Feeling festive yet? Things turned wintry here at the start of this week, with lows of -9°c on Monday night. Brrr! We had a few cm of snow on Sunday, all gone by mid-week, but enough for the kids to take themselves off sledging. It’s expected to be a slightly more clement 5 or 6°c this weekend, jolly gardening weather.
Anyhow, it’s time for Six on Saturday. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything – a favourite plant, a job completed, wildlife, plans, anything at all. Join in!
Here are my Six for this week.
1. Compost worms. I turned the heap the other day, extracting as I went a good amount of finished compost. I was pleased to see a lot of wiggly worm action in the heap – a good sign. They do a lot of the work, munching away at my garden and kitchen waste.
2. Greenhouse pellies. I’m aware this year more than others that I don’t have much in the way of winter colour. In some ways I don’t mind this, winter is the off-season, a chance to prepare for the three seasons of hoped-for interest. This pellie, an anonymous variety, is busy flowering away in its winter quarters. Despite the chill earlier in the week, it is still game.
3. Eryngium family. Earlier in the year I took some root cuttings of a long lost eryngium or sea holly plant. The cuttings have rooted, and the parent plant has perked up, having looked highly unamused by being blocked out by a rampaging solidago. I’ll plant that out in the spring, and I hope the offspring will be happy enough in this pot till the spring when I can pot them on.
4. Planter. I’ve made several of these planters over the last few years. They are made from scrap wood, usually old pallets. This one lives on the patio and looks bare at the moment, having been stripped of past-it annuals last weekend. I am almost certain it has tulips incarcerated in the depths, stripy ones, I hope to see them return in a few months.
5. Snowman. It’s not looking its best now, but shortly after construction it looked like this. Who doesn’t love a snowman? I claim no credit, entirely the work of #4 child.
6. Cornus sanguinea “midwinter fire”. I have two of these, both grown from runners from a neighbour’s shrub. This is their second year in my possession, planted out earlier this year. They are knee high at the moment and look a bit rubbish, shapeless. I am itching to give them a good haircut in early spring, to promote gowth, but for now I’ll enjoy their potential. I like the variation in the stem colour, which unlike the cornus mas alba is not plain red, but grades of yellow and orange – what #2 child, expert nail-polisher, would no doubt describe as an “ombre”. I am expecting better from this shrub next year, else it’s for the shredder!
Those are my Six, what are yours? Why not join in? We’d love a nose round your garden. Just write your post, add a comment here with a link to yours and maybe add a link back to this blog in yours. For more details, please see the brief participants guide.
Have a great weekend and don’t forget to check back in over the next 48 hours as links to other great Six posts get added.
I’ll be back next week for the penultimate Six on Saturday of the year.
Great snowman! Sorry I’m a little late but here is my effort https://offtheedgegardening.com/2017/12/17/six-on-saturday-abridged-version/ Hope you and your propagations are keeping warm. 🙂
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Your tardiness is forgiven. I think you have distilled Six on Saturday down to its very essence. Splendid!
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Here’s my link. https://wp.me/p97pee-aU I think I am trying to be too clever with using a template so I may have updated a previous post rather than published a new one yesterday.. Hey Ho! I congratulate you on your ability to be scheduling a last six for next week. Much respect. I will sign off this week and resume again in January. Happy Christmas to you all.
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Slacker! Merry Christmas!
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The Eryngium looks very promising, and what a great snowman!
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Yes I’m pleased with the sea holly, it’s looking pretty good. Might try root cuttings of some phlox I have next…
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Its a strange thing to say, but jealous of all those worms. I’ve seen exactly two in my garden for the whole time I’ve been here – nearly a year now.
Here are my six for this week: http://www.parabola.me.uk/blog/2017/Dec/the-frozen-six/
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Wow you need to load up on manure or something and then order worms on the internet if they don’t magically appear. Worms are gardeners best friend!
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Well done getting your Eryngium root cuttings to sprout and glad the mother plant is recovering
Here’s my 6onSat: https://www.mypottingbenchblog.com/six-on-saturday-16th-december-2017/
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Yes I am pleasantly surprised. First real success with root cuttings…
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No snow here so I enjoyed seeing the snowman, well done #4 child!
I am envious of your healthy worm population as a mole appears to have moved in to my compost bin and the normally large number of brandling worms has been decimated.
I have a Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’, and it took at least 3 years to settle in and REALLY start to produce a mass of stems on a well-shaped plant. Give yours a chance! They are worth it.
My Saturday Six are at https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=132653450760694&id=100020481184500
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Ok ok I’ll give it a chance…
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I love Midwinter Fire, it does just what it says on the tin. Mine got a bit too big width wise in my garden and so I’ve been replaced it with a variegated red stemmed variety. It’s not the plants fault, just mine for not having a big enough garden.
Here’s my offering for this week https://thequiltinggardener.wordpress.com/2017/12/16/six-on-saturday-16-12-17
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The grandchildren look forward to snow such as yours…but not so far here in B.C., Canada. Last year the oldest made a snowlady with her grandfather!
My 6 for today: https://fromourisland.wordpress.com/2017/12/15/six-on-saturday-december-16-2017/
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I agree that this is a great time to reflect and plan; and the quite, monochromatic scenery brings a bit of peace! Here are my six: https://ajoann.com/2017/12/16/its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like/
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I have plans up the wazoo! Busy with veg plot schedule for next year…
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What a great snowperson! Is there a resemblance to you around the nose? You’ve given a good 6 all around, but I’m really loving that planter – depth, height, lip wide enough to set a trowel, lovely rustic boards . . . hope there are tulips in it & we see them next year.
Here’s my half dozen: https://lorahughes.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/four-seasons-in-week.html
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Thanks, that was my first one I think. I need to make more for the side passage. I have my eye on a double length pallet round the corner. Must nab it…
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Oh my! Snow and frost and stuff! How can I complain about being too hot? My pseudo-antipodean six are here: https://gardenruminations.wordpress.com/2017/12/16/six-on-saturday-16-12-2017/
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Nothing pseudo about it. Definitely from down under!
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Love the snow person (are we allowed to call them snowmen now?) so sad me missed the snow down here but never mind, find midwinter fire a little slow to get going, worth leaving it for a couple of years before hard pruning, they seem to hate it when they are not fully established, erygmiuns look great as well and enjoy making the containers, here’s my 6 https://thomasdstone.blog/2017/12/16/6-on-saturday-16-12-17/ but one quick question, did you get the idea of the six on Saturday from Five Finger Death Punch song? Pps should have a Prezziein the post next week 😉
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No! All my own work. Be grateful it wasn’t Seven on Sunday! Prezzie!!
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My pellie cuttings are still trying to take over the world. Sorry old chap, but I’m giving it a miss this week. Too many things in the way. But I notice that Thomas has blogged but not linked here so I’ll link to his post at https://thomasdstone.blog/2017/12/16/6-on-saturday-16-12-17/ by way of penance. Now off to jack-hammer the ice out of the freezer. There may be local flooding as the ice melts!
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Outraged! of course, you carry on. See you soon.
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A little wonky because of computer issues, but here’s my six: https://uttarakhandandi.blogspot.in/2017/12/structure-and-mayhem.html
Looking forward to this week’s six-on-saturday party! And I envy you your snow..none so far here.
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Lovely to see you back again. Love the mountain view.
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I really enjoyed the wink about the snowman … 😁 I’ll try to give you a Good link for my Six( I hope) …but from my PC , maybe the reason.
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