I’ve been in Connecticut, USA all week but am back in Blighty now, with another Six on Saturday. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything, a disease, a good harvest, a flower, an interesting plant, a job to do. Anything at all, going on in your garden now.

My Six this week require a bit of imagination as none have yet performed any great garden service but I have hopes for them next year. Have you affixed your potential goggles? Then let’s go!

1. Acanthus mollis, bear’s breeches.  A rescue job from the garden centre, it was just a couple of scrappy leaves when I took it home. It has a good root system so in no time it has begun to regrow. It should get quite big. The RHS uses the words ‘robust’ and ‘vigorous’ to describe it. Should I be afraid?

2. Geranium macrorrhizum. I got this at a plant fair in May and promptly divided it. It is nestling in a shady spot in Border 4. The variety is not given on the label so who knows what the flowers are like. We will have to wait till next year to find out.

3. Berkheya species. I hope this is the pretty purple one but fear it may the uglier yellow cousin. The leaves are quite insistent, and pretty spiky. It’s like an aggressive, snarly dandelion. Grown from seed this year, no flowers yet. I’m giving it a chance but if it’s ugly it’s coming out.

4. Perovskia, Russian sage. I have two, both hardwood cuttings taken from a neighbour’s garden last November, now nicely rooted and growing on. I’ll need to cut it right back in the spring. but it should grow to a few feet and have lavender blue (i.e. purple!) flowers on spikes. It smells fabulous.

5. Hesperantha coccinea x ‘zeal salmon’. I grew these from seed this year and having seen photos of other people’s kaffir lillies, I’m a bit disappointed these didn’t bloom in year 1. Next year, I hope. They flower in September, these should be a shade of salmon red but as they are from collected seed, we’ll have to wait and see. I’ve 16 of them so they better be good!

6. Penstemon digitalis ‘husker red’. I grew these from seed this year, they should have red stems and white flowers. So far, lots of foliage, but nowt else.  I’ve got quite a few dotted about in groups, I hope they’re worth it. The RHS says the plants resulting from propagation by seed are “variable” and the flowers a “murky shade”, which doesn’t hugely inspire confidence. They do seem to be busy forming quite good clumps. As always, we shall see.

That’s my Six for this week, what are yours? Join in! Just add a link to your Six in the comments below and maybe a link back to this blog. For more details, see the participants’ guide. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and don’t forget to check back throughout the weekend for links to other great Six posts.

I’ll be back next week with another Six on Saturday.