloured frothy pannicles. No wonder it is also known as feathertop

Four

This is a variety unknown kniphofia. Again entirely neglected but putting out another flower spike.

Five

The grapes are ripening well this year. There are those higher up that are shrivelling but these on newer stems are doing well. So well that the magpies have discovered them and come for a bite to eat every now and then. The grapevine is grown to shade the pergola so I don’t take offense.

Six

At the beginning of the summer when I was full of optimism I took cuttings from the osteospermum. So easy to do and a number took. By the time they were ready to plant out it had become clear that this was going to be a dry summer so I decided to keep several things in pots near the house so that they could be watered easily. This sturdy specimen has decided to be brave and flower. Well done.

Don’t be fooled, most of the garden is looking awful. I’ll be out watering those that are suffering the most and hoping that rain comes along soon. I’m on the last of the tomatoes so that is one less part of the garden to water. Hydrangeas and hellebores are looking very sad. Let’s stop there, I could get downhearted again! Take a look at Jim’s garden and enjoy, the SOS crowd continue to post and find something to share. For that I give you all a loud cheer! Happy gardening.

Six On Saturday: Ouch

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This is getting painful now. There are so many wilted plants in the garden. Surely the persicaria will come back, the pachysandra has disappeared, hopefully lying dormant until it rains again, the hebes are beginning to look distraught. We are all longing for an end to the drought. Can I find six to show that offer a glimmer of hope. Here goes.

One

The first flower on the miscanthus has showed up this week. This is a plant that is surviving without watering. Yay to it!

Two

The basil by the back door does get watered regularly and is flourishing, providing the appropriate accompaniment to the continuing crop of tomatoes.

Three

I have a number of hydrangeas in the garden and these are suffering badly. Here is dwarf variety called ‘Little White’ that I planted out in a line of three last year. They present a goldilocks situation. The one in the most shade is doing okay, the one in the middle is not so bad but the one in the sun is really not very good. This is the middle one. As new plants to the garden these are getting a weekly watering.

Four

The apples have been falling for some weeks now and I can see that we will not get the usual quantity of apple juice this year. There are less apples and they are smaller in size. The idea of picking them in this heat is not appealing. We may skip a year.

Five

The plums are as bountiful as ever and must be nearly ripe. So far they still feel hard, maybe in a week or two we will have these to pick.

Six

The verbena bonariensis seeds itself happily and has popped up amongst the grass ‘Karl Foerster’. It makes for a good combination. Both of these do well without additional water.

There, it’s done. I am holding in reserve for weeks to come the idea of sharing six suffering plants. I am sure we all have them, perhaps it is time to share! I am sharing my shower with a bucket and the water collected goes to the hydrangeas. I hope it will keep them alive. Wishing you all well in your gardening spaces, we can only do our best and hope that nature will surprise us when finally arrives. Jim at Garden Ruminations is suffering too and has garden open days to come. I’m sure the visitors will be sympathetic and appreciative of all his hard work. Jim also has some great pictures of the solar eclipse – well worth checking out.

Six On Saturday: Watering woes

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Fine, warm and dry. It continues. There was one brief shower but the garden barely noticed it. On we go. Here’s my six for this week.

One

The hibiscus has been putting out flowers for a few weeks now. This is one gets a can of water a week. It seems to be managing quite well.

Two

The roses continue to amaze. Yes the flowers are smaller but they are surviving without additional watering. This is ‘Gertrude Jekyll’.

Three

I managed to plant out some nicotiana before the drought really took hold. Some have shrivelled up, but these in part shade have survived. It’s a surprising mix of white and lime green in what was a ‘Lime Green’ packet of seeds. I much prefer the white. These are also treated to a watering every now and then. Behind are the wilted stems of phlox, which doesn’t get watered.

Four

The geraniums and lavender in pots are the pampered ones. These are probably watered four times a week.

Five

Salvia blackcurrant (salvia microphylla), This seems to be doing pretty well on virtually no water. The leaves have such a lovely smell and the colour pops beautifully.

Six

The lawn. Not watered at all, of course. The old garden path reveals itself every year but this year I do wonder if the grass will come back. It’s interesting that other parts of the lawn are still green(ish). I think we have some underground water that drains down from further up. Historically there were ponds in the area. Something is keeping the lawn green in parts. The apple tree on the left hand side has put out so much summer growth this year. It used to be in the shade of a large fig tree and clearly enjoying its freedom.

My six is getting posted later and later as I spend the early part of Saturday morning watering. I was patting myself on the back for not getting blossom end rot on the tomatoes this year but today I was proved wrong. The cucumbers are slowing down and several young fruits have dried up. Clearly they were not getting enough water. I’m up to two courgettes. Certainly no glut there. I thought temperatures were dropping off but oh no, another heatwave arrives next week. On a brighter note the warm weather has brought a humming bird hawk moth into the garden. I’ve spotted it twice now but I’m never quick enough to get a photo. I’ll keep watch. Jim our genial host continues to find plenty to share, even though there are some casualties there too. Take a look at Garden Ruminations. Happy watering for those without the magic stuff from the sky!

Six On Saturday: Waxing lyrical

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Anyone dealing with drought and hosepipe bans will be sending out the same woeful message. It’s tough. However there are some things to enjoy. So here’s my six for this week.

One

Tomatoes. This week I went to see Benton End: a Paradise of Pollen and Paint at the Garden Museum in Lambeth, London. There’s a great painting there by Cedric Morris, showing the ingredients for Elizabeth David’s Ratatouille and the description includes a dictum by Elizabeth David – tomatoes ‘should be accompanied by a drink appropriate to the region and circumstance.’ I had a terrible time with my tomato seeds this year and resorted to buying in from the local nursery. It’s been a great mix. I’m going to say that it’s due to the weather but maybe those professional growers have superior skills! My absolute favourites have been ‘Supersteak’. Needless to say I have taken Elizabeth David’s advice.

Two

Marigolds. Grown from seed and mysteriously doing well here where once again the garden seems to have a secret supply of water. I’m not complaining.

Three

Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterfly’. These are hard to show well in a photo so this one will have to do. I really enjoy these but never manage to keep them. This year I grew some from seed and managed to get six to planting out size. If they don’t over-winter I shall be growing from seed again. If they would only establish I might get a large clump that photograph well.

Four

Cosmos. I had several trays of these, some I shared with my daughter and the rest were waiting to go out into the garden. It became impossible to chip away at the soil and so I’ve put them into a large container. After a month in 9cms they are somewhat diminished in size but I’m sure they’ll romp away soon and no doubt sprawl all over the place. They have been pinched out so perhaps they’ll behave.

Five

Cucumbers. I went back to ‘Burpless’ this year but they do seem to have suffered more from heat stress. I also grew ‘Emilie’, shown here. I try to pick them small, which sometimes means picking every day. I’ll be growing these again and may forego ‘Burpless’ next year.

Six

I gave this hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ two cans of water on Friday night, to prepare it for this morning’s photocall. The bedraggled background is my poor rhododendron, I’m not sure that one is going to survive.

The garden produce is keeping us happy at the moment. The first courgette arrived and was duly cooked up with tomatoes and bacon lardons for a pasta. Those tomatoes also go well with the French beans for a salad mix, and the tomatoes are stars again with basil and black olives for another tasty salad. Elizabeth David I thank you!

Over to Jim at Garden Ruminations for more SOS posts and Jim’s own personal selection. More sun, no rain so more watering can work for me. Happy Gardening.

Six On Saturday: Drying out

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I see that my last post on 4 July was titled Sunny Days. It is still sunny, but it has been very hot and dry and that is causing problems, as most UK SOSers will have discussed in the last few weeks. I had a busy couple of weekends so I am late to that party. The simple story is no rain, no stored water and a hosepipe ban which has led to plenty of journeys up and down the garden carrying watering cans to a precious few plants while others are left wilting and perilously on the edge of elimination. So many plants have gone over already and they didn’t even get a mention. There’s a sniff of rain on Sunday. Here’s hoping.

One

Some years back I dug out the echinops because they were struggling to do well and seemed always to be covered in blackfly. I must have left a root in, last year they re-appeared and went on to self seed into another border. Here they, barely watered at all. It may only be for a brief moment.

Two

The agapanthus are in full flower now. These are a dark variety called ‘Midnight Blue’. They are quite a short growing variety and as one of my favourites they benefited from the last of the stored water.

Three

If there’s one plant I really should Chelsea Chop it would be these leucanthemums. Even with staking they manage to sprawl and flop. Miraculously this group has managed to stay upright.

Four

This is pennisetum villosum. It’s another plant that was moved in the hope of giving it a better situation. It’s making up ground steadily, I hope it survives the drought. It’s one that will get the benefit of a watering.

Five

The white phlox must be in a part of the garden that has some secret hidden water supply. They are surviving but elsewhere the magenta pink variety are drooping pitifully. I hope they can pull through.

Six

The roses are doing well in the dry weather. The second flush of flowers are much smaller but there seem to be many more of them. Here’s ‘Lady of Shalott’ peeking through the miscanthus.

I think that next week I may be reduced to showing you the worst of the garden. Tough times. On the veg plot the potatoes are much smaller than usual but the taste is fantastic. I’ve been picking tomatoes, cucumbers and French beans. Can you believe that the courgettes have yet to produce. Jim is at his usual post for Garden Ruminations. Drop by and see what it is doing well in glorious Cornwall. Have fun in the garden this weekend.

Six On Saturday: Sunny days

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Last week we celebrated ten years of being here. Ten year’s of gardening here. You’d think I’d have it all under control by now, but of course not. In fact, I have an urge to pull things out and re-think. There’s one border in particular (well two) that I keep looking at with a less than satisfactory feeling. Maybe come October I will have a plan. In the meantime here’s six from the garden.

One

Last week, day lilies were popular with fellow sixers. Surely this week it will be hollyhocks. Mine turn up in new colours every year. I like this red mixed in with verbena bonariensis

Two

I grabbed this shot of kniphofia to share this week as by next week it may well be gone. Now I just need the rose ‘Lady of Shallot’ situated nearby to put out some of it’s beautiful flowers again and my pink and orange corner will be complete.

Three

Penstemon ‘Garnet’. What a doer. I usually cut these back in April but then I read that cutting them by half in the Autumn and then again in April was the way to do it. I managed the Autumn cut but failed with the April one. Doesn’t seem to have hurt.

Four

Hebe gone mad. There used to be a space between the hebe and the hydrangea where irises, camassias and yet more verbena bonariensis grew. The hebe is having none of it. I’ll cut it back after flowering but I’m happy to let it have the width.

Five

The drumstick alliums are back. Much loved by bees and holding their own against marauding g.psilostemon .

Six

I left my scented leaf geraniums outside this winter. I can’t remember why. I had a few scraggy ends of some of them left but these pink capitatum survived quite well. Once all the dead bits were removed the new growth came through and now the flowers. These were my favourite of the the three varieties I had so I am happy.

Tell me to be quiet if you are tired of hearing that I’m way behind still. One thing that does seem to have come early is blight on the potatoes. I also discovered that the bitter taste I had with one or two cucumbers is down to heat stress. I hope the next batch are back to tasty normality. Jim continues to amaze with his gardening abundance. Take a look at Garden Ruminations and check in other SOSers – join in even! Happy Gardening.

Six On Saturday: Scorchio

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I’ve just returned from a week on the Suffolk coast. It was hot but nothing like the temperatures that the garden here had to endure. I moved almost everything out of the greenhouse before I left and put the trays of plants in a shady spot. I didn’t move my tomato plants in pots to shady areas – a mistake. They have really suffered even though there was a midweek downpour. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

I took this photo last week just before leaving, knowing that the lilies would not be there on my return. So transient, their scent is wonderful on a June evening. I’m happy that I was able to enjoy them for a while.

Two

A week of hot temperatures and some rain has sent the garden into overdrive. The verbena bonariensis is soaring upwards. I remember smiling at a garden designer talking about how naturalistic planting was his aim. There’s no escaping naturalistic planting here as the self-seeders are the most successful things in the garden. The vbs just spread themselves around whereever they want.

Three

The day lilies opened in the week I was away. This, if I remember rightly, is ‘Golden Chimes’. They were one of the first plants to be added to the garden and I have been able to divide them over the years.

Four

I told myself that I did not need any new purchases this year. The garden was full. But then I looked from the kitchen window and discovered that I needed a white plant in the bottom right hand corner. It was dominated by geranium ‘Wargrave Pink’, another spreader that suits a naturalistic planting style. It was fate, of course, the garden centre had one penstemon ‘Apple Blossom’ left. I snapped it up, came home and dug up a clump of the ‘Wargrave Pink’ and in went the penstemon. It has survived its first week.

Five

More naturalistic planting. A collection of alchemilla mollis, g.psilostemon, and sisyrinchium. Uncontrollable!

Six

A week away and the grapevine doubled in size. There’s plenty of long stems that need cutting back to allow the grapes to have a chance of ripening. The first bunches are just appearing.

It’s too hot today for any gardening. Last night I tied in the tomatoes and cucumbers, it was exhausting. Maybe it’s time to find a shady corner and just sit back and enjoy everything. I hope you also get time to take it all in. Happy non-gardening to all. Jim is in full flow with his open garden days. Lucky us, we get to visit Garden Ruminations every week. This week my favourite is his stunning day lily. Stop by and enjoy.

Six On Saturday: I’m calling it Summer

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The first raspberries have been picked, just a handful and I found two ripe strawberries so for me Summer has begun. It’s been rather wet but my garden did need some rain so I’m not complaining. I even spotted the first cucumbers ready for picking. My walk round the garden this morning revealed plenty more jobs to do but here’s six things to enjoy.

One

The hydrangeas suffered so much in the dry spell but this one in particular has responded to the recent downpours. It’s ‘Runaway Bride’. It is really filling out a big space now and makes quite a statement.

Two

I mentioned a while back that I hadn’t tied in the clematis quickly enough and that they had found their own way to spread out. Upwards of course! I like to train these along the fence to hide it away for the summer. But without a few early ties this ‘Etoile Violette’ has managed to romp upwards into my neighbours shrubs. It does make quite a nice waterfall of flowers though.

Three

It was time to mow the grass this morning and the non-gardener was not impressed by the sprawl of geranium ‘Brookside’ that was obstructing the lawnmower’s journey to the lawn. Fortunately I was on hand to sweep it gently to the sides – for a moment.

Four

I have three pots along this border sitting on three concrete slabs that were put in when a soakaway was installed. I’ve tried various things in the pots over the years, one of which was stipa tenuissima. They didn’t do well and so the following year I replaced them with plantings of Hakonechloa macra. They seemed quite happy but this year a remnant of the stipa has made a come-back and is looking much better than it ever did. I think is has bullied out the hak mac!

Five

I get excited at this time of year. The agapanthus stems start to appear. The pot on the left has a miraculous ten stems. The pot on the right looks very sad and is currently producing only one stem. I hope it can come with a few more as the weather warms up.

Six

Another come-back. Thank you to Fred who sent some poppy seeds a year ago. They seeded themselves and this year have really achieved a good height.

There’s a great crowd of people posting their Six On Saturday blogs in the comments section of Jim’s Garden Rumination site. Join in, stop by for a look around, have fun gardening.

Six On Saturday: Welcome rain

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I know correlation is not causation but I did order some new garden chairs last week and I planted out the summer pots. The rain has fallen every day since. It was much needed and I am celebrating full water barrels again. I was even able to plant out a few annuals but then I lost my hand fork in the borders. I don’t think you can be a gardener without losing hand tools, or secateurs, or balls of twine every once in a while. I’ve retraced my steps many times but I’ve not found it yet. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

Here’s one I took earlier. The rambling rose ‘Wedding Day’. It runs along the fence at the rear side of the garden and gives a glorious display of small yellowish flowers that fade to white. It’s a sight to behold.

Two

A few years back the slugs demolished my large established clumps of delphiniums. I hoped they would miraculously reappear but there’s no sign of them. I’ve started again from seed and here’s the first to flower. So far no slug damage but then this is the perfect weather for the little darlings.

Three

Onto the rainy photos, this one is geranium psilostemon. It is overly generous with its seedlings and I dig them out ruthlessly but still I have plenty. The deep magenta with the black centre is very striking.

Four

Here you can see them appearing amongst the phlomis. The phlomis was planted to give good ground cover. It does but psilostemon finds a way.

Five

I failed miserably to spread out the clematis stems this year but they find their own way to wriggle through the roses. Here’s clematis ‘Madame Julia Correvon’.

Six

I like these white nigellas. They are self-seeded from last years ‘Persian Jewels’ sowing. I don’t remember any white ones from last year. Interesting how the petals are different to the blue one.

The weather will prevent gardening today, I will just mourn the lost hand fork and hope that it will re-appear in the coming weeks. I think I will be spending a great deal of Sunday dead-heading roses which have all gone over in the last week. I hope you manage to have a happy gardening weekend. If you have time, do stop by Garden Ruminations where Jim hosts the Six On Saturday meme.

Six On Saturday: Hot, dry but wonderful

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It has been so hot here. The garden is drying out and there have been emails from the water company asking for water saving to be a priority. There are annuals in trays that should be going out in to the garden but the ground is either like concrete or dust. Oh, woe is a gardener. But here are six good things.

One

The roses seem to be having a great time though. This is the view down the path with Sceptr’d Isle’ in the foreground and Blush Noisette behind. I didn’t get round to fully pruning ‘Blush Noisette’ back to the wall and was feeling bad about it. Now I am enjoying it’s exuberance and promising that I will do the job next year.

Two

This is the climbing rose ‘James Galway’, also having a great year and if I’m honest also needing a better prune next year.

Three

I’m delighted to say that the peonies are back again for their second year. They came with me in the move about ten years and promptly failed to appear again. But last year they re-appeared. They are of course in completely the wrong place as other things have been planted around them.

Four

This is geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’, a firm favourite not least because it came as a division from an aunt’s garden many, many years ago. I’m planning some more divisions to spread them even further around the garden.

Five

Astrantia ‘Roma’, which also seems to cope well with the heat and dryness. There’s one lone aquilegia in amongst the crowd.

Six

The ‘Love-in-a mist’ has had a great year for self-seeding. This crowd has blown in to the veg plot. There were so many of them that I let them be, it’s a narrow plot that I sometimes use for carrots – I’m giving them a miss this year.

I’ve nearly caught up with the gardening jobs. A second sowing of courgettes has germinated speedily so all looks well there. I’m looking forward to cooler weather and perhaps some much needed rain next week. Dwarf beans, tomatoes and cucumbers are planted out and now must be kept watered. It’s time to enjoy a new month in the garden. Jim at Garden Ruminations has his open days coming up soon so stop by and see how things are progressing.