Six on Saturday 15-09-2018

Earlier in the week it got down to just 5c above freezing. Not quite a frost but a few of the more tender plants are looking a bit grumpy. First frost date here is typically mid-October so I have a bit of time before things start dying off due to frost. Signs of autumn abound, a few leaves beginning to turn, cooler weather, darker evenings, dew on the grass and whatnot. The other signs of the autumn, or rather of a busy summer, are the dreadful state of the working end of the garden, where I have discarded or worse, neglected, pots and other detritus. Dead or dying plants, broken plastic stuff, plant labels, old compost bags, bits of wood I thought might have come in useful, that kind of thing. I started the big autumn tidy-up last weekend but still have plenty to do. I’m afraid to say that I found many dried-out husks of plants, mostly transplanted seedlings, that didn’t survive the hot spell earlier in the summer. It’s probably my garden telling me I don’t have room for them all. What does it know?

Still, tidy or not, time for Six on Saturday – six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything – a plant, a flower, a plan, a failure, a critter, a pest, a mystery, anything at all. Join in!

Here are my Six for this week.

1 – Last year I dug up a volunteer mallow growing in among the other plants. I don’t mind the flowers but find the plant to be untidy. Besides, I didn’t plant it there, such cheek! Anyhow, it has had the last laugh, I either didn’t get it all, or it dropped some seed before I removed it. It’s baaaaack!

2 – Japanese anemone ‘honorine jobert’. Some anemones are prone to spread, but honerine is pretty well behaved. Which is annoying, I wouldn’t object to it spreading a bit. They don’t seem to have enjoyed the dry weather so the flowers have been a bit lacklustre.

3 – Allium seed heads. Some of these have survived being knocked over or accidentally pulled up. I think they look quite architectural so I’ve left these in. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

4 – Potentilla ‘monarch’s velvet’. I grew these from seed last year or the year before and have quite a few dotted about. It starts off well, the foliage is quite attractive, then lots of flower buds appear, then I am underwhelmed. The flowers keep coming but are very small, so the overall effect is limited. The spent blooms and the spindly stems they sit on look a bit untidy. But who am I to talk. Up close, the flowers are pretty.

5 – Linaria ‘springside white’. A supposedly white form of toadflax. I grew from seed this year. Some are indeed white, but some are the more normal purple. Those bees, never consistent.

6 – Heuchera ‘purple palace’ – flower. I grow these for their leaf form and colour. I bought a couple of large plants then promptly divided them. This one is in a planted down the side of the house. I thought it would be quite shady but in fact it is in full sun more or less all day. The heuchera have protested a little at this but a good drink normally sorts them out. They have been flowering delicately for a couple of weeks now.

Those are my Six, what are yours? if you’d like to join in, just publish your post, pop a link to it in the comments below, and if you also mention my blog that would be fab. For more details and other ways to participate, please see the brief participant guide.

Have a great gardening weekend, don’t forget to check back in as more links get added during the day.

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