It’s a busy time of the year but Six on Saturday’s siren call has been heard. This week I’ve gone to the front garden. Here are my six.
One
I went to to buy 12 brick pavers to finish off the edging on the new border and came back with no pavers but 12 half price cyclamens. Here’s a little group of three I put together in the front garden. The front garden is mainly north facing and is planted with evergreen shubs so these cyclamen are adding a little spot of brightness
Two
As I planted out the cyclamen I noticed the magnolia tree was in bud. It is a lovely sight when it flowers and seeing the buds is a great reminder of things to come.
Three
A very large clump of carex pendula has been dug out recently. I confess this plant was so well established that I couldn’t move the thing and had to call in some muscle. I hope all traces of it have gone but it is thuggish so I shall be watching carefully for any signs of regrowth. I will plant up this skimmia japonica subsp. reevesiana in its place. It is hermaphrodite and will produce berries without a pollinating partner.
Four
The hydrangea has completed turned to its winter colour, the lovely teracotta shades perfectly matching the brickwork. I cut a few of these flower heads to bring inside for tying up with ivy and anything else I can find to decorate the house at Christmas.
Five
Flowers on the pittosporum. I don’t know why, surely it is out of season? This shrub is at least 4 metre high. I don’t the variety, I will be delighted to hear from you if you have any suggestions. This is another inherited plant that earns its keep.
Six
Lastly, this is the sum total of my borlotti bean crop this year. The beans have been drying out for at least a month and I’ve just put them in the jar. One jar. I grew about 5 plants but they were against the back fence of the garden which only gets late afternoon sun. Next year I am going back to wig-wamming them in the middle of a raised bed.
Thanks to The Propagator for hosting the wonderful Six on Saturday. Every week I think I’ll never come up with six but there is always something to suprise me. Read the Propagator blog posts and all the other Six on Saturday posts from around the world at The Propagator my plant obsession
n20gardener 
I too grew borlotti beans, i also had a rubbish harvest. Enough for a meal for two. Waste of time. Still, going again next year….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like you, when I have to go buy something to tinker in the garden or in the house, I always come back with one (or more …) plants … Hard to escape good bargains, good prices or just a crush …. (and DIY will wait!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true. I still don’t have the bricks🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I too love cyclamen! Ans white is a favorite garden ‘color’ for me.
You may have noticed that Magnolia buds were part of my delight in our British Columbia garden as well.
I wonder, too, if I will come up with anything each week…. We shall find out soon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your Pittosporum is P. tobira ‘Variegatum’. I think they are a bit vague about their flowering season but December doesn’t seem right.
All the beans I left to ripen went mouldy and were thrown out. Some you win…..
LikeLike
Yep. They bloom whenever they want to, except now. hmm.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mouldy beans I can relate to. I am hoping this year’s have really dried out. Thank you for the id. I’m gradually identifying all the shrubs in the now not so new garden.
LikeLike
It’s so exciting to see buds beginning to emerge! It reminds me of all the things we have to look forward to. The beans are so decorative – I think I’ll give them a try, even if the crops are small.
LikeLike
I do like growing the borlotti beans. If they have a bit of sun I’m sure they will do well. I like the six idea because it really makes you look in the garden each week and find those good things.
LikeLike
I’ve yet to read a blog where someone says they’ve had a good borlotti crop. It’s either low quantity (in most cases) or rot like Jim. But everyone seems nevertheless determined to grow them next year. Indeed, I might have a go, not to eat as I don’t like them but for the decorative quality of the pods. I wonder if, after Brexit, we’ll have to start calling them cranberry beans.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I use them instead of kidney beans for chilli con carne. I like growing them because I eat them in the winter when all the gluts (optimism) of the summer are over.
LikeLike
I love those Cyclamen- I only have a few in a pot and I think I need to work on my collection. My mum has a carpet of them and it looks great!
LikeLike
Yes once I’d planted mine out I wished I’d bought more…if they are still half price…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cyclamen, like rodgersia, is one of those plants, that makes my heart skip a beat. Unlike rodgersia, I can’t seem to get them to grow more than one season. Yours has a gorgeous combo of leaf & blossom colour. A beautiful skimmia you’ve got there, too. And hydrangea for Christmas foliage . . . new to me, but oh yes. OH yes . . .
LikeLike
I hope my cyclamen come through again next year. We’ll have to see. I put two rodgersia in the garden this year but they don’t seem to have taken of yet. I’m looking forward to seeing if they come through the winter.
LikeLike
I’ve dragged ‘Roger’ around thru various moves & it seems to thrive nearly anywhere but in a bog garden. I’d thought they were water lovers, but apparently only up to a point. As to fox, the wildlife camera was a bit of a splash I had to save for, but the thrill of watching the night critturs has been worth it for me.
LikeLike
I bought my Rodger specifically for a wet part of the garden, based on it being recommended for bog gardens. Maybe it is that it is too wet. Time will tell.
LikeLike
Your six is fun. I’d love to capture the nocturnal activities of our fox. I know he poos everywhere!
LikeLike