gardening

Six On Saturday: It’s the small things that count

/ n20gardener / 19 Comments

It has been a cold week here, down to -4.3 in the unheated greenhouse and frosts for several days. I didn’t see any magical sparkling photo opportunities which caused me to be a little despondent about what I could find in the garden this week. But so many small things caught my eye that I find I am able present another Six On Saturday.

One

The roses are putting out new growth, an encouraging reminder that the cycle continues even through the coldest moments.

Two

Euphorbia oblongata is looking as perky now as is does in Spring and Summer. I’ve had this for several years now even though it is often said be best grown as annual. Whisper that, I wouldn’t want to frighten it away!

Three

More buds are appearing on the hellebores. These ones self-seed themselves quite freely so I have quite a cluster developing.

Four

The viburnums are just beginning to come into flower, not quite covering the whole shrub yet, but it’s a start.

Five

The melica grass is ready for cutting back, new shoots are coming through. Here it is mixed with hydrangea ‘Limelight’ and self-seeded iris foetidissima all in the shelter of the rhododendron.

Six

Elsewhere other hydrangeas offer their brown winter colouring, the flower heads protecting the new buds of the next season’s growth and I have just spotted the first pairs, green gems in amongst the brown.

What a contrast next week will be. The warmer weather should encourage me to get out and cut back the autumn fruiting raspberries and make a start on the grasses. There’s a new storm coming in so it won’t be smooth all the way but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I hope you can enjoy your gardening too. Jim’s around as usual, hosting this little band. Take a look.

Six On Saturday: Cold!

/ n20gardener / 13 Comments

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!

Six On Saturday: On the move

/ n20gardener / 14 Comments

I’ve been directing my attention elsewhere for the last two weeks but Six On Saturday persuaded me outside again where I found that the garden was rising up! We have a week of cold weather forecast after months of storms and rain. I am looking forward to change. Here’s the six things I spotted this week.

One

I was very taken with some helleborus argutifolius or holly-leaved hellebore that I saw in a garden some time last year and three were promptly added this garden. Hardy to H5 and preferring some shade they seemed the perfect choice. It’s year one and they are flowering. That’s a tick, now they have to survive black spot and the honey fungus that also likes this corner. 

Two

A walk round the garden always reveals jobs to done, here the ivy covering a low wall has reached the lawn. I’m grateful for the coverage of a pretty shabby wall but it is time to get the shears out.

Three

More hellebores are putting out buds, ‘Pretty Ellen’ red. These are in quite a sheltered spot between the shed and a water butt, often overlooked but at this time of the year they do shout out for some attention. 

Four

I’m sure all this rain is not ideal for euphorbia wulfenii but so far they are battling on. There are several self-seeders and the more established ones are putting out new growth.

Five

I don’t cut back the grasses until February but I noticed that the melica is already putting up new growth. I’ll leave it for a few more weeks and will probably regret that decision. In the meantime over Christmas I snipped few stems of miscanthus sinensis ‘Silberfeder’ and calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ to add to some gold sprayed allium heads, hylotelephiums, a stem of veronicastrum ‘Fascination’ and a few fake red berries. The decorations will come down this weekend but these can stay a while longer.

Six

Wow, you may be thinking but rest assured this is not my garden. A walk in a local country park showed the extent of storm damage elsewhere. So many trees down and the ground saturated. After having lost a greenhouse last year I was very relieved that we have had no damage, so far, this winter. I do hope no one else has suffered with damage or flooding. 

That’s the first six of the year delivered, Jim will have the links to more and of course his own choices for the week. Maybe this is the year to take part, Jim has the guidelines for joining in. Happy gardening until next week. And Happy New Year to you all.

Six On Saturday: Looking forward

/ n20gardener / 22 Comments

It’s time to review the past year. I’ll mention the honey fungus in passing and the low, low temperatures that took out a few of the marginally hardy plants but let’s spend a moment reminding ourselves of joys to come. Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year full of glorious gardening. Here’s six things that I’m looking forward to renewing acquaintance with once more.

One

The first apple blossom is always a high point

Two

Roses filling the garden with flowers and scent.

Three

The herbaceous borders beginning to fill out.

Four

The hydrangeas, will they be scorched by the sun, suffer from drought or somehow find a moment to shine?

Five

The beautiful white fuchsia ‘Hawkshead’, slowly establishing in a sunny border

Six

And back again to the apples that grew from the April blossom. Some stored but most juiced and each time a glass is drunk we think of summer.

Thank you for reading, for sharing your gardens over the year and I look forward to meeting you all again in the New Year. I’m off to Jim’s now to catch up on his news. Thank you Jim for your hosting and sharing of knowledge.

Six On Saturday: End of term!

/ n20gardener / 16 Comments

It may be difficult to find six things worth sharing in the garden over the winter months but taking a stroll around each weekend does reveal some interesting things. The weather has kept me out of the garden for most of the week but today as I peered and poked around I discovered that the darling squirrels have been rooting around in the pots. I’ve back filled their holes and hope that no damage has been done to the plants. This is my last SOS for the Christmas and New Year period so I will send you all very best wishes for the holiday season. Here’s the six things I did find.

One

I’ve borrowed this one from my neighbour. The red berries being too seasonal to be resisted. My phone sometimes obliges with a plant identification but nothing was on offer this time. I have no idea, it is a small tree if that helps.

Two

I usually bring in plenty of ivy and other foliage to make a garland for the stairs but this year I have gone very minimalist and used allium seedheads sprayed gold and combined them with some other bits and pieces and a string of snowy pine cone lights. There’ll be less to clear up come the New Year!

Three

Other foliage sometimes includes sage and rosemary. These always look good in the garden at this time of year and they will feature in the Christmas cooking.

Four

The plant identifier did have a suggestion for this one and told me it was cyclamen persicum, the florist’s cyclamen. I thought I’d planted c.hedifolium here. Is it easy to tell the difference? I thought c. persicum was not hardy and these have been in the ground for several winters. All thoughts welcome.

Five

The ivy in the garden is bearing berries now and these are great for adding interest to wreaths and garlands but this year I have left them for the birds.

Six

Lastly some cheery red from the stems of cornus alba ‘Sibirica’. I planted this in 2021 and it is making slow but steady progress. I am slightly worried for it though as it is planted in the border that has (had?) honey fungus. So far it doesn’t seem to have been affected although the RHS indicates that it may be susceptible. I wish it well.

Don’t forget to check in with Jim for more SOS posts. Jim is going all the way through with two more posts before the year end, I feel like a school truant! See you all in 2024!

Six On Saturday: Gloomy gardening

/ n20gardener / 11 Comments

It’s a gloomy day today but the countdown has begun. The shortest day is twelve days away. It’s a fair way to go still until Spring but I’m feeling a twitch of positivity. I have planted the last of the tulip bulbs and have set out some new hellebores. The lawn is squelchy but there was a brief morning of dry weather and the fig leaves were mowed up and deposited in the leaf mould cage. I am beginning to feel that the last of the gardening jobs are being ticked off. Here’s my six for the week.

One

This comes with a warning of rampant spreading. Pachysandra terminalis. I have two plants in a thin border at the back end of the garden and if they spread I will (I think) be very happy. I have not chosen successfully here in the past, so here’s hoping they will settle in well.

Two

The new hellebores, fifteen in total, are in the old gooseberry patch border. Here they will have the white tulip ‘Maureen’ and hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snow Queen’ for company.

Three

About now I start looking for something interesting in the garden for Christmas wreath making. It is going to be a challenge as everything is so wet. I cut back the hylotelephiums and I will keep them to see if they dry out and are useable.

Four

In cutting back they hylotelephiums I pulled off a few new buds. They had the barest amount of root attached so I swiftly potted them up to grow on. They are usually fairly easy to propagate so I am optimistic.

Five

There’s not much colour in the garden but the seeds of iris foetidissima are just about holding their own against the rain.

Six

To end, a grainy photo of the parakeets and persimmons taken through the kitchen window. A bizarrely exotic site for a gloomy garden.

Jim, our laudable host will have much to ruminate on as usual. Stop by and take a look and happy gardening to you all as usual!

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.