#hostas

Six On Saturday: Things that go wrong

/ n20gardener / 17 Comments

I was sympathising with fellow SOSer Jude in Cornwall about disappearing plants. We mainly blame slugs and snails of course and definitely not our gardening skills. But gardening, in my case, is a bit hit and miss. I veer from having very sensible plans to organise heights, colours and textures, as I am encouraged to do by the gardening press, to responding haphazardly to the situation on the ground – or not responding! So things can go a little awry. Here’s six slightly wrong things.

One

This looks quite good. It is my one surviving delphinium and a peony. I didn’t plant the peony, it may be a remnant from the previous owners’ garden and it has only just flowered. Both are jammed right up against the rose bush behind which causes both plants to take desperate avoidance measures. In reality they are twisting and flopping and needed to be propped up with supports. But they survive.

Two

My collection of hostas. It’s clear what has gone wrong here. Despite layers of gravel and coffee grounds the slugs munch away. It’s interesting that the hosta ‘Francee’ behind which has thicker, darker leaves is fairing much better. I think the ‘Thomas Hogg’ in front are acting as sacrificial plants.

Three

This is an interesting one. Two things ‘going wrong’ here. First the classic example of digging out seedlings and wanting to keep them somewhere ‘just in case’. This is meant to be a symphony in white and green with some late purple. Instead ‘Johnson’s Blue’ and psilostemon steal the show. Behind is persicaria polymorpha, planted to hide the fence, which is doesn’t quite do and worse, it smells awful! But it is ideal for semi shade and is long flowering. Perhaps I will get used to the ‘perfume’.

Four

Phlomis russeliana, whorls of pale yellow flowers is what I was promised. I find these rather strident, especially as the aforementioned Jude did suggest, delicately, that I could have chosen the more subtle tuberosa pink version. Worse, when the rose arch collapsed I had to move ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ to a new location and the only possibility was the wall behind the phlomis. The dark red of ‘Tess’ and the yellow phlomis is far from ideal. There will have to be a rethink here.

Five

This is a case of re-appearing plants. It isn’t in flower yet, but this is a globe thistle, echinops ritro if I remember rightly, I planted them in my quest to find blue flowers that the slugs didn’t eat. Several years ago I dug them out because they were mildewy, covered in blackfly and, well, thistly. I still don’t want them but as you can see the slugs don’t eat them and they are determined.

Six

If I Ieft the garden to its own devices it would be a forest of verbena bonariensis. It’s hard to take a photo that really captures their character. I like them and this year they are incredibly tall. Not a problem really but this group are in front of a new hibiscus that is about half their size. A clear case of wrong heights and quite probably overcrowding. At least the hibiscus can be seen through the verbena. The path is becoming a little less visible though.

Gardens eh? We love them even though they challenge us every day. I’ll be out there again this weekend, weeding, feeding, watering and enjoying it all. I hope you will too. Jim, our host, almost certainly will. Do have a read and join in.

Six On Saturday: almost in full voice

/ n20gardener / 21 Comments

It’s tantalising, so nearly there, one more week surely and the garden will take a leap forward. I’m impatient and yet wanting things to slow down at the same time. The sun has some warmth but cold winds and rain suggest it’s not a wonderful Spring yet. Perhaps May will arrive with a burst of energy. I took inspiration for my subtitle from a poem by Philip Larkin The Trees. Well worth a read. Here’s six from the almost there garden.

One

I was tempted at the garden centre by this low growing weigela, called ‘Pink Poppet’. It could be a replacement for the dying daphne you can see in the top corner. It supposedly flowers from March to August and is ‘perfect for pollinators’. I hope it’s a no-nonsense space filler. I could do with a few more things that just get on with it!

Two

The first rose opened and was immediately drenched by overnight rain. One step forward…. The rose is Jacqueline du Pré. I will surely be revisiting this corner of the garden to share with you in May.

Three

Definitely in the ‘just getting on with it’ category, the reliable geranium phaeum. It’s spread itself enough here that it is time to move a few on to other shady spots in the garden.

Four

The tiarella is also in flower in a shady corner. This one is tiarella cordifolia, planted in 2021 in a dryish shady spot. It doesn’t flourish but it’s an inhospitable corner. It should be snuggled in with some hostas but those have been dug up and placed in pots in a vain attempt to save them from slugs.

Five

This is not the aforementioned hosta but another one, well established in a large pot – ‘Francee’. The new leaves are just unfurling and look wonderful. Vigilance is my motto and there are regular inspections for the slimey lurkers.

Six

Lastly a tale of woe from the fruit and veg patch. Before I left for Dorset I noticed flowers on the currants but I didn’t get round to netting them. The white currants have survived this unforgiveable negligence and fruit is forming. But sadly the red currants seem to be seriously depleted of flower. Picked off by pigeons is my bet. I’ll be netting both this morning. If the rain stops.

It looks like rain all day Sunday, which means that my weeds will grow even more luxurious. The tall ‘Maureen’ tulips have put on another 5 cms and seem amazingly resilient to the wind. I am planning to pot on tomato seedlings this weekend and that I can do even if it rains. Cucumber seeds have germinated and I have potted up rocket getting stronger before I risk offering them up to the slugs again. Flower seeds in a gappy and unheated greenhouse are going slow. I may sow again but keep them on a sunny window sill inside. Jim hosts all the SOS links and shares his own wonderful garden each week. Take a look and join in! And Enjoy your gardening space this weekend.

Six On Saturday: Gone missing

/ n20gardener / 23 Comments

Definitely the sun has gone missing and one or two other things. I read a post on Twitter(?) about the amount of plants that gardeners lose over the years. I lost so many last Winter. I can’t see any sign of a monarda I added to the garden last year, all this year’s annuals failed to thrive and don’t get me started on the plants I lose to slugs and snails. It is part of a gardener’s life. I don’t worry it about it too much now. I walked the garden this morning, braving the rain, and laughed out loud when I saw that every single lettuce planted out two weeks ago had disappeared. On my journey round I collected twelve fat slugs which were served as breakfast to the toads in the compost heap. I hope they get to them before the slugs escape. Here’s six things that were found.

One

Let’s start with some brightness. Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’. I think the slugs did have a nibble at the new shoots earlier in the year but ‘Goldsturm’ fought back and shines in the gloom. This does spread very happily and I have given many a pot to friends.

Two

More cheer in the shape of shasta daisies. These were grown from seed many years back. Some have been flattened down by the rain but this group, in the shadow of an apple tree, have remained upright – so far.

Three

Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Album’ also manage to shine out through the low light. I’ve had these for about five years and it’s only now that they seem to have settled into a good strong clump. The RHS does indicate that it takes five years to reach ultimate height and I can’t argue, well perhaps a little. I don’t think they’ve made it to 1.2m yet!

Four

New to the garden last year to replace a blighted box shrub, this hydrangea ‘Limelight’ isn’t doing too badly. It’s in the shadow of a very large and very old rhododendron so it has had to compete. This year’s rain will have helped it get its roots down.

Five

These kniphofia nearly went missing, one of the early spikes was felled half way up the stem by the munching menaces. I moved one clump last year and it doesn’t seem to have enjoyed it as so far there have been no flowers.

Six

I am considering abandoning all hope here. This is/was hosta ‘Thomas Hogg’. From time to time I have wondered if it was the birds or the slugs who were shredding the leaves. This morning the culprits were caught with their mouths full. Off to the compost heap they went. Maybe it is time for the hosta to be relocated to a pot.

Losses, yes. Gains, yes: from the many self seeders, from plants shared by friends and from new purchases that settle in and last for years. On balance I will keep gardening. It’s a wash out this weekend but I’ll be back out there as soon as possible. Jim, host of the links for this SOS posting meme, continues to show great variety from his garden. Join him and the others for a cornucopia of gardening news.

Six on Saturday: Whose garden is it?

/ n20gardener / 19 Comments

June is the month, that seven years ago, I took over this garden. The previous owner had loved his soft fruit and fruit trees but much of the rest of the garden had gone to weeds. That family was the second family to garden here. There is evidence in archived local newspapers that the first owner also loved his soft fruits and had won prizes for raspberries. There has been over 100 years of gardening here and I am gradually leaving my mark. I have come to appreciate that I share this garden with the past, with the numerous slugs and snails, with the foxes and cats and with the birds and insects. I share it with my neighbours too. Sometimes they have no choice as the clematis armandii knows no bounds. I also get to share theirs. Their roses peek over the fence. The hawthorn and ceanothus in Spring take my eye to their gardens and in June I enjoy a superb display of flowers from a neighbouring elder tree. Seven years of this garden has passed by so quickly and there is so much more to do. Here’s six for this week.

One

This is the creature that prompted this little outburst. A red admiral butterfly on a hosta. The hosta is in a pot at the end of garden. At this time of year it basks in the evening sun and this a favourite end of day spot for a visit. Clearly the butterfly also agrees but it is not so keen on sharing and each evening it dive bombs us in an effort to persuade us to leave this little corner. The butterfly always wins. This is the third year of this interesting behaviour.

Two

A combination of persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’ and alchemilla mollis. This has probably been in the garden for about five years. The persicaria has spread a little but not too aggressively.

Three

The suns rays shining through the lovely geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’. This is a garden share from an aunt and has been divided and lifted many times. It has been with me for, and it seems incredible to say this, about twenty years, joining us in each house move.

Four

The roses are exuberant at the moment. This is ‘Darcy Bussell’, great colour and scent.

Five

And this is ‘Jaqueline du ‘Pré’. Looking at its very best in this photo.

Six

Lastly, the very rampant geranium ‘Brookside’ with the rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’. One of the previous residents of this house was a Gertrude so I hope this meets her approval.

The Six On Saturday meme is all about sharing gardens. Our host is Jim of Garden Ruminations and each week he shares the links to the posts of other SOS gardeners. All are welcome to stop by to have a look and to take part. It’s going to be very hot this weekend, I will briefly mention the lack of rain and the diminishing water storage. But let us enjoy what we can – it is Summer.

Six on Saturday: Harvest thoughts

/ n20gardener / 10 Comments

Is it too early to call time on the veg plot for this year? I dug some more potatoes and the result was not wonderful. This year’s rotation finds the potatoes in the space under one the apple trees and there is a bit of a rain shadow there. I would have thought that the torrential rain we have had would have found a way through. Damn, I wasn’t going to mention the weather this week. The onions are just about still growing and don’t look too bad. Shallots harvested, French beans are coming through so slowly and the courgettes are being well behaved, always ready to deliver a good sized courgette when needed. The best deliverers this year are the cucumbers and the sweet peppers. Tomatoes might just come good if the ripening continues. Since the cucumbers have done so well they get to be first in this week’s six.

One

I grew ‘Burpless Tasty Green’ this year. A variety I have grown before and previously they have produced long cucumbers. This year I have had a steady supply of short cucumbers. I don’t mind that, in fact it suits me better but why, I ask myself? I have one plant in the greenhouse and one plant outside. If I leave them a little longer before picking they grow fatter but not longer. Curious, but not a problem.

Two

My last hurrah with dahlias. I lifted two dahlia clumps last year and overwintered them wrapped in newspapers. I don’t usually lift dahlias but I wanted the space for tulips. I didn’t have a space for the dahlias when the time came to replant so, as is the way here, they went to veg plot end of the garden, underneath another apple tree. Amazingly this seems to be the space for them, untouched by slugs they are flowering quite happily. Now I have a quandary. To leave them, to lift them again, to throw them out?

Three

The erigeron karvinskianus that suffered so badly over last winter has bounced back and nature has decreed that it should be more forward growing than before and nature is absolutely right, giving me the opportunity to fill the middle ground with new plants.

Four

I have to show the flower of ‘Madame Alfred Carrière’ rose growing on the new arch. I took a cutting from the one growing over the back fence and a year later planted it at the base of the new arch. I am, of course, completely mad to be growing such a vigorous rose over an arch but I am going to be ruthless with the pruning. Fingers crossed.

Five

This veronicastrum ‘alba’ was subject to some moving in spring. Half the group went off to a sunnier spot and this group was moved a little closer to the front of the border. This group have done the best, remaining upright in all the wind and rain. Still not the impact I was looking for but I’ll leave them and see if they get settled in.

Six

Lastly, hosta ‘Francee’, growing in a pot and for the moment moved from its usual place by the back fence. There are plans for the back fence area, more of which later. In the meantime ‘Francee’ adds beauty to the scruffy greenhouse entrance.

Thanks go as always to The Propagator who hosts #SixOnSaturday and to everyone who takes part, sharing, commenting and liking. I’m off to inspect the newly developing bog garden if there’s a dry spell!

Six on Saturday: Some like it wet

/ n20gardener / 15 Comments

But not me. I’ve tried to maintain a sense of optimism for May but it is failing. Only one week to go and the weather is still unseasonably cold, wet and windy. I have barely been in the garden lately, fortunately last weekend I staked the majority of plants that need support. This week was a week for watching the garden through the rain and wind and hoping I had done a good enough job.

One

The hosta ‘Francee’ is unfurling beautifully. This one seems to survive slug attacks quite successfully. It’s in a pot on a raised bed away from any lush foliage that might be harbouring the little vandals.

Two

I am amazed that the heat loving aganpanthus has opened out a first flower, fully a month earlier than expected. It’s small but it’s a promise of things to come.

Three

Safely wrapped up in the warm the one cucumber that I kept on the kitchen windowsill is putting out tendrils. Night time temperatures in the greenhouse are still only around seven degrees but I think the time is coming for the cucumber to be moved.

Four

Last weekend the lemon tree came out of the greenhouse to make way for the tomatoes. Poor thing. What a shock it must have been. Cold winds, rain and then blustery gales. Amazingly there are three lemons that are nearly ripe. I wonder, if after a long time on the tree, they will be edible.

Five

The scented leaf pellies and the dahlias had a few days outside this week but went back inside as the high winds arrived. The pellies did not have a good winter but they have had a cut back and are sending out new growth and one or two flower buds were spotted. A trailing geranium looks quite good too. Strange to think that normally I would be thinking about moving these outside for the summer soon. Let’s hope they can have a few more days outside to become acclimatised.

Six

I was certain my allium ‘Mount Everest’ would succumb to the high winds but they held their ground and stood tall. Well done!

A quick note on the tomatoes. My first sown seeds for the greenhouse looked pretty feeble so only half the San Marzano went to the greenhouse. My second sowing of the free seed ‘Red Choice’, intended for outside planting, looked so much stronger so they have been promoted to the greenhouse. The second half of the ‘San Marzano’ and the ‘Tigerellas’ have been potted on again and will stay in the potting shed until things warm up a little more outside. I don’t know if these changes will make any difference to the plants but I felt better for doing it!

I’m not one of those who enjoyed this week’s weather but in general the garden is greening up well, spaces are being filled and flowers buds are waiting to burst open. Six on Saturday, as hosted by The Propagator, will be buzzing with excitement so if your garden is suffering from soggy patches drop by and be cheered up.

Six On Saturday: Flowers – new and old

/ n20gardener / 14 Comments

Well what a week that was. The two day heat wave has passed and rain has arrived. As I write this post I realise that after three years restocking the garden it is time to reflect on the progress made.   This week’s six features some very new flowers, some settling in and some so well established that they need taking in hand.  All delivered with a splash of rain.

One

Hemerocallis ‘Gentle Shepherd’.  I recently opined that I really wanted H. Floro Pleno but when I went shopping for some anemones (another story) I fell for this. A little bedraggled by the rain but on a sunny day it is truly wonderful.  I bought two and should have bought more.

Two

I had a flurry into dahlias last year but decided they are not my thing, except these white ones which are Blanc y Verde if I remember rightly.  I grow them in pots along the thin border.  I don’t lift them, just covering them with mulch over winter.

Three

The hosta Francee, planted in a pot about a month ago, has flowered and I am impressed.  I was quite happy to enjoy the leaves but the delicate flowers are a great bonus.

Four

It’s a lemon flower and I am very excited by this.  Having nearly killed the lemon tree two winters ago – beast from the east etc – the poor thing limped along last year.  This year there is plenty of new foliage and finally a few flowers.  I don’t suppose they will get to be lemons before it goes back in the greenhouse.  I shall enjoy the flower and the wonderful scent.

Five

Verbena bonariensis.  By contrast to the lemon tree the vb is very happy in the garden.  I brought a few pots of it from the last garden and in three years here it has spread itself into every nook and cranny.   I need to keep this plant under control.  It has been brilliant for adding colour and height to a new garden and I do let it self seed into pots of agapanthus but now I am being ruthless.

Six

Rose of the week is  a climber, James Galway.  It looks perfectly lovely here and I am sure that once it becomes established I will really enjoy it.  At the moment it is only half way up the trellis.  More growth please!  Perhaps the rain will help it along.

More garden sharing posts are to be found on The Propagator’s site.  Our industrious host shares the links to posts from around the world.  Always worth a look.

 

Six On Saturday: Dad’s Delphiniums

/ n20gardener / 17 Comments

To avoid charges of misleading posts, this is not a delphinium themed post but Dad’s delphiniums do get pride of place this week.  It is always good to have plants in the garden that hold memories of people and places and it seems particularly appropriate to share his delphiniums in this week of D-day memories.  Dad followed up the first D-day landings on Sword beach as a member of a tank regiment and went on to the battle for Caen.

One

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The delphiniums came from a division of the delphiniums that grew in the parental garden.  They came to the old house and settled in their for twenty odd years.  I divided them up when we moved and brought a clump with me.  They have always reached a good height but this year they have excelled themselves, I am estimating at least two metres.  I took this photo on Thursday as I was more than a little concerned for them suffering in the wet and windy weather that was forecast.  So far, they are still standing proud.

Two

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I also have good memories attached to this geranium which came from Aunty Jen’s garden.  It also moved gardens when we came here and it’s settled in well.  I have a distant memory that it is ‘Johnson’s Blue’.

Three

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I do love a geranium and this one is ‘Brookside’. It’s a big sprawly one and beautifully grows around the roses, in this case ‘Wisley’.  I wish I could be cheesy and say I have fond memories of the Wisley gardens but I’ve never been there.

Four

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The sweet peas are flowering.  They were sown in February and have grown very chunky and strong.  This variety is ‘April in Paris’ and I can say I have enjoyed many good times there.  This is a beautifully scented variety with long stems.

Five

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I also enjoyed a good day out Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire a couple of years ago and this cistus was bought there.  It’s  ‘Alan Fradd’ and is laden with flowers at the moment.

Six

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The rainy weather of the last few days has been a wonderful relief for the garden. The water butts are filling up again and I imagine the slugs and snails are partying like mad.  A few weeks ago I spotted this beautiful pot thrown out in a skip.  I called at the house and asked if I could liberate it.  I was amazed that anyone would want to throw it away but when I flexed the muscles to lift it from the skip I realised why.  It is plastic!  It fooled me but I was still happy to take it and give a new hosta a home.  I’ve wrapped copper tape around the pot and mulched the top with a layer of slate chips that were lurking at the back of the shed.  I’ve placed it on the wooden top of a raised bed.  What more can I do?  I’m pleased that I made a small contribution to plastic recycling and I now have another garden memory.

Mr P has a truly beautiful rose (I’m so envious) on show in his Six on Saturday and all the links to other sixes will appear in his comments section through the day.  If it’s raining where you are put your feet up and have a good read.