#leucojum

Six On Saturday: Nearly there

/ n20gardener / 15 Comments

I’m just back from a few days in Italy and even that short break gave me the opportunity to see the garden with fresh eyes. The tulips are opening up and the green shoots seem to have doubled in size. There is much promise of things to come, but for the moment a cold wind blows. Here’s six from a chilly walk around the garden today.

One

Last week’s tulip buds have moved on a stage, ‘World Friendship’ seems to be a reliable returner and is a lovely warmer yellow colour.

Two

The muscari have also opened up that little bit more and this year have increased in quantity to give a good sized drift along the path.

Three

These are tulip ‘Purissima’ before they get to their overblown state. I planted them to complement the hellebores and this year they have just about coincided.

Four

Isn’t there always one thing that you said you would have more of next season and then you don’t buy any? Here’s mine: Leucojum aestivum ‘Gravetye Giant’. I think I am going to pick up some pots of flowering bulbs and drop them in where needed. More expensive, but I am sure I will forget again if I leave it until bulb buying season.

Five

Well, lookey here! Some thalia that the slugs haven’t found yet. Last week I said ‘no more’. Unfortunately fickle is my middle name. These are so lovely that I think I am going to be tempted again. Somebody save me from myself, please!

Six

I have been picking up stray primrose seedlings from around the garden and planting them in a corner to see what colour they are when in flower. I now have a Persian carpet of them. The plan was to move them into the appropriate spot in the garden according to their colours. I think I can be persuaded to leave them as they are.

The fig tree had a prune just before the departure for Italy. This annual task is to keep the height down and this year one of the lower branches was removed. It will make it harder to pick fruit but there will be less ducking when the lawn is mowed. This weekend I will try to give the roses a feed with some fish, bone and blood and then I will dither about whether it is time to cut back the hydrangeas. Two degrees overnight on Sunday may persuade me to leave it for one more week. I will also start to think about seed sowing. There’ll be many a relieved SOSer this week as it becomes easier to find six delights in the garden. Stop by Jim’s place to see the show. Happy gardening everyone.

Six On Saturday: Mid April, motoring along gently

/ n20gardener / 15 Comments

First things first. Apologies. What with one thing and the other I did not get round to reading many SOS posts last week. I plan to do better this week. I did manage to be out in the garden for some of the fine weather and it was encouraging to see more and more plants making progress. The dead looking fuchsias are just showing signs of new growth from the base and more perennials are pushing through. This week the tulips took a bashing as the garden caught the edge of storm Noa on Wednesday and there have been cold winds and April showers galore. I cut back one of the winter damaged euphorbia melifera to the ground. Having spotted some very weak new growth on the second euphorbia I decided to leave the roots of both in the ground for a few more weeks to see if there is any real chance of recovery. The cistus does look very dead and I am readying myself to deal with that in the next week or two. Happily, there’s enough in the garden to keep the spirits up. Here’s this week’s six.

One

Undaunted by the chilly winds, more and more tulips are opening up. These are ‘Negrita’, soon to by joined by ‘Spring Green’ and possibly some ‘Ronaldo’ but I did dig a few of those up as I moved things around over Winter. Time will tell.

Two

I really should have featured these last week, as they are a little past their best this week. These are the very pleasing flowers of epimedium x versicolor Sulpehurerum together with a hart’s tongue fern. I planted these up in a container to fill a shady corner and although the epimedium may need to be moved on as it establishing, so far the results are positive.

Three

Note to self: Must add some more of these to the garden. I hear that leucojum ‘Gravetye Giant’ likes it wet so here is one plant that must be enjoying the weather.

Four

The bleeding heart has made a another appearance in the garden. I worried for this as in its first year it was attacked by slugs and then unwittingly dug up by me as I relocated something else. I hope it has a good year this year and really gets its roots into the soil.

Five

I may have to concede defeat on the pittosporum ‘Nanum’. It has lost more and more leaf and the stems seem to snap more than bend. It is looks even more dead now, backed as it is, by the striking green of the new growth of melica altissima ‘Alba’. The melica is clearly indestructible, it grows in a cold dark border and happily self seeds. The border may be just too cold for the pittosporum. I’m giving it a few more weeks to see if some steady warmth can help it into growth.

Six

Iberis sempervirens. A solid plant for falling over the edge of walls. It looked a little scruffy after winter but it is in its stride again and brightened up this gloomy morning. I took a few cuttings when I was tidying it up and now have two more young plants to fit along the edges of this wall.

On the seedling front, I have germination from the Marigolds but everything else in the greenhouse is being a little reluctant to burst forth. Inside on the kitchen windowsill, the chillis continue to put on growth and have just been joined by some basil, tomato and cucumber seedlings. I planted out the ‘Charlotte’ second earlies and the onions in modules in the greenhouse are just about sending up shoots. It’s a cold unheated greenhouse so I have to be patient. Yes, a little more warmth would be welcome but I’m pleased to see the garden filling up again in spite of the weather. I’m off to Jim’s Cornish garden now to see what’s putting in an appearance this week and also to improve on my reading statistics from last week’s effort. Happy gardening to you all.

Six On Saturday: The garden is on the move

/ n20gardener / 16 Comments

I have spent every spare moment this week moving the compost and finally on Friday the bins themselves were dismantled. The space is ready and waiting for the landscaper. It is a little muddy underfoot, hopefully a few dry days will sort that out. I have two builders bags of compost, some of this will go to earthing up the potatoes later in the season and some needs a little more time decomposing. Two toads were carefully relocated in the process. All in all it was a good job done and I am giving myself a pat on the back. Meanwhile the garden is moving on a pace. Here’s what I spotted this week.

One

I was admiring via twitter the clumps of leucojum on display at St Timothees Garden and wondering when mine would put on a show. On Friday I saw the first flower. Not quite a clump yet but pleasing all the same. A note has been made to order more bulbs.

Two

The primroses that have been in flower for some time but they have really filled out this week. They are possibly my favourite spring flower, such a gentle yellow and yet still able to take centre stage.

Three

The clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ enjoyed the sun on Friday. It is full of bud now and the flowers are just opening. A few gardens down from me I can see my neighbour has something very similar and it is full flower. What a difference aspect makes.

Four

The border delphiniums are pushing on and of course the slugs are not far behind. This tasty shoot is so far untouched, Long may it last. I checked the roots of the delphiniums in the potting shed this week and they are coming along nicely but who was also snuggled up nicely in the pot? A tiny slug of course.

Five

Beautiful tulip buds. Such a welcome sight in the garden, good things are unfurling and soon the colour pops will be bursting out.

Six

Another welcome sight is this wonderful green growth in amongst the dead brown matter of the erigeron karvinskianus. There are just one or two new stems so far. I’ll keep a close eye on them and over the next week or so I will start cutting away the dead stuff. This and one or two other losses in this border will provide an opportunity for a re-think.

The epoxy resin for the pot repair has arrived and it looks like next week will be dry so I might get the chance to see if a miracle can be worked. If not, thanks to Paddy’s suggestion, I will be using the damaged pot as a feature somewhere else in the garden – which is rather a tempting idea. The Prop will be around as usual, hosting the meme and running, running running. Happy gardening to everyone.

Six On Saturday: A tale of two skimmias

/ n20gardener / 18 Comments

There is a tale of two skimmias to be told but first the tale of the headless chicken.

Finding myself with some spare time I set off to do some weeding. Yep, I was definitely going to tackle the patch by the gooseberries. But on the way I walked past the borders where I spotted some ground elder. No, stay focused. Oh dear, there’s some enchanter’s nightshade running along the wall behind the roses. I’d better do that first. And then there was the creeping cinquefoil, leading on to creeping buttercup, which was nudging up nicely to the hairy bittercress and then the oxalis came into view. Celandine was popping up everywhere and I wasn’t anywhere near the gooseberries. In headless chicken mode I ricocheted from one weed to another, feeling determined and feeble in equal measure. A small dent was made and the fight will go on. But for now here are six delights from the garden.

One

The first of the skimmias, ‘Kew Green’.  As far as I can understand this is a male skimmia, with no berries. Continue reading →

Six on Saturday: Hip hip hooray!

/ n20gardener / 13 Comments

I’m cheering for the sunshine, the long weekend and the surge in growth that is taking place in the garden.  I’m getting a tingling feeling! For the full ASMR experience please read this post in a slow, gentle whisper.

One

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Tulips, tulips, tulips.  These are planted out in blocks along the long border central path. There are four types: Queen of Night, Shirley, Violet Beauty, Barcelona.  Queen of Night comes along a little later which seems appropriate.

Two

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This is the sunny end of the north facing border – which is in truth slightly angled east-west.  The iberis sempervirens is in full swing and the tulips here are just appearing.  I’m waiting patiently for the trachelospermum jasminoides to run riot over the back fence.

Three

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Down at the hedge border I have two groups of tulips comprising of Angelique, China Town, and Spring Green which are just waking up.  The shorter ones with the creamy edged leaves are China Town.  These are absolutely lovely!

Four

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New to the garden this year is leucojum aestivum ‘Gravetye Giant’. Billed as reaching 90cms in height, this hasn’t quite made it this year.  But I have high hopes!

Five

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The apple blossom is opening out.  Such beautiful colours.

Six 

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Rosa Mdme Alfred Carriere was planted out last year on a shady back fence and it is running away very nicely.  After a week away I was very happy to find it  lush and full of buds.  I’m looking forward to them opening out.

I am now heading off to do some gardening.  Some more of the plants for the less sunny end of the north facing border arrived this week and I have 25 geraniums and 6 anemones to plant out.  I know it will take twice as long as I think so I’d better get started.  I’ll post on this new border next week.

I know someone else who will be out in the garden this weekend, but Mr P, host of this meme will find time to share the links to other SOSs for your enjoyment.  Have a great weekend.