gardening

Six On Saturday: Frosty finger time

/ n20gardener / 24 Comments

Three consecutive nights of frost have very clearly announced the arrival of winter. A last minute flurry of activity saw the cutting back of all the soggy green stuff and most of the tulip bulbs were planted out. I have twenty left which will now almost certainly go into pots. In other confessions the winter bedding has not yet gone into pots. I also had to call in the muscle men to dig out the tree stump that was hosting the honey fungus – an old holly self-seeder. I could not budge it. Here’s six from the garden this first week of December.

One

Cobwebs on the verbena. These are left standing for the goldfinches who come for the seeds.

Two

The old leaves of hellebores have been cut back and new ones are coming through.

Three

The leaf mould cage is back in action. It’s been in use for about five years now and sadly the original posts used for the corner supports are rotting but there are just enough left standing to do for another year.

Four

The last of the fig leaves have fallen and once this frosty weather moves on these will be mowed up to shred them and then added to the leaf mould pile.

Five

The long border in winter. The seed heads of veronicastrum fascination are also left standing.

Six

One final confession. I have not yet cut back the autumn fruiting raspberry canes. But there’s no hurry here, these can be done in January.

The forecast suggests a mild spell is in sight so the remaining tulip bulbs will be planted then. Other than that I am pretty well shutting down the gardening for the winter. Fellow SOSers in the southern hemisphere will be showing blue skies to keep us going through the cold. Jim, our host, will almost certainly have a wonderful camellia to show us so stop by his Garden Rumination site to find out more. Keep warm or stay cool depending on your hemisphere!

Six On Saturday: Gardening, life and dahlias

/ n20gardener / 14 Comments

Sometimes life gets in the way of gardening. Of late, small things have derailed my good intentions and the weather has poured cold water on any free-time plans. Gardening life has also thrown in a nasty with the discovery of honey fungus. This insidious fungus has been creeping through the borders unknown and unchecked for some time. For two or three years now I have been wondering why the established choisya and two skimmias have paled and ailed. Hot summers and cold wet winters offered possible causes for their gradual demise but this Autumn the honey fungus put out some mushrooms on an old tree stump and all became clear. The fungus is now probably wrapping itself round the rhododendron roots and if that one succumbs there will be a large gap in the garden to fill. In the meantime removal of the tree stump and cultivation of the ground is the advice. The rhizomes don’t survive once the infected source is removed. I hope I am in time to save the rhododendron. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

Let’s get straight to the dahlias. I do not have a good relationship with them. The slugs come between us and I curse both pest and plant. But I lifted the three remaining dahlias with the intention of trying them in pots next year. The ground was wet and I left the tubers in the shed to dry out before wrapping them up for the winter. Needless to say they were forgotten, they did not dry out and of course have rotted. I have salvaged what I hope will be salvageable and will ensure these are dry before wrapping them in newspaper for the winter.

Two

It’s that time of year when I roll out two old favourites. I always think of fellow SOSer Off the Edge when I include this one. It is not her favourite plant – cotoneaster horizantalis. But it puts on a good show, provides food for the birds and I have grown to enjoy it.

Three

The leaves have fallen and revealed the fruits on the persimmon tree once again. There were so many fallen fruits this year but still there are plenty to go round. I am expecting the parakeets to arrive soon.

Four

I have yet to plant out the winter bedding and with the first frozen bird bath of the winter I know I must get my skates on. The pellies are putting out the odd flower and the bacopa goes on and on. But I will sort these pots out this weekend.

Five

With the threat of cold nights I did make wrapping the agapanthus a priority. These are the evergreen versions. I invested in some good quality fleece a couple of years back and I have managed to get another year out of it. A successful purchase. The lemon tree, which has no greenhouse to go now, has also been wrapped. It was 0.3 degrees last night. I live in hope!

Six

The roses have been putting out new flowers every week only to have them balled up by the rain. Somehow these two from the climber ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ have escaped and give a good deep red focal point on the collapsing rose arch. Here the light does not show the colour but I went for the drama of the silhouette!

It’s cold but dry and my gardening list is long: pots to sort out, tulips to be planted and still some cutting back of perennials to be completed. The leaves are piling up but I did manage to empty out last year’s leaf mould cage ready to start again for this winter. The season moves on and I have a few weeks more gardening to do before I can ease up. I hope everyone else is finding enough time to enjoy their green spaces. Today’s blue skies are cheering and it is about the right time for some winter cold!

Don’t forget to stop by at Garden Ruminations, where Jim host of this meme gently guides us through each week.

Six On Saturday: Autumn colours

/ n20gardener / 10 Comments

The golds, reds, oranges and yellows of Autumn are taking their turn in the garden. The leaves are spiralling to the ground and when the sun does shine the garden is glowing. Here’s my six for the week.

One

The climbing hydrangea is putting on a golden show over the gloomy fence and the black flower heads are providing an eye catching contrast to the leaves.

Two

Rose hips. Incomplete deadheading does have some rewards! I wish I’d left more. The rose grows in amongst a clematis and has a challenging position.

Three

The second crop of figs are just ripening. They are not so sweet though and many of them are quite small. I think I will leave them for the birds.

Four

The garden is throwing up mushrooms all over the place. These are growing out of some dead wood. Update: I’ve just looked this up and find that it is a honey fungus. I have work to do. It’s a horror.

Five

The hakonechloa macra that was green just a few weeks back has slipped gently into its autumn hues. I’m a fan of these, which means that I may be adding a few more. The old gooseberry patch is the number one spot for any new purchases.

Six

Just on the corner of the old gooseberry patch are a line of tiarellas. These largely go unnoticed as they are tucked away from the main garden. But they quietly get on with doing their thing in a shady spot and are still producing flowers. I must pay more attention to them.

Oh for a few more dry days. I have managed to plant more of the bulbs and only have tulips left to tackle, but there’s no rush for them. I do have tidying up tasks to complete and as the leaves have really begun to fall there is the leaf mould pile to start again. I feel Autumn curling round the garden and it’s a season to enjoy. I hope you are enjoying your garden and that Jim, our host, is too. You are invited to visit and find out how things are going.

Six on Saturday: Thank goodness

/ n20gardener / 13 Comments

Storm Ciaran passed us by for which I am very grateful. There has, of course, been an almost continuous downpouring of rain but we did not catch the full force of the winds and I send heartfelt sympathy to those who were affected. Here the garden is sodden and the barest minimum of gardening has taken place. This has amounted to the odd dash out to push in a few more muscari armeniacum and allium ‘Purple Sensation’ into any space that looks promising. I have an empty border waiting patiently for some attention and I hope that Sunday might see a let up in the rain. I am very behind but here are six things from the garden this week.

One

Bulbs are very much on my mind at the moment. When the order arrived I had one of those ‘what was I thinking moments’. Where on earth am I going to find room for 60 tulips? It took a few days but then I remembered the plan is to plant up two large pots. I have time before these have to go in. The combination is ‘Finola’ a pink double, ‘Graceland’ a pinky white triumph, ‘Queen of Night’ the well known dark single and ‘Mount Tacoma’, which sounds very interesting : pinky green to start opening out to creamy white. I can’t wait.

Two

Now these are very late. They really should have gone in weeks ago. I’ll plant them as soon as I can and hope they don’t object.

Three

I’m also very late with these. I don’t buy yellow daffodils but every year my local garden centre offers a loyalty bonus of a free bag of daffodil bulbs. I usually pass them on to a friend but this year I am going to plant these up in pots … one day, when it stops raining.

Four

Picking up on the theme of filling in the gaps left by winter losses I have finally chosen the replacement for the pittosporum tobira ‘Nanum’. I was holding out for some low growing hebes but these are not much hardier that the pittosporum so I suddenly took a diversion at the aforementioned garden centre to their display of sarcococca and chose three s. hookeriana var. humilis, a dwarf variety that should eventually fill the space and reach a height of 60cm. Just about right I think and hardy.

Five

On another diversion, this time in the garden, I spotted the heuchera ‘Grape Timeless’, at least I think that’s the variety. It is soldiering on unmoved by the conditions. I have a plan to divide it but each year I chicken out for fear of losing it. I’ll leave it alone and look out for some new plants to join for next year.

Six

The leaves are beginning to turn and in the front garden the cotoneaster is looking quite glorious in the rain.

I can see the night-time temperatures dropping in the week ahead so I will have to bring the fleece out and wrap the tender agapanthuses and the lemon tree. The lemon tree has put on a tremendous amount of growth this year and it is all looking fresh and tender. Just the thing for a cold winter! I hope it pulls through again. Perhaps it will get used to spending its winters outside. My pathetic attempts to grow dahlias will continue in as much as I will lift the three I bought this year and try again with them next year but I have made a vow that I will be keeping: no more money to be spent on new ones!

Jim hosts Six On Saturday with his usual aplomb so stop by and meet up with the rest of the gang. I hope everyone suffering with the wet conditions gets a dry spell to sort things out. Happy gardening.

Six On Saturday: Taking the plunge

/ n20gardener / 15 Comments

Given all the rain of late, taking the plunge seems appropriate. I’ve been taking some decisions. New plants have been bought and there is planting to be done. The ailing cherry tree has gone, phlox have been lifted and divided and a poor hydrangea has been moved for the third time. It’s all go at the moment. Oh, and the bulb order arrived. Here’s my six for the week.

One

I have finally settled on fatsia japonica to replace two lost skimmias. I hope I have cleared enough space for its eventual height and width but I guess it will take some years to fill out.

Two

I have always had a hankering for viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum Mariesii, even if it is a mouthful. Realistically I probably don’t have the right space available for it, but in a spontaneous moment I ordered one. Madness possibly, but just possibly it might work. It will replace the lost choisya. Another fingers crossed moment.

Three

Another spontaneous purchase was these narcissus bulbs. I was at the garden centre to buy some winter bedding and couldn’t resist a peak at the bulb section. I am usually loyal to ‘Thalia’ but these turned my head. Just a few to start with.

Four

Self-seeders have had a very successful year and I have a couple of euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii to plant out. I can’t imagine they will enjoy the wet conditions but at least here I have nothing to lose by having a go.

Five

I took a photo of these autumn crocuses immediately I spotted them. I am sure they are no longer there, victims to the the rain and the slugs no doubt.

Six

The lawn is in need of a last mow but the weather is against it. In the meantime it is fungi time, these are glistening quite weirdly in the rain, looking like something from the depths of the sea.

More on the bulb order next week, that’s at least a couple in hand for the six. Jim shares a good selection this week so stop by and take a look at his post and the links to other SOSers. In the UK the clocks go back on Sunday. Adjustments will have to by made. Have a good gardening weekend everyone.

Six On Saturday: Don’t give up!

/ n20gardener / 22 Comments

I nearly gave up this week. The rain was so heavy this morning I didn’t think I would have the chance to take any photos and I only had one saved for this week. But there was a brief respite which gave the opportunity to take five more photos. I didn’t dither over what to choose as the next deluge threatened. Here they are.

One

The last of the apples were picked in the week and are being stored in boxes. The apples are wonderfully juicy.

Two

Trees. At this time of the year with the sun low in the sky it is quite late in the day before the garden brightens up. The trees make the garden shady but as the leaves turn they do put on a good show.

Three

About three weeks ago I took some root cuttings of the Japanese anemones and two of them have taken, Now I have the challenge of keeping them going over Winter.

Four

I suddenly realised that I do have some colour from flowers in the garden. The hesperantha, bowed down the rain but looking good.

Five

I have been waiting for a dry day to collect the seeds of the agapanthus. I’m still waiting.

Six

I think it was Hey Jude who warned that my epimedium in a planter might run riot. It has. It’s crowding out the ferns and a move will have to take place. When the rain stops!

It wasn’t so difficult after all. I doubt there will be any gardening this weekend, the soil is saturated and more rain is forecast. But all that I have to do can wait. My first batch of bulbs arrives next week and I have two new plants to fill in a few gaps. There’s something to look forward to. Check in with Jim, who reminds us that The Propagator founded this meme and that Jim is celebrating one year of taking on the hosting role. Congratulations and thank you Jim!

Six On Saturday: It’s a beautiful day (2)

/ n20gardener / 12 Comments

Apologies, I couldn’t resist re-using last week’s title. Blue skies and and a gentle breeze are lifting the soul. In between last week’s post and this, I snuck away for a few days to Cornwall. I tipped my hat to Jim, host of this meme, and to Hey Jude, fellow SOSer, en route. They live in a beautiful part of the country and during our stay the sun shone. Perfect. Back home the garden is… well, is what it is. An autumn garden settling down for the winter. So my SOS this week is part holiday, part garden.

One

As part of the short break a night was spent at one of those hotels that curate a lifestyle that one is meant to aspire to. Of course it was wonderful. This is the view from the front door of our ‘cottage’ room. I am envious because it has that gardening symmetry with the grasses that I aspired to in my garden. Here, you may remember, one side flourishes and the other sulks. Hey ho!

Two

Next on the envy list was the immaculately tended walled kitchen garden. Row upon row of plumptious crops: Leeks, Kale, Chard, Radishes, Parsnips with no sign of slugs. They must have teams of under-gardeners whose sole job is to pick them off. But I think I did spot some woody swedes!

Three

Lastly, and I’m pleasantly envious of this, the mushroomery. I’ve made that up. The room devoted to growing mushrooms. Very lovely.

Four

Ah well, back home again. The last of the chillies were picked. Three. But they look good.

Five

Most of our apples were picked in September, producing 53 bottles of apple juice. These braeburns grow in shade of the fig tree and are a little later to ripen. The fig dominates but the apples get to a reasonable size and will be checked over this weekend to see if they are ready for picking.

Six

My flowers have all but finished. But I was dazzled by the sight of new blooms on the hydrangeas. Gloriously white in the sunshine. Yes. It’s a beautiful day again.

SOS starts to get serious now. Join in again next week to see what on earth can be found to keep us going through autumn. All this mindfulness will be very good for us.

Six On Saturday: It’s a beautiful day

/ n20gardener / 15 Comments

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.

Six On Saturday: Late flowerers

/ n20gardener / 13 Comments

September has flown by, pushed through on the back of some strong winds. Storm Agnes fortunately passed this garden by and the month has been benign. I have cleared the garden of courgettes and cucumbers. The chilis ripened to a wonderful red colour and as the plans to revamp the veg garden are still in hand, there will be no new planting here for me this year. The hydrangea quercifolia are now in their new positions and will be joined by some white tulips and white hellebores. I spent a great deal of time weighing up replacements for winter losses and a few weeks ago I had settled on osmanthus delavayi but having spotted it in a garden recently I am now going back to an earlier choice – fatsia japonica. I think I will hold firm on that one, but watch this space. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

Some weeks ago I showed a plant rescued from the pity bench at a local supermarket. It was echinacea ‘Delicious Nougat’. Here it is in flower.

Two

I also have some flowers on a newly purchased penstemon which if my notes are to be believed is called ‘White’! I can’t argue really.

Three

The tough and reliable osteospermum are also in flower again after a quiet spell.

Four

And I couldn’t resist revisiting salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’. This has been in flower for some time but has suddenly become a real focal point and is always thronged with bees.

Five

Some weeks ago Jim, our host, showed some hylotelephium spectabile which had benefited from a timely Chelsea Chop. Here are mine which did not get the benefit of the chop. They fall in this interesting way as they grow out from a dark corner of the north facing border. How they came to settle in this spot happened well before my time and they are deeply entrenched in some walling and seem to be impossible to dig out. I’ll leave them be.

Six

I’m really scrabbling around for my last one and I’ve opted for a re-flowering of geranium psilostemon. It’s valiantly trying to fill the space where the fatsia japonica might end up.

Thank you to all who comment on these weekly posts. I didn’t manage to respond last week but I will be in touch soon. I hope all is well in your gardens and to find out about other SOS gardens stop by at Jim’s to find the links. Happy gardening.

Six On Saturday: Autumn has arrived

/ n20gardener / 19 Comments

I was away in Suffolk last week, worrying about the mid-week winds and the pots on the terrace but all was well. I had managed to stake some Japanese anemones that were flopping before I left and they too largely remained upright. I returned to a very autumnal garden. Courgettes and cucumbers are ready to be consigned to the compost heap and there is some change of season tidying to be done. It’s a bit of a struggle to find six delights this week but here is what is happening.

One

There was plenty of rain for the garden while I was away and these alchemilla mollis thrived. They are being saved for a friend who says they do not grow for her, while here they self seed everywhere.

Two

The persimmon fruits have been falling off the tree for several weeks but finally the ‘drop’ seems to have finished and those that are left will be ripening over the coming months.

Three

I am not a very ruthless gardener but I’m going to call time on this cherry tree. It’s not very old but it has the lurgy and in three years the birds have always feasted on the fruits before we get even close. Decision made. It’s going.

Four

There are new flowers on the daphne ‘Eternal Fragance’. It’s not a ‘stop you in your tracks’ shrub but it fills a corner and is very low maintenance.

Five

The Hart’s tongue ferns looking very shabby after winter but they have pulled through and are establishing themselves in a shady corner.

Six

My mystery plant. It grows in the wall, is never looked after and this is the first time in seven years I have noticed it in flower. Answers on a postcard please!

There’s a good week of weather ahead, if only I had the time to spend in the garden. It’s all a bit crazy at the moment. I hope you find time to enjoy your gardens. Jim, our host, still manages to find colour but also concedes the arrival of autumn.