#nigella

Six On Saturday: Welcome rain

/ n20gardener / 14 Comments

I know correlation is not causation but I did order some new garden chairs last week and I planted out the summer pots. The rain has fallen every day since. It was much needed and I am celebrating full water barrels again. I was even able to plant out a few annuals but then I lost my hand fork in the borders. I don’t think you can be a gardener without losing hand tools, or secateurs, or balls of twine every once in a while. I’ve retraced my steps many times but I’ve not found it yet. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

Here’s one I took earlier. The rambling rose ‘Wedding Day’. It runs along the fence at the rear side of the garden and gives a glorious display of small yellowish flowers that fade to white. It’s a sight to behold.

Two

A few years back the slugs demolished my large established clumps of delphiniums. I hoped they would miraculously reappear but there’s no sign of them. I’ve started again from seed and here’s the first to flower. So far no slug damage but then this is the perfect weather for the little darlings.

Three

Onto the rainy photos, this one is geranium psilostemon. It is overly generous with its seedlings and I dig them out ruthlessly but still I have plenty. The deep magenta with the black centre is very striking.

Four

Here you can see them appearing amongst the phlomis. The phlomis was planted to give good ground cover. It does but psilostemon finds a way.

Five

I failed miserably to spread out the clematis stems this year but they find their own way to wriggle through the roses. Here’s clematis ‘Madame Julia Correvon’.

Six

I like these white nigellas. They are self-seeded from last years ‘Persian Jewels’ sowing. I don’t remember any white ones from last year. Interesting how the petals are different to the blue one.

The weather will prevent gardening today, I will just mourn the lost hand fork and hope that it will re-appear in the coming weeks. I think I will be spending a great deal of Sunday dead-heading roses which have all gone over in the last week. I hope you manage to have a happy gardening weekend. If you have time, do stop by Garden Ruminations where Jim hosts the Six On Saturday meme.

Six On Saturday: Hot, dry but wonderful

/ n20gardener / 11 Comments

It has been so hot here. The garden is drying out and there have been emails from the water company asking for water saving to be a priority. There are annuals in trays that should be going out in to the garden but the ground is either like concrete or dust. Oh, woe is a gardener. But here are six good things.

One

The roses seem to be having a great time though. This is the view down the path with Sceptr’d Isle’ in the foreground and Blush Noisette behind. I didn’t get round to fully pruning ‘Blush Noisette’ back to the wall and was feeling bad about it. Now I am enjoying it’s exuberance and promising that I will do the job next year.

Two

This is the climbing rose ‘James Galway’, also having a great year and if I’m honest also needing a better prune next year.

Three

I’m delighted to say that the peonies are back again for their second year. They came with me in the move about ten years and promptly failed to appear again. But last year they re-appeared. They are of course in completely the wrong place as other things have been planted around them.

Four

This is geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’, a firm favourite not least because it came as a division from an aunt’s garden many, many years ago. I’m planning some more divisions to spread them even further around the garden.

Five

Astrantia ‘Roma’, which also seems to cope well with the heat and dryness. There’s one lone aquilegia in amongst the crowd.

Six

The ‘Love-in-a mist’ has had a great year for self-seeding. This crowd has blown in to the veg plot. There were so many of them that I let them be, it’s a narrow plot that I sometimes use for carrots – I’m giving them a miss this year.

I’ve nearly caught up with the gardening jobs. A second sowing of courgettes has germinated speedily so all looks well there. I’m looking forward to cooler weather and perhaps some much needed rain next week. Dwarf beans, tomatoes and cucumbers are planted out and now must be kept watered. It’s time to enjoy a new month in the garden. Jim at Garden Ruminations has his open days coming up soon so stop by and see how things are progressing.

Six On Saturday: Plants that do it by themselves

/ n20gardener / 12 Comments

There was much anticipation here on Friday. Thunderstorms and rain were forecast. Nothing significant materialised. I will have to water the potatoes today and check on the newly planted tomatoes and courgettes. A friend who is well ahead of me has her first courgette already. There may be no rain but some plants just get on with things. Here’s six from the garden this week.

One

Peony, I did bring peonies from the old garden but they didn’t seem to take. Then after eight years this one appeared. It’s in the wrong place surrounded by roses and veronicastrum but I’m not going to move it in case it takes to not flowering again.

Two

This is the garden path. Almost impassable with the sprawl of plants escaping from the borders. It’s full of bees humming through the flowers so at this time of year I take the long way round across the lawn.

Three

Self-seeders are the theme in the garden this week. These calendulas are plentiful at the veg end of the garden.

Four

This year they have been joined by self-seeded nigella love-in-a-mist. I’ve left it to edge a narrow strip where I have sown carrots.

Five

More self-seeding, mallows have come through from the compost heap which I tend to use for earthing up potatoes. I’ve let them stay at the end of one of the veg beds.

Six

My final self-seeder is alchemilla mollis. This is also happy overwintering as seed in the compost heap or self seeding in the borders.

Wishing you all well in your gardens. It’s dead-heading roses and weeding for me. Jim’s garden is open for viewing literally and digitally. Garden Ruminations is the place to be, even if I am envious of his rain.