I have been shamed by my fellow sixers! The shorter days and colder temperatures have me reaching for the blanket, the gardening books and a cuppa. I was even considering not posting a six! But reading Mr P’s links to today’s sixes have encouraged me to get out in the garden. I have not sown my sweet peas seeds, planted any bulbs and only just in time did I fleece my tender agapanthus plants. But then none of us are perfect are we? The very least I could do was to share six from my garden this week:
One
I garden in London and so get a little complacent about frosts. But this week the lawn has had a light frosting and it was clearly a sign that cold weather gardening had to start. Last year’s fleece was in shredded tatters in the shed and I hate all those white flaky bits. I hot footed it to Homebase and found some delightful green bags of 35gsm fleece with very handy draw string pulls. I usually fleece up the agapanthus armed with a stapler but these jackets were easy to pull over the plants and the fetching shade of green is slightly less obvious than white. Job done.
Two
I was certainly lulled into complacency by the balmy days I experienced in Suffolk last week but the cold evenings are changing the colours of the garden. The persimmon tree is looking beautiful even as the leaves are falling.
Three
The previously sun scorched hydrangeas are also taking on their winter hue.
Four
But elsewhere the summer container plants are still in good health and I will leave them out throughout the winter. In mild years I have been able to carry the geraniums over into the next summer.
Five
The white antirrhinum sowed from seed is still in flower at this end of the garden but elsewhere I have collected seeds from another plant that has done its bit for summer.
Six
I recently planted out some gaura and pennisetums in a west border and alongside them I put in some Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’, which still thinks there’s time to put on a display. Thank you!
Thank you too, to everyone who shares their gardens on a Saturday. You provide inspiration, support and encouragement and always make me laugh! What more can you ask for? Well, if anyone’s free to plant a few hundred bulbs….
n20gardener 
Blimey, our Echinachea (which autocorrected to Schumacher’s for some reason) gave up flowering long ago. Lots of colour in your garden still. The hydrangea is lovely.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Weird isn’t it. It was a new purchase so probably due to some clever growing at the nursery!
LikeLike
It’s funny, I have several Agapanthus in the ground and it has never occurred to me to protect them. I also have an ivy leaved geranium in a pot which didn’t turn a hair at the frost this week that trashed Dahlias and Fuchsias and there’s no way I’d normally risk leaving that out all winter. Beautiful Echinaceas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My aggies in the ground are deciduous and I leave them to their own devices but the pot ones are evergreen and so I fleece. I inherited a fuschia that looks pretty hardy and came through last winter. I’ll snap it for next week.
LikeLike
I have brought all my pelargoniums indoors already, despite the fact that we hardly get any frosts here, but it is cold and has been wet; they have survived outdoors in a more sheltered place than here though. I thought that the deciduous Agapanthus were pretty hardy so I assume the one you have wrapped up is a tender evergreen one. I must buy some fleece to cover my butler sink (succulents) in case frost is forecast; I have only just realised that it is something you put on when frost is expected and then remove. I had thought it stayed on all winter! And yes, the White Swan are gorgeous!
LikeLike
Glad you made the effort! Love that persimmon tree, not one that I know, beautiful autumn colours. Is your agapanthus an evergreen one? Here they are generally OK outside, but many suffered last year. I do hope it isn’t a bad one again, I have too many “softy Walters”! The echinacea is stunning. 🙂
LikeLike
This is the first year I will consider putting fleece on anything – I have never had a ‘valuable’ plant that I would like to survive. We have an agapanthus that you couldn’t kill with an axe (in fact I think it would just sorcerer’s apprentice on me) that I forget there is more than one kind and some need fleece. This year I will fleece and bubble wrap my lime in hopes that it survives the winter. I don’t have any green house or cold frame.
Sorry I already put in a hundred bulbs and I still have more to go in my own garden so I am no help to you. You have loads of time though as it is not even December yet – if you put them in later they will just not flower as early as the others.
LikeLiked by 1 person
the agapanthus is an evergreen variety so I always fleece. I have deciduous ones in the ground that are left to their own devices and generally come through winter. I invested in a lemon tree a year ago and nearly killed it last winter – fleeced in an unheated greenhouse so the bubble wrap sounds like a good idea.
LikeLike
I always cover my agapanthes with a double fleece and sometimes it works, sometimes no, especially with hard frost. The leaves burn but the plant start againin the spring when it has been well established for years. Your solution must be the best for a Londoner. Another thing, persimmon leaves are very beautiful too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had very soggy leaves last year and lost many from the edges but the centre came back and flowers were great.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Being just down the road, it is interesting to see what you protect too. I leave Agapanthus to it, but bring Pelargoniums into a cold frame. Lots just goes into my porch to stop it getting wet. Bon chance with all your plants!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The agapanthus is evergreen and in last house they nestled against a south facing corner. Here they are a little more exposed so I protect. I have my scented leaf pellies in the gh now, first year of growing these for me.
LikeLike
What an odd persimmon. They color spectacularly here, where only a few trees color well. I would think that it would be even more spectacular there. Perhaps it colors better with milder rather than harsher cold weather.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You will have to do a persimmon post so that we can compare!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think that my persimmon article that will be recycled from a few years ago shows only the fruit, without the foliage. I am not working with them now, but really should get a good picture of colorful persimmon foliage. The Latin name of ‘Diospyros’ supposedly translates to ‘grain of God’, but it looks more like ‘fire of God’ to me. ‘Dios’ means ‘God’. ‘Pyros’ means ‘fire’. If so, I would suspect that it has something to do with the color of the foliage and fruit. (Pear is ‘Pyrus’, so ‘Diospyros’ could merely mean ‘pear of God’.)
LikeLike
Glad you made the effort, N20. I’m interested that you cover agapanthus too. I have them in my garden and I leave them to their own devices. They look pretty bedraggled by the end of winter, but they always bounce back. Your echinacea is really nice..I don’t have much luck with them at all.
LikeLike
My aggies in pots are evergreen so fleece is a definite plus. The ones in the ground are deciduous and generally survive without protection, but I didn’t feed them much this year so I may suffer with fewer flowers next year.
LikeLike
Those Echinacea are striking aren’t they? Well done on summoning the energy to knock out your six!
LikeLike
Your Persimmon is glorious and I love the way it’s dropping leaves like confetti.
LikeLike