Six On Saturday: Cold!

/ n20gardener

It’s cold and next week will be colder. I have a cold. The garden meanwhile is growing. It’s always worth wrapping up and taking a quick tour round. Here’s my six for the week.

One

It never ceases to amaze me how early the buds on the clematis armandii form. So cheering to think that in about six weeks the first flowers might just be opening.

Two

The roses have put out new flowers through December and January but the wet weather has foiled their efforts to shine. Now these will be nipped by the cold. There is much new growth to be seen here too and the quick December prune back needs to be followed up by a thorough going over to take out thin and inward growing shoots. That’s a job for warmer days.

Three

I planted out phlomis this summer particularly for the structure of their seed heads in winter. There are one or two on display but I was surprised by how easily they can be knocked off. There’s been no real frost so far, perhaps next week’s cold spell with give them a chance to sparkle.

Four

The arum italicum has just begun to spread! After seven years of immaculate behaviour I spotted three more little outcrops of it. It grows in an inhospitable corner and so I will allow it a bit more room whilst heading the RHS advice ‘has the potential to become a nuisance if not managed well.’ I have been warned.

Five

The first flowers on the bergenia have appeared, they are nestling quietly in the folds of the giant leaves. A wise precaution I think.

Six

I spotted the goldfinches earlier this week having a snack on the verbena bonariensis seed heads, a sight to behold. Here, the late self-seeders are putting on new growth and I wonder if this hopeful spurt will survive the -4 degrees overnight that is forecast. 

I’m putting off my gardening jobs for another week, hoping that a warmer spell is coming. Don’t forget to stop by at Jim’s place for the SOS clan gathering. Happy gardening to those in the Southern hemisphere and keep warm to those in the North!

13 thoughts on “Six On Saturday: Cold!”

  1. Here, the maximum cold was last Tuesday and the coming week will bring us more humidity with perhaps snow. (And so maybe the cold for me too…)!
    This week, I do like the photo of phlomis and clematis: can’t wait to see these flowers! You will see that I also added bergenia flowers.

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  5. I was admiring the arum foliage then I read your comment underneath, so perhaps that’s one I *won’t* add to my wishlist!
    The flowers on the bergenia are a lovely colour, I hope they survive the predicted cold snap.

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  6. -21 C here now, not including wind chill, which brings it to -33 C. not supposed to warm up for a while. I hope to stay indoors all day, but I may need to shovel a bit, as the snow may have drifted some (again). Nice to see colors. My life is mostly white now. I do love it, but prefer smaller more frequent snowfalls to getting dumped on as we did this week. Happy for the insulating blanket now that the thermometer has taken a deep dive.

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  8. Centigrade seems colder than Fahrenheit. The numbers are lower. Although it is still cold after translation, -4 is not as cold as it sounds. Either way, I am glad that I need not contend with it. It is amazing that roses have lasted this long.

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  10. I used to love the marbled leaves of Arum and had a couple of patches in the garden. Like yours, it behaved for many years and then started to appear quite a distance from the original clumps. Many years on now but I’ve never managed to get rid of it completely. Can’t wait to see your Clematis in flower

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