Six on Saturday! Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything, a good flower, a pesky weed, a project, a favourite tool, anything at all. Join in!
Here are my Six for this week.
1. Gaura ‘Passionate Pink’. This plant is among several plants (a load, really) that are either recent propagations or as in this case, recent bargain purchases, all of which are in a queue waiting to be planted out. When I bought this one I assumed it was reduced in price because it was finished for this year, so I was thinking about next year really. However, it has had a little flush of flowers which has given me a handy view of what it might look like. I like it, definitely a keeper. Now I just have to find a spot for it…
2. Japanese anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’. I’m 95% sure the variety is correct, the labels are long gone. I bought these plants about 10 years ago, they mind their own business during the year, but come into their own about now. The slightly depressing news is that they are very much a harbinger of autumn. I have two clumps of this plant, one in very poor soil on the margins of a shady border, they seem quite happy there. The other clump is in Border 2, the sunny border, but constrained for space. As a result these plants grow very tall, giving a chest-height blast of bright white flowers.
3. Potentilla fruticosa. This shrubby cinquefoil has been quietly occupying a corner of Border 1 for a few years. It has been flowering for weeks, and still doing pretty well, although there don’t seem to be many new flower heads. It is a little crowded out by a carex and the neighbouring loosestrife but is holding its own. I tend to err towards bright colours (I’m a simple creature), this plant is one of few in the garden that is a more pastel shade.
4. Solidago gigantea. This is a North American prairie perennial. I’ve no idea where it came from, I certainly didn’t sow it or plant it. Words like “thuggish” and “invasive” are used to describe it on the RHS website, so I may come to regret not digging it up sooner. For now it is flowering brightly, attracting pollinators so it can stay. I think I will remove it once the flowers have gone over, hopefully before it starts setting seed.
5. Delphinium ‘Black Knight’. This is another bargain purchase. I’ve never grown delphiniums before, so I’m looking forward to finding a spot for it. I think I might put it where the mallow is now, in Border 2. Like the gaura, I did not think this had any flowering to do this year, but it is having a little hurrah.
6. Penstemon ‘Patio Wine’. Another bargain purchase for which I had low expectations this year. It is also flowering well. I am pleased with the colour, I think I’ll plant it in Border 3. When I’ve cleared it out a little.
That’s my Six, what are yours? Please do join in, more the merrier. If you’d like to, please just leave a comment below with a link to your post and maybe put a link back to this blog in your post.
I’ll be back next week with another Six.
And now a comment on your post. Sorry I didn’t contribute this week; got diverted by water dripping through a light fitting downstairs and now in the airlock abolition stage in the heating system.
Gaura’s a lovely plant and grows well here in the year I plant it but I can never get it through the winter. Ditto for delphiniums. I’m in the “invasive” camp for Solidago gigantea but found a dwarf variety that I featured a few weeks back. That’s better behaved though earlier flowering. I think you’ve ID’d your Japanese anemone right – looks just like mine. Overall, a great six.
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Thanks for the tip on the gaura. I think I may be ok down south, we’ll see I guess. I have a few rooted cuttings I’ve taken so am hoping they’ll be my insurance policy. No need to apologise for a no-show, you are under no obligation!
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No worries, your advice worked just fine and the link in my Facebook post has brought me straight to this page. My ‘Saturday Six’ are on Facebook Karen SmithEaton https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100020481184500 and I hope that link works back OK. Thank you!
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Hmm do you have to have Facebook acct to view someone else’s fb page? Suspect you do. I’m one of the 5 people on the planet that doesn’t have a fb acct.
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I’m the same. I’ve tried Karen/Tina’s link and am getting a “You must log in” message. But I guess we’re both in a minority and lots of others will be able to get at the page.
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I am so sorry, I have just used my husband’s computer (with non of my Facebook or The Propagator cookies on it) to check the link and it just took me to my page but requested I ‘Log In or Sign Up’, so maybe that was not such a good idea of mine. I made the page ‘Public’ so thought anyone could have a peek. I shall have to have a re-think, in the meantime I will continue to enjoy your blog. Best wishes, Karen. PS I only joined Facebook on 26th July after years of resistance!
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That’s a shame. If you feel strongly inclined to take part you can easily set up a WordPress blog. It’s free and they have loads of pre-canned themes. You would be up and running in no time. Other blog platforms are available, all pretty straightforward to use, i gather. You could just use it for an occasional/weekly Six post.
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There is, of course, another way round it – guest-posting on someone’s existing blog. Maybe by emailing the text and attaching the photos to the email. It wouldn’t take that long to transform that into a blog post, maybe 10-15 minutes tops. I’ve done that sort of thing before. You should have TT’s email address available in your comment system and mine too. I’d be happy for you to email my addy to TT is she’s interested and we can go from there. I probably have more time than you, being a gentleman of leisure, so to speak.Only a thought.
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That did occur to me too. Just a copy/paste job and load some photos.
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The article itself can be seen without a facebook account using the link to the post itself: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=111488492877190&id=100020481184500
That is a very interesting Geranium there with lots of bonus insects.
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Oh excellent! Thought it was more difficult than it should be. There you go then TT, sorted! You just need to post the link to your article rather than to your profile.
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Your Honorine Jobert has lovely flowers, hope mine is going to survive.
Here are my six: http://www.parabola.me.uk/blog/2017/Aug/six-on-saturday-26-aug/.
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I found your site through Off The Edge Gardening, I loved Gill’s last post about Saturday Six so much that I was inspired to go out this afternoon and take pictures in my garden of my own six. I don’t have a WordPress account, can I post on Facebook and do a link that way? I love your six, especially the Gaura and Delphinium, beautiful. It is such a great idea to go out and really look at what is looking good at least once a week.
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No need for a WordPress account. Other folks use other blog platforms, I don’t see why facebook wouldn’t work, just add the link to a comment below.
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Sorry for brief, slightly terse even, response earlier, i was out for dinner. Fb will be fine. The important hing is that people can click through to your post from mine, and more selfishly that people can click through through to my blog from your post (um, mainly to see other folks 6 posts). Let me know if I’m not being clear.
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I love gauras and this pink one is charming. I managed to cobble together six of my own, here you are https://offtheedgegardening.com/2017/08/26/six-on-saturday-again/
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Like Jim, I have Solidago ‘Fireworks’, and it seems to be well behaved. Also have one of the species that are roadside weeds around here. That one definitely spreads, but I tolerate it, because it adds color to dry barren areas at the edge of the trees.
Here are my six:
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I’m thinking solidago might be a good idea but is it???? thanks for a lovely post this week and here is mine http://londoncottagegarden.com/six-shrubs-to-fill-up-a-sparse-garden/.
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Excellent as ever fella 🙂
Here’s my little contribution this week https://thomasdstone.blog/2017/08/26/six-on-saturday-260817/
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I’ve got Solidago ‘Fireworks’ on the cusp of opening, new this year. It looks strong, you’ve sown the seeds of doubt in my mind. I was impressed at how you kept your sixes going while on holiday, nicely done. My six are here: https://gardenruminations.wordpress.com/
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Some of the cultivars are better behaved it seems so you may be fine. I did three posts in advance and just scheduled them. That was the only way I could do it. Long commute from Italy just to take a few pictures…!
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