gardening

Six On Saturday: Ups and downs

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The garden is filling up well but losses are still being revealed. I’m adding to the carnage with my own impatience. Last weekend I cut back a blackcurrant sage, having decided it was dead. Only as I collected the twigs did I notice two small green shoots. I’ve left the roots in in the hope that it will grow back. I’ve also had poor germination with seeds. Again, some of my own making. Old seeds sown in giddy optimism only to end in failure. But new seeds too have not delivered in quantity for me. But there are more and more ups to choose from. Here’s this week’s six.

One

Starting with an up. This weigela florida ‘Variegata’ was one of the first plants I added to the garden nearly seven years ago. It has been trouble free, delivers lovely pink flowers and has pretty variegated leaves. It’s in the thin border so I have to keep it line with the border edge and it has a midsummer tidy up of the old flowers but otherwise I pretty much leave it alone. It gets an up from me.

Two

Two for the price of one here. Two downs. I unwrapped the agapanthus and lemon tree last weekend. One probable loss of agapanthus and although there is one green stem on the lemon tree I think it will let it go. Following the demise of the large greenhouse in a winter storm there is nowhere to shelter the lemon tree. It was never very happy in an unheated greenhouse so I think it is time to give the space over to something new – and hardier. Happily four agapanthus did survive.

Three

This is a special up because the newish libertias were dug up last year and moved to new locations. At least two are flowering, perhaps the other two will follow this week. Libertia chilensis syn. Libertia grandiflora to give it it’s full name, is described as reliable and long lived. I hope they all settle in and do well in the years to come

Four

Another up and another mover. Tellima grandiflora or fringe cups. I really enjoy these and they are suited to dry shade so that is where they went. But they were not doing so well on one side, perhaps crowded out by other plants. So one group was dug up and moved to a more open space and there they have flourished. I also have one self-seeder which is another plus.

Five

Another plant for dry shade is geranium macrorrhizum ‘Bevan’s Variety’ which has settled in well, and is fighting back the bluebells. I also had geranium macrorrhizum ‘Mount Olympus White’ in this area but so far no sign of a white flower.

Six

Lastly a second group of camassias. These are paler blue and shorter than those shown last week, and I think are the quamash variety. Tsk, tsk, I really should keep my plant list up to date.

We are due some sunshine this weekend, yes please. I did sow parsnip seeds and I think they have had enough watering but are in need of some warmth. The tulips are just finishing and deadheading them is a great way to discover the hiding places of the slugs. My toads in the compost heap are very happy. The roses are all in bud and the delphiniums are climbing. This is the time to walk the garden with a ball of string in hand ready to tie in anything that needs support. Jim’s garden is open once again and he reminds me that SOS has been running for six years. Thanks to our original host The Propagator and to Jim at Garden Ruminations for taking on the baton. Much appreciated.

Six On Saturday: May delights

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It’s Coronation Day in the UK so I’ll have to start with some red, white and blue. A rainy day is forecast which will be good for the garden but may spoil things elsewhere. Here’s my six this week.

One

The camassias are in flower now so headline the red, white and blue section. Completing the colour line up are the bellis daisies and some dark red tulips. Hip hip hooray!

Two

I’m hoping this new euphorbia will cope with wet conditions. It’s e.palustris which seems to prefer damper conditions and is happy in part shade. I’m trying it out as a replacement for e. Wulfenii which I regularly lose over Winter. But of course this year the Wulfenii has self seeded itself in several interesting places, so I will see how they go.

Three

I’m also hoping that the red onions will enjoy the showers. I said I wouldn’t grow them again as they are usually so small. These are looking healthy but those bulbs need to grow.

Four

It’s May and on cue the narcissus poeticus var. recurvus or Pheasant Eye narcissus arrive. They will soon be found by the slugs so I will enjoy them while I can. They’ve been in border for about three years but struggle with the conditions. As yet I couldn’t honestly say they are forming clumps but I continue to hope.

Five

Down in the shady end of the garden the tiarellas have arrived bringing some frothy lightness into the space.

Six

‘Queen of Night’ tulips, the latest of those I grow, are here. They are so tall and stately. Always a sight to see.

Last week’s wail about slugs and snails struck a chord with everyone. Have I also mentioned the deluge of sycamore seedlings that I’m dealing with this year? I’ve been hand-pulling them in the borders which has got me up close to the soil and guess what lurks there? I collect them up and offer them to the toads in the compost heap. I hope the RHS will approve! Jim, our host of SOS, has been lucky enough to have extra help in dealing with the enemy – hedgehogs. Much envy! Happy gardening everyone.

Six On Saturday: Tales of woe and warming times

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Oh yes the garden is warming up, which brings out the pests. The clematis cuttings in the greenhouse have been eaten. I thought I had de-slugged the greenhouse after giving it a good sweep out in preparation for the new growing season, but no. Of course they find a way to wreak havoc. Pests are munching through the borders too, a new campanula has been razed to the ground, snails are the culprits here I think. I need to be especially watchful of the three dahlias in the greenhouse which have just put up shoots. Every year I say I won’t grow food for slugs and snails but once again I’m a fool. End of tales of woe, time for six good things.

One

Thankfully the tulips are unscathed and there are new ones to enjoy this week. ‘Negrita’ has been joined by ‘Spring Green’ which is one of my favourites and seems to be pretty good at coming back.

Two

Not so good on the re-appearing front is ‘Cairo’. I added in about twenty last year to coincide with the camassias. This year only two have appeared but I like the colour and the shape so I may well restock and have another go at building up a display.

Three

The geranium phaeums have opened. This is a sign that the garden is beginning to fill up, no doubt providing lovely cover for slugs but I won’t go there again.

Four

The first of the Germanica irises have opened, these are another Spring favourite, fleeting but such a great colour.

Five

New in the border this year, these are polygonatum × hybridum, or Solomon’s Seal. I did quite a bit of research into varieties of polygonatum but when it came to making a purchase the most interesting were out of stock and so the ordinary ones came home with me. They are in a shady northish facing spot and I was persuaded by the suggestion that they were thuggish and would spread. I ignored the note that said may be attacked by slugs!

Six

Trumpet fanfare for the last of the six. It’s apple blossom time and never have I had so much blossom on this apple tree. It’s a Braeburn on dwarf stock if I remember rightly. I inherited it from the previous owner who loved growing his own fruit. I have much to thank him for.

This week saw the planting out of the onion sets that I had started in the greenhouse and also the Pink Fir Apple potatoes. I’m holding back on sowing parsnip and carrot seeds as my soil still feels cold to the touch. Maybe the long weekend and the hint of higher temperatures will push me over the edge. The dead plants have gone and I’m looking for some hardy evergreens to replace the three pittosporums. The other spaces will be filled with some spare perennials for the moment. I’m moving the windowsill tomatoes down to the greenhouse this weekend. We have a bank holiday in the UK and the weather looks good. So it is with great joy I wish everyone Happy Gardening! I hope the weather is good wherever you are. Garden Ruminations is the place to go for more of the SOS gardens.

Six On Saturday: Almost all tulips

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It seems that when I write these SOS posts the mornings are chill and grey. The tulips are persuading me that things are better than I think so all praise to the tulip today. Here’s my six with two non-tulips for a little variety.

One

The second wave of tulips has begun, so I go back to re-visit the early flowering ‘World Friendship’ which is now joined by a white form, forgive me but I can’t remember if these are ‘White Triumphator or ‘Nicolas Heyek’. It’s one or the other!

Two

These tulips grow at the slightly shadier end of the long border where the white ‘Purissima’ flourish. This is a collection of ‘Shirley’, ‘Queen of Night’, ‘Violet Beauty’ and ‘Barcelona’. ‘Queen of Night’ is a late flower, so these have yet to arrive.

Three

Now for a sudden burst of sunshine. I took this photo earlier in the week when the light was shining through these, making them glow like boiled sweets. These are my miscellaneous collection of tulips bulbs that came as a free add on with another bulb order. They have proved to be wonderful performers. I have no idea what they are!

Four

Back to a shadier part of the garden, well in fact the veg plot. I planted the edge of path with a Sarah Raven mix of ‘Mariette’ (pink lily shaped), ‘Lasting Love’ (triumph, pinky red), ‘Ballerina’ (Lily orange) and ‘Sarah Raven’ (Crimson, lily flowered). Only the last two have opened up so far.

Five

So goodbye to the tulips for now and back to fritillaries. This beautiful white one has appeared and looks magnificent. The self seeded regular fritillaries are appearing against a wall, a dry and sunny spot. This white one is a mystery as I haven’t planted a white variety so maybe the birds have been generous again?

Six

Another mystery is the appearance of this peony. Not something that I planted but a peony it definitely is and wonder of wonders is has a flower bud. This part of the garden was an overgrown bed of weeds when I arrived so possibly the peony has lain dormant for several years and has only now decided that conditions are favourable for flowering. I’m very grateful!

Slow progress is being made with the seeds sown in the greenhouse. Just one or two germinations from the cosmos but there are some encouraging signs of digitalis lutea making progress. I am pulling up sycamore seedlings every single day. Next weeks sees the great dig out begin: gone for the cistus, pittosporum and I think too, a large choysia. Great opportunities for new schemes. Watch this space! Another space to watch is Jim’s Garden Ruminations, wise gardening words and all the SOS links. Happy gardening.

Six On Saturday: Mid April, motoring along gently

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First things first. Apologies. What with one thing and the other I did not get round to reading many SOS posts last week. I plan to do better this week. I did manage to be out in the garden for some of the fine weather and it was encouraging to see more and more plants making progress. The dead looking fuchsias are just showing signs of new growth from the base and more perennials are pushing through. This week the tulips took a bashing as the garden caught the edge of storm Noa on Wednesday and there have been cold winds and April showers galore. I cut back one of the winter damaged euphorbia melifera to the ground. Having spotted some very weak new growth on the second euphorbia I decided to leave the roots of both in the ground for a few more weeks to see if there is any real chance of recovery. The cistus does look very dead and I am readying myself to deal with that in the next week or two. Happily, there’s enough in the garden to keep the spirits up. Here’s this week’s six.

One

Undaunted by the chilly winds, more and more tulips are opening up. These are ‘Negrita’, soon to by joined by ‘Spring Green’ and possibly some ‘Ronaldo’ but I did dig a few of those up as I moved things around over Winter. Time will tell.

Two

I really should have featured these last week, as they are a little past their best this week. These are the very pleasing flowers of epimedium x versicolor Sulpehurerum together with a hart’s tongue fern. I planted these up in a container to fill a shady corner and although the epimedium may need to be moved on as it establishing, so far the results are positive.

Three

Note to self: Must add some more of these to the garden. I hear that leucojum ‘Gravetye Giant’ likes it wet so here is one plant that must be enjoying the weather.

Four

The bleeding heart has made a another appearance in the garden. I worried for this as in its first year it was attacked by slugs and then unwittingly dug up by me as I relocated something else. I hope it has a good year this year and really gets its roots into the soil.

Five

I may have to concede defeat on the pittosporum ‘Nanum’. It has lost more and more leaf and the stems seem to snap more than bend. It is looks even more dead now, backed as it is, by the striking green of the new growth of melica altissima ‘Alba’. The melica is clearly indestructible, it grows in a cold dark border and happily self seeds. The border may be just too cold for the pittosporum. I’m giving it a few more weeks to see if some steady warmth can help it into growth.

Six

Iberis sempervirens. A solid plant for falling over the edge of walls. It looked a little scruffy after winter but it is in its stride again and brightened up this gloomy morning. I took a few cuttings when I was tidying it up and now have two more young plants to fit along the edges of this wall.

On the seedling front, I have germination from the Marigolds but everything else in the greenhouse is being a little reluctant to burst forth. Inside on the kitchen windowsill, the chillis continue to put on growth and have just been joined by some basil, tomato and cucumber seedlings. I planted out the ‘Charlotte’ second earlies and the onions in modules in the greenhouse are just about sending up shoots. It’s a cold unheated greenhouse so I have to be patient. Yes, a little more warmth would be welcome but I’m pleased to see the garden filling up again in spite of the weather. I’m off to Jim’s Cornish garden now to see what’s putting in an appearance this week and also to improve on my reading statistics from last week’s effort. Happy gardening to you all.

Six On Saturday: That’s more like it

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Just a few days of sunshine in amongst the cold winds and hail has pushed the garden forward once again. Now I feel that there is momentum. Pillows of new growth from the perennials are appearing everywhere and the birds are in full voice. The clematis armandii continues to do the heavy lifting but there is more and more to enjoy. Here’s this week’s six.

One

More tulips have opened up. ‘World Friendship’ mixes in the thin border with narcissus ‘Thalia’. I haven’t topped up the tulips for maybe two years now. There are just about enough to make a reasonable display but I have made a note for July to think about ordering some more. This week for the first time ever I noticed that aphids had taken a fancy to the tulips. They were swiftly despatched.

Two

The second narcissus ‘Actaea’ poeticus has opened. The first one presumably did get to open, but the slugs got there before me. These are sweetly scented, I haven’t noticed it yet but once a few more have opened I will pay them a little more attention. These are scheduled to arrive in late April so I am pleased to see them having a go at flowering now.

Three

I did mention last week that the scilla had opened up, but I lied! These are not scilla at all. They are ipheion uniflorum aka the spring starflower. I remember that I was trying to decide between the two, and eventually chose the ipheion. I can’t remember what the deciding factors were but I’m happy with them anyway.

Four

The blue anemone blanda were open several weeks ago, but in the last week the white ones have got into their stride. They were soaking up yesterday’s sunshine, providing a sparkling spot of white in the border. Acknowledgements also due to the photo bombing celandine!

Five

There are signs of growth even in the colder shadier parts of the garden. I planted a few erythroniums last year and I think they have all survived the winter. Now they have to survive the slugs. These are erythronium californicum ‘White Beauty’. They are billed as ideal for a north facing border and shadier spots so I am hoping they will settle in and in due course make some cheerful clumps of nodding flowers.

Six

The very first of the plum blossom appeared this week. All on the lower branches of the tree. That gave me a nudge to making sure the cherry tree growing against a wall was securely netted.

The long Easter weekend here is a great opportunity to finish the tidying up of the stems left over winter. The grass had its first cut this week and I am on the edge of planting up the potatoes. Some seeds have been sown, but there are more to start. I was planning to grow a selection of annuals to fill out the thin border this year but the thin border is really very thin (about 90 cms) and once I plant up the 16 echinacea ‘Pallida’ and some other perennials that I have been growing on I may well have filled the border. After six years of building the borders here I may be approaching capacity. But does that ever really happen? I suspect Jim, our host, would say no, never. His garden always has room for more. Take a look and see what Jim has this week. Happy gardening.

Six On Saturday: Flowers in the rain

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Oh the agony of it all. The garden creeps forward so slowly. The March surge was a subtle stumble. The rain fell incessantly yesterday and the slugs had a feast. All week I had waited for the ‘Thalia’ to open and it was with delight that I went into the garden today to capture them in their gloomy glory. Beaten to it by squillions of slimy slugs. Decimated. Eaten. Aargh! Oh well. On we go, there are things to be celebrated and that is what will be done. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

The front garden magnolia has opened up and manages to look moodily brilliant. Monday promises to be sunny and I know it will look fantastic then. But this is what it looks like today.

Two

I am sharing the ‘Thalia’, with you, ragged edges and all. I try to keep slug favourites out of the garden but ‘Thalia’ and delphiniums always find a home here despite their appeal to the rampaging hoards.

Three

Here are the tulips that I showed in bud last week. ‘Purissima’. They stood up to yesterday’s downpours and will also look glorious in Monday’s sunshine. Perhaps I can re-post this six on Monday with a back drop of blue skies.

Four

I have been snipping away at this mahonia, name unknown, for a couple of years. Gradually bringing it back under control. It has responded well to my efforts and those of the winter weather. An undemanding and, I would say, indestructible shrub.

Five

The fritillaries have also made their way into flower. It’s probably too cold for lily beetle but I’ll be on the lookout for them in the coming weeks.

Six

The scilla also opened up this week, but this morning’s cloud was not encouraging them to show themselves so my final offering is the very pleasing new buds on one of the apple trees.

So April has arrived. I have trays of perennials waiting to be planted out, seeds to be sowed and weeds to be pulled. It may be a gradual start to Spring but it is happening and before we know it the garden will deliver its promise. Don’t forget to stop by Jim’s garden to see how things are coming along there, and to catch up on the links to other SOS posts. Happy gardening everyone.

Six On Saturday: And we are off!

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The Spring equinox seems to be the jumping off point I was waiting for. The garden has crept forward once again, fed by the magic of rain and a few degrees more warmth. Of course there’s a downside. The snails are eating the tête-à-têtes and the perennial ground elder and cinquefoil weeds are running riot once again. But these are old friends (foes), and signal warming soil and better things to come. I think the garden is behind last year but finally buds are opening out and the bees are flying. Here’s my six from the garden this week.

One

By this time last year the clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ was in full bloom. This year there are plenty of buds still to open but flowers have started to appear and on sunny days the scent emerges.

Two

The muscari are also on the edge of revealing their full potential.

Three

These are early tulips ‘Purissima’ chosen to flower to coincide with the hellebores. They are ‘scheduled’ to flower in late March/early April. Almost there then.

Four

The first of the cowslips have opened, encouraging me to really believe that Spring has arrived in this garden.

Five

Heralding promise for later in the year, the leaves of the climbing hydrangea have opened up. I have two of these, which have been in the garden about three years. They are slowly spreading themselves across a north facing fence and have almost met in the middle. I have high hopes for a good display this year.

Six

I can’t ignore that other indicator of the garden on the move: tree seedlings. Oh my, what a crop of them I have this year. The back of the garden is set aside for the veg and fruit growing and this particular space is destined for potatoes. The asparagus bed, in its second year of growth, is also showing a healthy crop of seeds. There’s work to be done here!

It was not a week for getting out in the garden, the rain was welcome but I could have done without the gusting winds. There wasn’t even time to sow seeds in the shelter of the greenhouse. I managed to pot up dahlia tubers and cut out the dead wood in the choisya. It might survive, as might the cistus. Today I spotted some new green growth in amongst the dead looking stems. There is hope. There’s plenty more to see in Jim’s garden, he hosts the Six On Saturday meme so stop by and take a look at his six and the links to all the other SOS gardeners. Happy gardening.

Six On Saturday: Stop whingeing

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I’ve been a little irritable of late. The garden is definitely pushing on but at a much slower pace than I would like. No matter how much energy I expend in muttering and moaning it will not stop dragging it’s heels. I give in, honestly. Not another word will be said on the subject. All in good time. The rain of this week will help things along and although it’s a challenge to find six things it is a challenge worth responding to. Here’s my six finds this week.

One

It’s raining this morning, so I headed off to the remaining greenhouse to see how things were going. Sometime last year I sowed seeds of echinacea ‘White Swan’ and echinacea pallida. I overwintered the seedlings in the greenhouse, in the last week they have generously responded to the rising temperatures. Most of these are pallida. Way back when I sowed them I had a clear plan, now I can’t remember it. But they will have to be on the sunny side of the garden so maybe they will help rejuvenate the thin border.

Two

Also sown last year, the seeds of lychnis coronaria. Around autumn time I potted on eight of the strongest. These have not faired well but those left in the seed tray and positively flourished and look twice as healthy! I will have a generous supply to dot around the garden.

Three

There has been plenty of sighing over lost plants but amazingly the scented leaf pellies are rising from the ashes. Just a few signs of green leaf but enough, I think, to be encouraging. I’ve just started to water them again and they will get a thorough cut back some time around the end of April.

Four

Proof that pulling the stems of climbing roses down to the horizontal really does pay off. This fills me with optimism for the months to come.

Five

There’s more signs of things to come on the weigela. Masses of lovely new leaves showing up as the shrub moves from Winter brown to Spring green.

Six

There have been so many lovely hellebores featured over the last few months. This is a simple unnamed variety which has seeded freely in the border. I think those seedlings will take a few more years to flower but in the meantime I continue to enjoy the parent plants.

In between the moaning I have kept myself busy doing those ‘must do’ jobs for this time of year. I have netted the gooseberries and blackcurrants. I’ve given them and the apple trees a sprinkling of Fish Blood and Bone, successfully timed to coincide with a healthy downpour of rain. More and more of the browness of winter has been cut back and this weekend I plan to feed all the roses. Onion sets have been started off in the greenhouse and I hope to find the time to sow some seeds of hardy annuals. I also need to settle down and plan out the thin border although those echinaceas may be potted on again before I plant them out. I need them to be strong and healthy to compete with the existing plants. I hope your garden plans are going well. More from the SOS team can be found at Jim’s place. All welcome.

Six On Saturday: Recalibrating Spring

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That heading sounds a bit technical but rest assured I am not dipping into mechanics or perhaps I am. The mechanics of growing things. The first of March was eagerly greeted by me as Spring arriving, Winter restlessness and impatience was about to be set free. The weather had other ideas and what a week this one was here. Cold winds, overnight snow, sleety showers and down to minus in the greenhouse again. I chided myself for being so eager and resolved to take 21 March as the Spring starting point. This week new plants arrived for the garden so at least I have something to share. I walked the garden this morning and although there wasn’t much else to feature I could see that nature is really pushing on bringing out new buds on so many of the shrubs and more and more perennials are breaking through the winter mulch. That made me re-think and appreciate that dates are only a guideline and one should always be guided by what’s happening in the garden. Here’s my six for the week.

One

The first of the new plants. Helleborus argutifolius, or the Corsican hellebore. I saw these last week in a courtyard garden combined with euphorbia. The hellebores were so striking with their serrated edge leaves and pale green flowers, they proved irresistible and I jumped in and ordered three. They are evergreen perennials and grow to a good size so I am hoping they will give some structure to a rather featureless part of the garden.

Two

Having taking the plunge to order plants, gulping a little at the expense, I forged on and ordered three phlomis russeliana . These have been on my wish list for ever. I love their winter look but have always been deterred by the pale yellow flowers in summer. What would I combine them with? I’ve decided that they can have a stretch of the thin border to themselves. The verbena bonariensis self seeds in this area and I think they will work well together.

Three

The tête-à-tête daffodils are a good indicator of how the garden works here. Over on the South facing border, against the wall, they have been open for a couple of weeks. On the opposite, in a slightly West facing border they seem to be on hold. Just waiting for a few more degrees of warmth to make its way to their space.

Four

The euphorbia wulfenii, the last of four that I planted in the garden about five years ago, is looking splendid. The garden was clear about not wanting to accommodate the other three. I lost and replanted them from self seedlings several times over the last three years. Each time they died off. Perhaps the sole survivor is in an area of better drainage. I am quietly trying again with a self-seeder that made itself at home further up the border. It’s sunnier at the end it has chosen and perhaps less susceptible to holding the winter rain.

Five

Chilli seeds have germinated. They broke through about a week ago. They are on a windowsill above a radiator and will stay there for some time to come. I’m not planning to sow anything more for a few weeks.

Six

Finally, here’s a question for you. The Non Gardener has been muttering that the terrace looks like an industrial wasteland. Moss and weeds are flourishing he says. Weeds, I say. No, that’s my self seeded Mexican daisy, with one or two weeds sneaking in. I am offering a half way house and suggesting that the daisy is banished from the central areas and restricted to the corners and edges. Moss, I say, gives a sense of age to what is some kind of concrete imitation of flagstones and it too should stay. Any thoughts?

The SOS gardeners congregate weekly at Jim’s place for chat. Don’t hesitate to join in, it’s a friendly bunch of folk ready to offer advice and share struggles. Happy gardening.