#hydrangea

Six On Saturday: Flattened

/ n20gardener / 11 Comments

Somewhat ironically, both the water bill and heavy rain came this week. One was more welcome than the other. We are on a meter and all the water butts were empty. The garden has had a heavy soaking and the butts are full again. The alchemilla that was frothing last week is now flat, verbena bonariensis, veronicastrum and even shorter plants have joined the downward trend. But the rain was needed. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

Flattened echium. I’m not too bothered about these. They came from a pack of free seeds, they are a good colour but really they are in the wildflower category and I’ve decided they are not keepers. They will go before they set seed.

Two

I’m sure the hydrangeas loved the rain but the flower heads just could not bear the weight so they are bowed down to the grass, I may take off the lower branches for some cut flowers.

Three

The miscanthus ‘Silver Feather’ doesn’t seem to have minded too much. I like this grass and it has grown to a good size in this its third year in the garden.

Four

The hebe should be sending fireworks of flowers off in all directions but they are heading downwards now. I hope they will spring back when the rain stops.

Five

The heuchera’s slightly shiny leaf looks well in the rain. I particularly liked this variety and tried for some time to buy a couple more but couldn’t. I gave in and bought something similar but it has an even shinier leaf which doesn’t appeal quite so much.

Six

Here’s one I missed earlier! Tree seedlings are a constant problem and there’s also a spare plant support waiting for a Japanese anemone which I think has given up the ghost for this year. Behind, the climbing hydrangea isn’t doing too badly at all.

I have been enjoying some garden produce this week: green beans, lettuce and potatoes. The blackcurrants have been picked. They were not too plentiful this year. I wonder if birds ate some of the flowers. The rain will have been perfect for my second sowing of carrots which had just germinated, and, if I don’t keep a close eye on them, I think the courgettes may be roaring away. My always neglected front garden will also have enjoyed the downpours. So all in all, I’m not going to moan. Well, just a little one. I noticed the lawn was speckled with slugs!

I’m off to Jim’s garden in the blogosphere to catch up with other SOSers. Have a great weekend, come rain or shine.

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Scorchio!

/ n20gardener / 21 Comments

It’s too darn hot to garden and almost too darn hot to write. But I’m giving it a go. The apples had to be picked this week, other commitments meant this was the best time for us if not for the apples. The pips were brown and the job was done early one morning. The quote for the new paving and veg beds arrived and was a third more than I was expecting. I should not be surprised by that. It is very likely that I will have to scale down my ambitions but that will have to wait for cooler times. I managed to snap (photograph not break!) a few things in the garden as I watered the pots and threw a large courgette on the compost heap, I am sure many will recognise that summer ritual! Here’s my six for the week.

One

A boot full of apples, ready to be taken to be pressed and bottled. The three cox’s pippin trees did not perform so well this year but the other three trees will have probably made up for them. On these trees the apples were much bigger than in previous years, no doubt due to all that rain in July.

Two

A surprise aster. Could this be a come back kid or is it a new arrival? A few years back I dug out some tall thuggish asters from this spot. Those were bright pink so I guess this one has seeded itself from somewhere else. I’ll see how it goes.

Three

The grasses are beginning to flower. This is calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’. It’s lovely. So lovely that I planted another one the other side of the steps for some of that designery symmetry. Of course the second has just sulked and refused to bulk up. What can you do?

Four

The lemon tree that suffered near death last winter has put on some lush new growth after being cut back. Being a softy, I did not throw it out as I said I would but there is no greenhouse now for overwintering so if a similar fate occurs this winter it will have to go.

Five

Although the new paving is under review, the gooseberries are definitely going to be replaced by two hydrangea quercifolia ‘ Snow Queen’. There was money off being offered so I couldn’t resist. They are now inhabiting a shady corner until the gooseberries are cleared.

Six

And speaking of hydrangeas, those in the garden are turning to their autumn colours but with one or two new flowers still coming through.

I am still looking for plants to fill winter losses. Does anyone grow osmanthus delavayi? I’m thinking of this for a partial shade spot. What do you think?

If you have time, please stop by and visit our host, Jim, in his garden. He generously provides the glue that keeps us all together and has some fabulous plants too. Stay well everyone.

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: Cool, Cool Summer

/ n20gardener / 23 Comments

To paraphrase an old song, the weather in July has been cool. Even with some heavy rain recently the garden is on the dryish side but the water butts are full once again. I have managed to catch up on a few jobs: the feeding of the roses has begun and I have spent a great deal of time weeding out the oxalis that has colonised the old greenhouse patch. Sadly no tomatoes this year but the cucumbers are fruiting and I have planted out a late sowing of lettuces as I cleared the oxalis (and slugs). Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

The grapevine has had a belated trim back. There are some good sized grapes this year but I don’t hold out much hope for edible fruit. They usually split, rot or are eaten by birds and wasps. I inherited it and it’s real purpose is to shade the pergola and dining table which it does very well.

Two

This var. unk. hydrangea by the steps is also doing well this year. There’s not too much in the way of scorched flowers and there has been enough rain. It’s turning a soft shade of pink now.

Three

This is echinacea ‘White Swan’. “Oh no it isn’t” you will say. “Oh yes it is” I will say. We could both be right. I definitely sowed seeds of ‘White Swan’. This is definitely not white. I read that echinacea often reverts back to the purple form so I guess this is what has happened here. There should be another opening up soon, it will be interesting to see what appears.

Four

The deciduous agapanthus in the borders are in flower now. This one is ‘Midnight Blue’ a lovely dark form.

Five

About a month ago a large Box shrub was taken out, the struggle with the dreaded caterpillar was not worth continuing. I invested heavily in a mature hibiscus syriacus Red Heart and last week it was planted in the space. A sunny spot against the wall. I hope it gets its feet down quickly and goes from strength to strength. There are flower buds so I will revisit soon.

Six

This is an attempt to show the veronicastrum virginicum. I was given these down a chain of gardeners and I don’t know the variety but of late there have been a few SOS sightings of v. ‘Fascination’. I wonder if this could be the same? I’ve had them for a couple of years now and they are just beginning to fill their space and reach a good height.

I’m hoping to feed a few more roses begore the rain sets in. Then I might, dare I say it, look at the bulb catalogues! There’s a trip to Jim’s glorious garden to be made, (vine weevils not withstanding) where all the links to SOS posts will appear through the day. Enjoy your gardening weekend.

Six On Saturday: Those flowers keep coming

/ n20gardener / 19 Comments

Spoilt for choice this week. Those second half of summer flowers are coming through and a handsome downpour of rain on Tuesday perked everything up. Here’s my six for this week.

One

This is a plant I never would have chosen to add to the garden. It graces the front garden under a bay window and its intense blue really is quite an eye catcher. I still can’t decide if I like it but it is an inheritance I won’t be rejecting. Lacecap hydrangea btw!

Two

This is a hydrangea I did choose for the garden. It is hydrangea macrophylla ‘Blushing Bride’. I’ve looked this one up and I find that it is that it is part of the Endless Summer range and can flower on old and new wood. Thereby giving flowers from June to October. Well I never!

Three

Hurrah. A Winter survivor. Some penstemons were lost but this is a very healthy looking specimen. If I remember rightly it is ‘Plum Jerkum’ but please correct me if I’m wrong.

Four

I think it is obligatory at this time of year to show a pollen soaked bee in a hollyhock flower. I am happy to oblige.

Five

Here’s my collection of allium sphaerocephalon. Unspellable, unpronounceable and previously a little underwhelming. This year, after about four years in the ground, they have bulked up and their stems can now happily support the flower head. I’ve looked these up as well and belatedly see that they could look good against a backdrop of ornamental grasses. Here they work with gaura and day lilies. Not too bad.

Six

Speaking of day lilies, here is my only other variety. ‘Golden Chimes’ is its name, it’s been in the garden a few years now and about every other year it is divided and spread around a little more.

I’ve had to make a few decisions this week. Gone for the aging choisya, gone for two skimmias and gone for a euphorbia mellifera that I thought would pull through. One border looks a little thin now! On the plus side I spotted new growth from some dahlia tubers left in the ground and a salvia microphylla, aka Blackcurrant sage, has also woken up. I’m looking forward to a few more showers today to keep the hydrangeas happy. I hope the gardening space provides happiness for you this weekend too. Jim, our host, has a fabulous selection to share. Stop by for a visit and drop in on the other SOS bloggers for more gardening delights.