gardening

Six On Saturday: Something for Halloween

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I’m a little shocked to find myself at the end of October with so much still to do in the garden. The rain is spoiling all my plans, but thankfully so far it has been quite mild and the lemon tree and the scented leaf pelagoniums that are still outside haven’t suffered. A trip to the garden centre saw me suckered into buying reduced Tete a Tete bulbs, these are my priority for the weekend. I’m planting them in pots so that I can move them into the front garden in spring when the gaps in the borders are evident. Here’s six from this week’s very squelchy garden.

One

Strange things are afoot in the front garden. This is my contribution to Halloween this year. It looks like it should be in use in the bathroom. I have no idea what it is, other than some sort of fungus. Suggestions most welcome.

Two

I stumbled across these salvias in the week. Evidence of previous garden centre temptations. I planted them under the roses and promptly forgot about them but they have settled in very well. They are ‘Nachtvlinder’. I am glad I spotted them again as there is the chance I will lose them if the winter is a harsh one. Maybe it’s not too late to try taking a cutting or two.

Three

My next contribution to Halloween. The seed pods of Iris foetidissima are just beginning to open. The berries stay on the plant well in to winter, giving a good splash of orange to some dark corners of the garden.

Four

Zinnias are just surviving the regular downpours of rain. It hasn’t been the best weather for them but the occasional flower braves the showers.

Five

Lovely, lovely autumn leaves. These are from a nearby parkland walk. The garden here has a few trees in it and is surrounded by some very well established oaks, sycamores and ash trees in neighbouring gardens. The leaves are beginning to fall and it’s a good workout to gather them up and store them in the leaf cage to rot down over the year. Last year’s leaves have been bagged up to rot a little more and then they’ll be used as a mulch for the raspberries.

Six

Last splash of orange for Halloween. The blue sky is a distant memory from last Sunday and the beautiful pyracantha berries are a reminder that there are still one or two plants on the wish list for the garden. These were growing outwards from a garden neighbouring the local park.

The rain has arrived so my bulb planting will be taking place in the potting shed, which leaks. I’ll be in the dry corner. The Prop could be anywhere but all the links to the SOS meme will be on his website. Enjoy them.

Six On Saturday: last hurrahs from the garden

/ n20gardener / 23 Comments

Where does the time go, or is it that my energy levels are declining with the decreasing hours of sunshine? Wednesday was a complete wash out, a deluge of rain that lasted all day. But I was determined to get some bulbs in the ground this week and Thursday saw the camassias go in. I may be pushing the boundaries for their growing conditions, liking moist conditions is one thing but I think my chosen spot for this batch may be erring on the wetter side. Time will tell. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

I struggle to get nasturtium seeds to germinate – can you believe that? But one year I did get a couple going, they languished in their growing spot so much so that I uprooted them and put them at the back of the garden along the edge of my failing asparagus bed. Here, left completely to their own devices, they have begun to take hold and are flowers have been forthcoming. A rather nice treat for this time of year and for the mainly shady conditions that now represent home.

Two

There are still flowers in the garden, dahlias, cosmos and zinnias clinging on but this week I was very aware of the foliage beginning to change. The persimmon tree is going from green to reds and will eventually become golden yellow as the leaves fall, leaving the fruit behind to ripen.

Three

The fig tree leaves are already heading to yellow and the numerous fruits will not ripen. What a job that is, taking them all off. It is a large tree and those much above head height never get removed.

Four

There are one or two flowers on the bergenias but this striking red leaf against the green was the attention grabber.

Five

The pulmonaria are enjoying the wet conditions, looking fresh and zingy this week. Such a contrast to their withered summer look. I didn’t think they would survive but they really are tough plants.

Six

Saving some flowers for last, helenium ‘Short and Sassy’ is still giving. What a trooper.

I have the borders to selectively clear, mulching to be organised, tulips and alliums to plant. A few more dry days would be helpful. And a little sunshine would be a bonus. Just hoping. The Prop will be a source of inspiration – so join me in taking a look at this week’s SOS from his garden. There will be much to enjoy from other gardens too.

Six On Saturday: Here’s one I prepared earlier

/ n20gardener / 13 Comments

I was half way through my six last week when I was derailed. Nothing dramatic just things to do and then Sunday was spent in the garden. In the shed to be precise. I was emptying it out in preparation for the delivery of a new shed. The weather was good and although the shed won’t arrive until November it was too good an opportunity to miss. I was tempted to share a photo of the now empty shed but on second thoughts I’ll save that for another day. Here’s last week’s three and three for this week.

One

I am going to upgrade my score for veg growing to a 6/10. I pulled the second sowing of carrots last week and was pleasantly surprised. A few nibbles from the slugs but no carrot fly damage. I am sure this is because they grew in a bed of calendular flowers. This may have made the competition for precious water a little greater but all in all it was not a bad haul.

Two

The salvia ‘Amistad’ really gets into its stride in October taking over from the ‘Darcy Bussell’ rose, but Darcy is still sending out a flower or two. I took cuttings of the salvia last year in case this crowd didn’t over winter. Of course they did and now I have an abundance of salvias – which is no bad thing.

Three

The appearance of mushrooms in the garden is sure sign that autumn has arrived. This atmospheric group are colonising an old tree stump. I think, from comparing them to those that Fred tweeted, that they are not edible. But I’m happy to enjoy them visually.

Four

On to this week’s contributions. The hydrangeas are looking fabulous in their new colours. At least something in the garden is enjoying the endless rain. So much so that some of the other hydrangeas have put out new flowers.

Five

The hesperantha is brightening up a corner by the rosemary. As I write, I am thinking that I should try to spread these around a little more. They offer a good splash of colour at this time of the year.

Six

A little late perhaps, but this is anemone ‘September Charm’. It’s neighbour did do the charm thing in September but this one was a little later into bloom. It’s sharing a space with salvia ‘Mystic Spires’ and the second flowering of skimmia ‘Lime Green’. This is one of the more recently planted borders and needs to fill out a little more or have some more plants added. It’s a shady north-ish facing border which is always an interesting place to plant up.

I am hoping for a dry spell so that the bulb planting can commence. I have forgotten what is hiding in the boxes, tulips for sure and some more camassias and possibly some other delights. It will be like Christmas! Oh, sorry, not sure we allowed to talk about that for fear of jinxing it. Wishing every one well and hoping that the garden exploits of SOSers revealed at The Prop’s will cheer us all up. OMG, thanks to Jim’s words of wisdom, I have sort of managed to edit the url link. I dare not try to tidy it up a bit, I’ll see if I can do better next week.

Six On Saturday: Seedlings

/ n20gardener / 18 Comments

This is the sort of SOS that will separate the forward thinkers from the skin of the teeth types and I nailed my colours to the latter mast some time ago. The weather is atrocious here but there was a brief moment of less than torrential rain so I nipped out to the greenhouse and snapped this six.

One

Ignore the label – these are not Lutea!

Foxglove seedlings. Somehow, and much to my delight, I had one white foxglove among the forest of purple ones this year. I collected seed and will patiently wait to see if a) I can get them through the winter and b) if they come through as white foxgloves. Oh, the jeopardy!

Two

Fighting the damp conditions and the slugs

More collected seeds. This time from purple delphiniums. I think I am already in danger of losing some of these as the greenhouse has been rather damp of late and I fear the worst.

Three

Aquilegia seedlings, sown some time ago and I am already down two of them.

Four

Thalictrum delavayi seedlings, in need of potting on. Such delicate little things that will, if all goes well, grow on to make plants of over a metre tall. Possibly in danger of being overtaken by moss and algae. Oh dear.

Five

The astrantia major in the garden is really making itself at home and needs to be taken in hand from time to time. Some are pulled out but I have potted some on for next year to fill gaps in a shady border.

Six

A second sowing of basil has come good

I have a forest of basil plants that I hope will keep going for a couple of months longer. These have been one of the most enjoyable crops this year!

Well, I seem to have ended in in the new block editor this week. I have always failed to edit the link. Let’s see what happens. https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2020/10/03/six-on-saturday-03-10-2020/ No I can’t give it a short and snappy name – any ideas folks? As they say, a rose by any other name … so just follow the link to Mr P’s page of delights and take a stroll through the comments section to find your way to the SOS collection of gardens. Keep dry!

Six On Saturday: The veggie report

/ n20gardener / 20 Comments

The harvest is in and it’s time to plan for next year. My SOS usually features the garden but there has been some action on the veg patch this year. Onions: fail. Dwarf green beans: not bad. Carrots: a handful. Tomatoes: slow to ripen but the outdoor ones have done well and no blight! Strawberries: better than last year. New potatoes: not many. Courgettes: just enough. Each year the list of what to grow gets smaller. No more leeks for me, no more swede and no broccoli, psb or otherwise. I had a go at red cabbage again this year and the slugs have stripped every last leaf from all six of my seedlings. That could be a last outing for cabbage. Enough words, time for some photos.

One

San Marazano tomatoes, which are delicious for making a passata. A regular favourite for growing in the greenhouse.

Two

Parsnips growing for later in the year. These are ‘Tender but True’.

Three

These are Pink Fir Apple potatoes, another great favourite and the crop wasn’t too bad.  Last night they were cooked jacket potato style and Sunday night they will be roasted as wedges.  

Four

I have two patches sown with Green Manure this year.  Both sown in September.  They will stay in the ground until November.  My plan is to dig them in just as the manure for feeding the veg plot arrives.  

Five

Carrots.  WilI I, won’t I grow again.  These are Nantes, they have a fantastic carrot smell and taste very good too, so on balance I will grow again.  Perhaps I will sow later in the season so that they are ready for eating now.  The danger is that the slugs start nibbling away at them underground.  

Six

This is as far as the melon got.  I tried hand pollinating this year to get some to grow before the bees arrived to their job.  It was not successful.  I am going to accept that my greenhouse, which is in shade until the afternoon, is not the best place for melons to grow.  

Six On Saturday: Summer’s lease is running down

/ n20gardener / 18 Comments

This week has been a treat. Particularly so here as decorating has been the top priority and having the doors open to the sunny garden has lifted the spirits. Having neglected the garden over the last few weeks there were a few lovely surprises. Here’s this week’s six.

One

The autumn crocuses have pushed through the geranium phaeum foliage and for a few brief days were untouched by the slugs.  A neighbour has reported seeing a hedgehog in the garden and wondered what to do.  I immediately offered outdoor dining for the dear creature at my place.  I live in hope.

Two

It is the turn of the blue delphiniums to re-flower.  Slightly paler in colour, I think, than the first flowering but very welcome.

Three

The gaura is past its best but it has to be featured this week because it looked so lovely against the pennisetum villosum this morning.

Four

This scabious was a new plant purchase last year but has only made it into the garden proper this year,  It is scabiosa caucasica ‘Miss Willmott’, bought on a visit to Beth Chatto garden in Essex.  This should flower on through October.

Five

Dhalia ‘Blanc y Verde’ from a Sarah Raven combination.  I grow them in pots and they used be accompanied by dahlia  ‘Furka’ but these have a been a no show this year.  I have to give this dahlia a pat on the back.  They have tolerated my erratic watering with amazing good grace.  As I notice their wilted leaves I drench them with a can full of water and a dose of Tomorite or Maxicrop and thankfully they re-hydrate.

Six

Sorry to go about the cosmos again but really they have been stunning this year.  This crowd is ‘Dazzler’.  There are about three plants here that are pumping out the flowers week after week.  I am well and truly dazzled.

I am sure The Propagator will have much to dazzle us with and of course there are the links to the other SOS posts to enjoy.  A beautiful weekend lies ahead here so let’s enjoy it while it lasts.

Six On Saturday: Apples, plums, flowers and bees

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It’s been harvest time this week. So without further ado I give you this week’s six.

One

All the apples from all the trees are picked in one go and are taken to an juicing farm.  This year’s crop seemed to be less than last year and when the juice was collected is was proved to be so.  Thirty five bottles against fifty one last year.  There has been some significant pruning undertaken for one of the trees to get it back into shape and this was where we noticed less apples.  Perhaps next year it will be back to bearing a higher crop.

Two

As we had the apple picker out we decided to go for the plum tree too.  All the plums were gathered in and the fruit was halved and stoned before freezing.  I have never had much success with plum jam so the plan is make endless plum and frangipane tarts.

Three

Cutting back the perennials promptly does pay dividends, the delphiniums have rewarded me with a second flowering.

Four

Helenium ‘Short and Sassy’ is a good height for the front of the border and flowers well.  I have dead heading to catch up with which will keep it going.

Five

The rain and occasional sun seem to be powering the garden on.  Last week’s flattened cosmos were hauled up right and staked to within an inch of their lives.  This revealed them to be nearly five feet high.  Impressive going when I think back to those tiny seedlings that appeared in spring.

Six

Finally the bee, on a separate planting of cosmos.  The bees seem to be on a resurgence in the garden.  They float from these cosmos plants across the path to the agastache in great numbers.  Always fascinating to watch.

But I have much to do.  The hollyhocks are ready to be cut down and the roses need another round of deadheading.  I also have plans to move plants and the bulbs have started to arrive.  The ideas for next year are gently bubbling away.

Mr P sets a good example as always, managing to file a SOS post whilst on holiday.  He has spotted nerines which sadly reminds me of the bagful of bulbs that I bought last year which I fear will come to nothing.  I have a few leaves poking up from some I put in a container but those in the ground seem to have failed. Hey ho!

Six On Saturday: Storms

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Ellen, Francis and next to arrive Gerda: I write this blog for you. Ellen and Francis have deluged the garden with rain, blown down my neighbour’s fence panel – again, flattened the ageing sweet pea wigwam and pushed everything else this way and that. It feels more like November rather than the last days of summer. When will Gerda arrive? Let’s hope there’s a break for a while as this week’s brief respites have not coincided with my gardening time. I need to do some end of summer sorting out.  Here’s six from a battered garden.

One

Low growing enough to be safe from the winds, these black and white dianthus grew from seed sent by Fred in France.   They are only now beginning to flower in some profusion so I hope there are a few more warm days to come to keep them going. Thanks Fred.

Two

I am not a great grower of dahlias but I do have one or two.  This one was a rogue in a batch of other dahlias that have since been passed on to a better home. I kept this one because it is simpler and smaller.  The dinner plate dahlias are not for me.

Three

I cannot quite remember which variety of cosmos this is, it could be ‘Sensation Mixed’. It’s just come into flower and has been trampled by the fallen sweet pea wigwam. There is some sorting out to be done but I think the cosmos can be salvaged.

Four 

The coneflowers have twirled themselves around in the wind, just about remaining standing. They deserve a sunnier spot and I hope to oblige in this autumn’s re-think.

Five

Now as you know gardeners are not known for complaining: the weather is always reliable, everything grows well, pest damage is limited  and all is generally well in the world but occasionally things don’t deliver and the odd sigh can be heard among the shrubberies.  So it is with the autumn raspberries,  Lovely to see them fruiting but the volume looks to be well down on last year.  Mustn’t grumble though, it’s good to have them.

Six

My main lavender plant finished flowering some weeks ago, but in a different corner this one keeps on going.  A little bit of summer remains.

There’s a rather beautiful dahlia in the Prop’s six for the week.  Am I tempted?  Somewhat! I hope you find time to take a look.  All the links to other sixes are posted there throughout the day.   I’m hoping for calmer weather and then a few jobs can be done.  The alchemilla mollis is going over and I have some green manure seeds to be sown.

Six On Saturday: Last days of Summer

/ n20gardener / 18 Comments

If the garden was happy last week, it should be ecstatic this week. It has been sunshine and showers all the way, rounded off by gusting winds. It felt like Autumn.   My minimal staking of the cosmos was revealed for what is was but pinching the dahlias out after three leaves has given me sturdier plants. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

That Autumnal feel is enhanced by the sight of ripening apples.  The windfalls have been coming thick and fast and I think picking those that remain will be on the to do list in the next week.  All the apples go off to be juiced and I am pleased to hear that the juicing farm is open for business as usual.

Two 

I am pleased to have fruit on the lemon tree again.  It was in near-death mode after the cold spell of February 2018 – the famous ‘Beast from the East’ episode.  However I doubt this fruit is going to fill out and ripen before it is consigned to the unheated greenhouse for overwintering.  So sad.  On the upside the lemon flowers are so fragrant.

Three

I am growing the wonderful Japanese Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ in a shady border.  They are glowing at the moment.  Long may they last and I give them permission to spread as much as they like.

Four

This is salvia ‘Indigo Spires’ which overwintered.  Unfortunately the other two didn’t make it so it is not such a full planting scheme.  I did supplement this one with some plug plants of ‘Mystic Spires’ but they have not performed as well.   My research tells me that ‘Indigo Spires’ can reach four to five feet while ‘Mystic Spires’ peaks at three feet.  Here ‘Mystic’ has managed about eight inches.  Disappointing, but it’s not in the sunniest spot. I’ll be searching out ‘Indigo Spires’ for next year.

Five

Achillea ‘Summer Wine’.  Poor thing, I’ve moved it around the garden, had it a pot overwinter and eventually planted it out.  It’s a bit thin on the ground this year but I’m optimistic that this will settle in this sunny corner.

Six

Lastly, a hardworking pelagonium.  Overwintered in the greenhouse, and dragged out for another year of flowers.  I am very fond of this one.  It never fails – touch wood.

I was making the most of the odd dry hour to get a few things done.  The fruited canes of the loganberries have been cut down and the new canes tied together.  Such tidiness is very satisfying.  The blackberries will have to be tackled soon.  The last of the new potatoes were dug up, revealing just how dry the ground was.  It was a wet week but this garden really needed a good soaking.  To take a look at how everyone else has been managing stop by at The Propagator.  I see I have an ally in feeling that Autumn is sneaking in.

Six On Saturday: A happy garden

/ n20gardener / 16 Comments

Contrary to the forlorn look of the garden this morning I am sure it is much happier. Some plants are weighed down by the rain that finally arrived. Verbena, cosmos and guara drop their heads but deep down their roots are sucking up some much needed moisture. Yes the rain came. Overnight thunderstorms on Thursday and then on and off showers since. My six for the week were snapped before the rain.

One

My favourite combination in the garden at the moment.  Echinacea ‘White Swan’ and pennisetum villosum.  The beautiful fluffy heads of the pennisetum are one of today’s droopers but I’m sure they’ll pick up.

Two

Day lilies.  These are in half sun, half shade so I may get another week of display from them.  They are ‘Golden Chimes’.  Planted in 2017 and I divided them last year, spreading their cheerfulness around the garden.

Three

I have a running-riot clump of Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ in the garden which was also divided last year.  I planted a few small pieces in some semi-shade hoping the growth would be slower.  They have taken to the new spot with as much enthusiasm as the original planting.  I can see I will have to be ruthless.

Four

One of my inherited plants is a group of white phlox.  I’d left my well established clumps behind when we moved house so I was very happy to see these come through in the first summer here.  These are in the shade of an apple tree and are one of the plants that I have faithfully watered, at the first sign of wilting, in the dry spell.

Five

These are my everyday agapanthus.  For unknown reasons this clump has flowered very well this year while about 4 feet away there languishes a clump of agapanthus foliage with not a sniff of a flower.  That clump will be dug up and divided, fed and given one more chance.

Six

There is one thing in the garden that does seem to have enjoyed the high temperatures.  The figs have ripened and the first to be picked were greedily eaten.  I just stopped  myself in time and took a photo of this one.  The best are high in the tree and as usual the birds get to those first.

The cooler temperatures will persuade me out into the garden again.  Even the early morning deadheading proved too onerous in the heat.  Now rain battered rose petals decorate the garden so there is extra snipping to be done.  Enjoy your gardening time  and for a break, stop by at The Prop’s place to see what goes on in the SOS world.