Six on Saturday 26-05-2018

I am in a tizz this week, preparing and labelling plants to take to the HPS Plant Fair today. I’ve to make a cake too! I shall be there all day, heroically resisting the urge to buy lovely plants. Heroically, I say. Resisting, oh yes. Probably. A bit. Regardless, it is time for Six on Saturday – six things, in the garden, on a saturday. Could be anything! A plant, a flower, a pest, a job to do, wildlife, a tool, anything at all. Join in!

Here are my Six for this week.

1. Blauwschokker pea flower – aside from the marvellous name, this pea has a lot going for it. First time I’ve grown it, but the pods are purple, the peas are lime green, and the flowers are purple too. What’s not to like? It’s in the veg plot, but could be grown in the main garden too, I think.

2. Pyrocanthus flower – another bargain purchase I was unable to resist. Bought as a very small plant, for £1 I think, it has spent the much of the last 9 months or so in a 1L pot. I planted it out a month or two back and it has responded with some vigour. I plan to train it against the wall.

3. Clematis ‘Rebecca’. Outraged, but not surprised, to see that the first clematis flower to emerge in the garden has already been nibbled. It’s only been there for a few days. I suspect earwigs live in this planter, they are partial to a clematis flower, I gather. I need to rig up a trap for them, or else go on patrol at night when they are actively nibbling.

4 – Poppy heads – I grew a few poppies from seed last year, they did nothing. This year, they are growing strongly and now flowering. I’m growing a few different poppies from seed this year too, purple this time. Future stars of Six on Saturday.

5 – Chelsea chop. A job to do this weekend, so named because the RHS Chelsea Flower Show happens around the time this job is due. The purpose of the titular ‘chop’ is to delay flowering on those plants selected for beheading. I’m going to do this for a few clumps of perennial plants. I’ll pick a few from the front of each clump and give them a good haircut. This has two effects, delaying the formation of flower heads, but also stimulating more shoots to grow, ultimately giving more flowers. Because I’m not cutting back all the plants in a given clump, the overall effect is that the flowering period for the plant grouping is extended. I’ve read a number of different methods for the chop, ranging from cutting back by half, by two thirds and other amounts. I heard direct from plantswoman Rosemary Hardy that it is called the ‘chop’ for a reason, cut it right back! So I shall.

6 – First rose flower of 2018 – the first of many, I hope. Over the last year I have planted a dozen or so climbing roses, most bought, some grown from cuttings. This flower is from a cutting of R.’Danse de feu’, taken 18 months ago. It is flowering earlier than its parent plant, perhaps because it is in the sunny border rather than the shaded. This particular flower would not win any prizes, it looks a little bedraggled in places.

Those are my Six, what are yours? If you are contemplating joining in, contemplate no longer, it’s very straightforward. Write your post, tweet, facebook or instagram thing, then stick a link to it below in the comments. If you also give a link back to this blog in your post that would be fab. You can read more details in the brief participant guide.

Have a super weekend, don’t forget to check back in as more links get added.

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