Yesterday, there was a hot yellow thing in the sky. I remember it from last year, I think. I like it! When can it come back? Today I shall mostly be tapping my foot impatiently, waiting for a large order of ferns to arrive. They are to go in a “living wall” arrangement I have cobbled together. No doubt it will feature here at some future juncture. While I wait, it’s time for Six on Saturday. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything – a flower (we have flowers!), a new plant, a plan, a success, a failure, a job to do, a tool, anything at all. Join in!
Here are my Six.
1 – Tulips! Remember those stripy leaves from a couple of weeks ago? The associated flowers have budded up and are now more or less open, basking in the unfamiliar sunshine. The consensus last time is they are a kaufmanniana of some kind.
2 – Euphorbia cornigera. I think I bought this at a plant fair last May, having tried and failed to grow from seed. I cut it back early winter and had begun to think it had come a cropper in the cold snaps we’ve had. I need not have worried, it is breaking through the mulch and looks in good heart. There seem to be many more stems than I cut back, this is a good thing.
3 – Hakonechloa macra. I had almost given up on this hak mac, thinking it may have been too small a division to have survived. Today, however, on closer inspection I see that there is new growth coming through. Yay!
4 – Dunno notacluevia. I cannot for the life of me remember what I planted in this end of the planter. It must be a bulb, but of what ilk? Not a scooby-doo. It will be a nice surprise. Whatever it is, there’s quite a lot of it…
5 – Hart’s tongue fern. Last year’s fronds are looking a little past it, but I’ll leave them on for a few more weeks till the risk of frost has reduced to negligible levels. Parting the old fronds, it is possible to see the new growth coming through. In a few weeks these will be several inches tall, and almost as pretty and impressive as the final result.
6 – Forsythia. We have a big unruly hedge of this between our front garden and our neighbour. It’s his boundary so I guess the hedge is his too. It is way too tall and doesn’t get a proper pruning except for what I cut away from my side in exasperation at its tendency to loll about and stab me when I’m messing about in the front borders. For about 3 weeks of the year it is bearable as it throws out a shot of welcome brightness, albeit a rather lary yellow. I don’t like it for the other 49 weeks of the year. It’s also common as muck round these parts, every other garden has one. If I had my druthers, I’d chop it down and dig it up.
Those are my Six for this week, what are yours? We have had a dozen or so first time Six posts the last few weeks, so if you are tempted, why not join in too? Dead easy, just post your Six, then pop back over here to add a comment with your link in it. If you also add a link to this blog in your post, that would be fab. For more details you can read the brief participants guide.
Have a super weekend, hopefully incorporating some more of that hot yellow thing in the sky.
I’ll be back next week for another Six on Satirday.
Could Dunno notacluevia be a patch of common Lily of the Valley? Did you receive the photos of woven French garden props? Thanks for the nice post: I agree that where sunshine is lacking, forsythia adds a much needed pop of sunshine colour! Ha! Not sure I shall get six together today….
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Hi. Yes I did get the photos, thanks. Several people have said Lily of the valley but it does ring a bell and the pics I’ve seen of it are white flowers and I really dont remember white. We shall see.
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Oh good! I’m sure the mystery will soon be solved, and will be a nice surprise for you! Enjoy that sunshine! Wish I could say the same about here….
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It didn’t last long. Rainy today.
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Ha!! I have found the ‘Permalink’ – https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=157112878314751&id=100020481184500
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Aha well done. Nice to see you back from your hibernation!
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I’m surprised you noticed, you get so many comments every week!!
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A particularly bumper week this week. I think spring is encouraging the masses. It’s great.
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My first or 2nd week contributing, there were 15 blogs, counting my own. This week, we’re pushing very hard toward 40!
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Yes i think the spring weather is bringing people out!
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I love the tulips, and you have far more Forsythia in flower than the one or two flowers out so far on mine. I have done my ‘Six on Saturday’ on my Facebook page but no longer get the ‘Karen added 6 more photos’ that I used to click on to get the right link. If you or any of your tech-savy friends have any idea of what I should do please help!!
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Here are my six for today. Spring is creeping up on us in Gloucestershire
https://homeallotment.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-7th-april/
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I would vote for Lily of the Valley. Have to say I love the forsythia as I love yellow. Here are my http://londoncottagegarden.com/six-on-saturday-7th-april-2018/
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Here’s another snowy Six from Carolee over in Indiana.
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Here is my six on Saturday, still getting used to this so bare with me. Happy gardening folks
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Sorry I’m a little late on parade, a special one from me today, hope you like it https://offtheedgegardening.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-for-joy/
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Greetings. Busy day in the garden for me. Been sowing, pruning,planting,building. Usual.
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Sounds pretty good to me! Hoping for a dry day tomorrow. I’m always hopeful mind!
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Very nice Six! I find Forsythia very cheering, too – in other people’s gardens. I have a lot of Dunno notacluevia, as well. Here are my six for today: https://thepaintinggardener.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-april-7/.
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No contribution from me this week, been away for a few days. Hopefully back to tulips flowering tomorrow. There are so many plants that used to be very popular but are now not, like Forsythia. Who plants Symphoricarpus any more, or most Ribes, or most conifers. Could Dunno be Polygonatum?
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What’ll I do for my camellia fix this week?
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That forsythia does look bright and cheerful, and as the great yellow think innthe sky is a bit shy atm anything that brightens the day is a good thing. Here are my 6, https://betagardengirl.wordpress.com/
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I couldn’t find where to comment on your post, so apologies for doing it here, Finnfrenz! Carrots are difficult creatures if you have the wrong soil. There is also an element of witchcraft involved. My daughter has the gift, but the rest of the family don’t, despite identical conditions! You have very adventurous plans – look forward to seeing them grow!
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Carrots are the devil’s work. In spite of this i sowed the second batch today. Glutton for punishment.
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Thanks Ali, every year is a new start and to be a gardener you need optimism and planning (as well as patience, perseverence, and sheer stubboness) but it is definitely worth it. Hmm, think I need to look into that witchcraft too though, might be just what I am missing.
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Hereās mine. Thanks for hosting!
https://oldhouseintheshires.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-spring-is-here/
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Here’s my 6 for today. It’s just fabulous to see things really starting to grow! https://theoptimisticgardener.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/6-on-saturday-2/
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Here are my six on Saturday for April 7, 2018.
https://doesthisfontmakemelookfat.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-april-7-2018/
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š
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I prefer forsythia to euphorbia – I worry about the fact that it can be quite an irritant, so be careful not to let the sap near your skin or eyes, dear SIL! I do envy you your tulips, mine get eaten. Here is my link : https://grannysgarden229242407.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/Six-on-Saturday 7-4-2018/
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spot on there with the link Granny. You should tell Grandpa not to eat the tulips. He should know better.
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A friend of mine is a chef and sent me a recipe for tulip bulbs which are apparently edible. Hoping it wasn’t an April fool…
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For a bright spring yellow on a somewhat more interesting shrub, I like Kerria japonica — the wild-type with single flowers, not the double that looks like little yellow pom-poms.
Here are my six. No forsythia, but lots of other yellow-orange things.
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I too have some Dunno poking up in the garden of my new house, that looks very similar to yours. I’m thinking it’s a bulb too, as I dont remember seeing them when we moved here in June. Let’s keep watching them and give a shout out when we know what it it!
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I am going to appropriate the plant name Dunno. I always think I will remember, but never seem to. I just got a box of 1000 big craft sticks and will try to do better about labeling.
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Lol, we’ll have to patent the name, Mala! I’ll split the proceeds of plant sales with you. š
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Mala, my dunno is blue glory-in-the-snow! It’s everywhere! So pretty.
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Dani, I had to look up glory in the snow. Here’s the scientific name.
Chionodoxa forbesii. It was avialable on several garden websites. I wasn’t familiar with it.
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I’m no fan of Forsythia either, but I do enjoy Corylopsis which is a modest yellow. My Hakonechloa macra have not been pruned back yet, perhaps next week. Things have been hectic around here!
My six for today are here:https://fromourisland.wordpress.com/2018/04/06/six-on-saturday-april-7-2018/
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Nice photo of the Tulips Mr P…..here is my 6….I am not rubbing your nose in it about the potting bench honest..https://sedumsdahliasandhayfever.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-7th-april-2018/
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Funny how plants differ from one region to another. My Kaufmannia tulips are over and done with, although they were a bit meagre this year, yet your forsythia looks much further on than mine. I have left forsythia out of my Six, and the ferns which I think Iāll save for another time. These are my Six for today – https://hurtledto60.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday/
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My Forsythia isn’t even in flower yet, just starting to open, several weeks behind where is was last year. Its not in a position where growing too big is an option, so I will enjoy the flowers before it outgrows its space.
I have some stripy leaved tulips too, not open yet, hope they look as good as yours.
Here are my six; five flowers and a leaf! https://www.parabola.me.uk/blog/2018/Apr/six-on-saturday-7th-april/
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I’ll take any kind of flowering at this point, the tulips are beautiful, and so is the forsythia. Did yours bloom last fall? A bit of mine did (not every branch on every bush), and the advice I read was that it would not bloom in spring again this year. But, it looks like there are some flower buds. It’s too soon to tell. We have a light dusting of snow again this morning, and it’s cold. I feel like I am living a plague of biblical proportions. The only hope is the sunshine. It just appeared here, too, after a week of gloom. Here’s my six:
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No autumn flowers on the forsythia, just the spring. Our weather has been unremittingly wet but finally it has dried up a little, round here anyway.
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Forsythia only blooms on last years wood as you no doubt know. Maybe your neighbor would let you cut it all back after the blooms are over.
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I have two Forsythia that get larger every year near the road – they’re still a few weeks from blooming. I love them and would love a long hedge somewhere near the back, where it could grow unchecked, where it could be stumbled across in the spring as a most excellent surprise!
https://wordpress.com/post/countygardening.wordpress.com/2854
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Seems like forsythia generates a love/hate divide. It’s so commonplace here. Like buddleja.
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Buddleja is beautiful but considered an invasive plant in our area. Not recommended.
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Hmm that link wouldn’t work for me.
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I was wondering…. I couldn’t find the ‘copy’ button I usually use….sorry
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Finally, those tulips. Man, they were well worth waiting for. They look a bit short, but not dwarf in the photo. Are they somewhere between tall & tiny? Your fern nubs interested me, as there’s dead fronds in one of my beds, but I haven’t seen any sign of new growth. Based on yours, I suspect mine are dead. And how can you not love forsythia? This seems to be a common hatred amongst the SoSers, but it’s such an easy . . . no, I’m going to stop myself. You either love a plant or you don’t. I hate euphorbia, for instance, but you’ve actually been pining to get yours going. We’ll agree on the fern living wall when it arrives. Can’t wait to see it!
So here’s mine. Sounds like we’ve had a little more sun than you, although this morning I woke to a shower (but now it’s gone, tra la la la la!).
http://lorahughes.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/we-have-lift-off.html
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Those particular tulips are on the short side, yes. But that’s ok, they are in a planter that’s 3′ tall.
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Lora, what I love in the garden is anything that grows in my inhospitable soil, cold winter temperatures and very humid hot summers. I don’t have the patience to baby things which is why I have quite a few knockout roses. They thrive here and nothing much bothers them. Give me color where nothing else would grow.
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Mala, I’m lucky things grow grow grow here. I used to live in one of your neighbouring states but no problem growing. Is it because you’re on the coast that the soil’s inhospitable?
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Not too far away the soil is sandy which comes with its own set of problems. We have some top soil and then heavy clay. I think at some point where we live would have been under water.
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Here’s my link https://wp.me/p97pee-e6 As usual I will be catching up with the reading over the weekend. My tulips are finally in bud – could be another two weeks though!
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I hope the ferns don’t take too long to arrive – everything seems to take longer when you’re sitting there waiting!
The Tulips look even more stunning now they’re flowering, although even the stripey leaves looked good.
Here’s my six (well, five plus a total failure) for the week: http://allotmenteering.co.uk/?p=130
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Tomorrow for the ferns apparently. Sigh…
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“tomorrow” always seems like the day people say they’ll deliver (as in tomorrow never comes).
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So many hopeful signs of growth and colour too. Lots going on in your garden. It seems amazing that so many plants have proved to me so resilient.
Here’s my Six for this Saturday:
https://thedevelopingplot.com
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I love this time of year. So much potential!
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This week I’m focussing on my provisions for wildlife with little more interesting than forget me nots that I haven’t discussed last week. https://30daysofwildparenting.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-7-4-18/
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Creatures very welcome Six post topic. Look forward to reading it later.
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I have one of those yellow plant things too. It’s in a corner, kept short and contained. I happen to like it but I couldn’t live with a big, spreading one. This is always a nail-nibbling time when it comes to grasses. I checked mine yesterday and fortunately there are little shoots of green on all of them. My six are over at https://rivendellgarden.blog/?p=3460.
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It’s mainly badly behaved. I need to take it in hand after its flowered, lop 6′ off it.
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Loving the Forsythia debate and it features in my Six. I am loving it this year. I was thinking Lily of the Valley for your mystery bulb…
Looking forward to reading more Sixes during my tea breaks. Here are mine
https://www.teabreakgardener.co.uk/my-gardening-week-six-on-saturday-07-03-18/
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Yes several have said Lily of the Valley so perhaps it is that. It doesn’t ring any bells.
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They do look like little bells!
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I’m not convinced. The photos I’ve seen have white flowers. Pretty sure there are no white flowers in that planter. We shall see.
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Your tulips are looking lovely and the living wall sounds very exciting – looking forward to seeing it in a future Six.
Oh dear, youāve made me worry I cut my ferns back too soon. This time last year the new fronds were unfurling but last time I looked, nothing.
Here are my Six this week, a few from earlier in the week and a couple from Lanzarote: https://carrotsandcalendula.co.uk/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-from-grey-skies-to-paradise/
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Your ferns will probably be fine.
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I hadnāt cut my ferns back either but after visiting West Dean Gardens and seeing all theirs were cut right back, I came home and did mine. They are looking fine with lots of new fronds uncurling.
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Edited it for you!
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Well they know what theyāre doing at West Dean so must be ok.
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Oh those Tulips are quite delightful aren’t they! I do love a good garden surprise too! I have a few that I keep staring at hoping they will tell me their name but they are just going to make me wait it out.
Here is my Six this week
http://pintsizedgardener.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/six-on-saturday-april-7th-oh-my-i-hadnt.html
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Morning! Love a tulip. I planted several hundred last year so looming forward to a bloomin’ marvellous spring.
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i am so envious of your tulips – mine are a complete loss this year. I am off to the rhs orchid show so here is my slightly cheat-y six on Saturday https://tinyurbanfarmer.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-planting-out/
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Why a complete loss? Did they rot in the ground?
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Squirrels! Chewed the bulbs and then later the leaves. Now no buds at all
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Pesky rodents. There are a few round here,have to bury bulbs deep.
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I did and put a little label so I would remember where there were. Basically ended up a gravestone for each plant
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Bastards. Air rifle with a sniper scope. That’s the next logical step!
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Ha. My husband would share you sentiment for sure!
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Ugh! squirrels! I just shelled out far too much money to repair the roof after the little vermin damaged the shingles and caused a leak while trying to build nests underneath the solar array. They completly trashed a weeping Japanese maple and stuffed all its twigs under the panels.
I have spent quite a bit of time sitting outside with a rifle, waiting for the bushy tailed rats.
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We used to live in a stone house that was over 200 years old. Squirrels started nesting under the slate roof. We tried trapping, etc. but it was the shotgun that eventually got the 32 squirrels that had been living in the eaves. We lived on 30 acres so it was okay to use the gun. Before resorting to shooting we tried to find an exterminator. We couldn’t find any that would do squirrels.
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I have a squirrel trap and a good recipe for squirrel burger with a hazelnut coating!
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I am uncertain whether to ālikeā that comment or not
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Looks like I am in the minority over Forsythia. In the right place it can look spectacular. Here are my six for this week featuring a different Kaufmanniana and also Greigii tulips.
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Right plant in the right I’ve is always good. This is the wrong plant in the wrong place. I’ll tidy it up best I can.
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Is your unknown Lily of the Valley?
My forsythia never performs. My mum had one that she used to hack back to a 3ft high trunk every year aftet flowering and it would be smothered in flowers each spring! š
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Yeah I’m going to do that this year. Tidy it up to a 5′ or 6′ hedge.
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Forsythia blooms on last years wood so needs to be cut way back after flowering.
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I’m very pleased to see the kaufmanniana, having purchased and planted some bulbs recently; mine is ‘Heart’s Delight’ which doesn’t have stripes. I like the living wall, perhaps a (much) smaller version of One Central Park in Sydney? Here are my Six: http://janesmudgeegarden.com/six-on-saturday-april-7-garden-visitors-3/
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They are reliable repeat performers, or at least mine are. This is their 4th year I think. The living wall is about 1mx1.5m so I’m guessing a little smaller than the one you refer to in Sydney…
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Well yes, that’s a whole building, and well worth having a look at. At the risk of bowing my own trumpet: http://janesmudgeegarden.com/one-central-park/
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Fantastic! Yeah. Like that. But smaller.
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Lots of interesting things coming through. Spring is such an exciting time
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Yes. Might be my favourite.
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Forsythia, ha, ha, ha! Has to be the biggest (sometimes literally) waste of space in a garden. I have done battle before. Here you go:
https://timhewittgardener.com/blog/
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Yup. Gonna hack it back in a few weeks.
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https://tonytomeo.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-rock-concert/
Here’s mine.
I will need to get back to see everyone else’s later in the morning.
Forsythia is so uncommon here, that we happen to like it. It is quite a surprise when it blooms so bright yellow. I predict there will be more pictures of it today.
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Oh! We have a taker!
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Well, if I could, I would dig it up and take it. We do not have enough of it here. There is so much area where I would like to plant it and let it go wild, maybe cutting it down every few years or so. (It would only naturalize where the ground stays moist through much of the year.)
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Lol another agreement on forsythia, my one in the front garden has been on death row for a few years, but it flowers nicely and the sparrows love it…….. for some reason your photos arenāt loading on WordPress reader will have a look on Twitter in a minute
Hereās mine for the weekend https://thomasdstone.blog/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-7th-of-april-2018/
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Yes that’s a pain. If you click on the globe thing to view on the web the slide shows will work.
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Working now for some reason, have this problem with wordpress reader at times then itās ok, lovely pics btw
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I loathe it. Sod the sparrows, I’m taking a pruning saw to it after the flowers are done.
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Mmmmm you are making me think again, always worrying when I know what I am going to replace it with….
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Do any gardeners actually like forsythia? I have just been to the Great Dixter plant fair, and all I heard was people saying they don’t really like it! Is it like Leylandii – bought by non-gardeners to fill space?
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Haha thatās a very good question and I think many have a love/hate relationship with it
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I wouldn’t buy it, but I do like it. Neither gardener nor non-gardener?
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Totally agree with you about 49 useless weeks to have a forsythia. I would even say 50 with all the rain coming … about Kaufmanniana tulips, ask @GardenOpus maybe he could help you identify? We talked about it two days ago: the red throat of the true Kaufmanniana (mine doesnāt have … yours has stripes)
here is mine this week : https://fredgardenerblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-07-04/
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I’m going to cut the forsythia back to 2m at most once the flowers are gone. It’s about 4m now!
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You can !!!
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Tulips…. not long now š·
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Your mystery plant looks like a wormplant! Iām with you with forsythia. Same with Kerria. Your living wall sounds like a fab project.
Here are my six:
https://themindfulgardener.blog/2018/04/07/six-on-saturday-the-bigger-picture/
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A wormplant?
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