Woe is me, I thought this morning. It’s Saturday and I need to find six things in the garden to share. Six! Impossible I thought. The garden is very much in Autumn mode: seed heads and leaves and spiders webs spun across the paths. But on taking a stroll round the garden I realised that there is still much to appreciate. Here are my six treasures for this week.
One
Blackcurrant sage. Treasured for its wonderful smell of blackcurrants and the vibrant pink flower. Truly appreciated because looked a gonna after the winter.
Two
Calendula. Appreciated for its simple cheerfulness and its determination to self seed everywhere. Not to mention all the other things calendula can do.
Three
Hakonechloa macra or Japanese forest grass. Appreciated for its zingy greenness at this time of year and potentially some autumnal colours later in the year. I’m growing three in pots and so far so good. They also seem keen on self seeding so even more to appreciate.
Four
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Silberfeder’. I gave up trying to capture its beautiful plumes of feathery flowers and settled for the shimmering silver spine of the leaves. It’s a winner.
Five
Salvia ‘Amistad’. Normally appreciated for it’s clouds of purple flowers that are just stunning at this time of year. This one is appreciated for overwintering, coming back from the dead and managing, so far, to produce two slender spires. Well done.
Six
Primrose. Appreciated for being in flower. It seems that primroses will flower any time they catch a glimpse of the sun. It’s battered but nothing is going to keep it down. All power to you and the rest of the garden.
I hope you are still enjoying your garden as the season moves on. Let’s enjoy the winding down phase, take time to appreciate the little things and also the opportunities of the next gardening year. Don’t forget to spend some time with Jim in Cornwall, host as always of Six On Saturday, and Jim does have clouds of salvia ‘Amistad’ in full glory. Happy gardening.
n20gardener 
The spiders are very abundant this year. Impossible to walk through the garden without breaking through at least one web. They are such hard working creatures.
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and stubborn, the repair the web exactly across the same point!
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Salvia ‘Amistad’ is a beauty.
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About Hakonechloa, this is a first year for me, and I also grow mine in a pot. Based on your experience, when do you cut off dry leaves to release new growth for next spring: before winter or after winter?
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I not even sure I cut mine back last year! But if I was thinking about it, it would definitely at the end of winter, some time in February. But if they haven’t died back I leave them.
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Thank you!
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I’ve never heard of blackcurrant sage, I think I’ll have to plant some of that in my raised herb bed, it sounds wonderful.
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I discovered that the one nasturtium that was all leaves all summer is now covered with golden flowers! It is amazing, though frost is going to likely pot an end to much this week. Interesting that plants one s sure are finished can really give it one last hurrah!
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nasturtium flowers are wonderful, here I can rarely get them grow as the mice eat the seeds!
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Oh no! It never occurred to me that mice would eat the seeds, but they are big and tasty!
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Good looking six, well found! ❤ Love your Salvia Amistad, will have to look out for it!
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Amistad is lovely but often doesn’t overwinter. I should be taking cuttings!
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One of the (many) good points of joining in with SonS I think is that it makes us look closer at our gardens to find the treasures at different times of the year. ‘Silberfeder’ Is such a beautiful grass but, like you, I find it hard to photograph.
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Salvia microphylla seemed to sneak into popularity before I noticed that it was a separate species from Salvia greggii. A few cultivars of both species inhabit our landscapes because they perform so reliably even if neglected. There are likely more cultivars of Salvia microphylla here, but the few cultivars of Salvia greggii are likely more abundant. I find their color range and larger flowers to be a bit more interesting.
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First pineapple sage, now blackcurrant sage! My herb bed is going to need to expand next year, because I love putting different varieties together. I’ve only managed to collect a few of the more common mints and thymes so far and that simply won’t do.
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