Six on Saturday 24-11-2018

I accidentally ordered more bulbs yesterday. Oops. Just a few dozen alliums.  I justify it on the thin grounds that I hadn’t bought any alliums this year. To add to the 200 I bought last year. I am going to pot them up individually for now then plant them out in the border in the spring wherever I see a suitable gap. It’s late to be planting alliums, presumably why they were on offer, but I’m sure they’ll be fine and catch up next year.  Time for Six on Saturday – Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything – a flower, a leaf, a pest, a job completed, a plan, a failure, anything at all!  Join in.

Here are my Six for this week.

1 – Exochorda macrantha ‘The Bride’.  Weird. This is supposed to flower in the spring and early summer. This shrub is either a cutting I managed to grow, or a pity bench purchase.  If it’s the latter, it’s because the former didn’t work. I really don’t remember. Clearly the plant doesn’t remember when it’s supposed to flower.  Anyway, this is at best a glimpse, a soupcon of the full effect.  Just one little grouping on the tip of one stem. In its pomp, this is supposed to be shrouded in white. Never happened for me yet – perhaps this is the start of it bucking up its ideas.

2 – Aster ‘Star of Chester’. A couple of weeks back I mentioned this plant and it’s gaggle of future cuttings that I would dutifully wait until Spring to take.  Well, I got impatient.  I delicately hacked away at a few stems to provide some good material, lots of roots, then potted them up.  I have heavily hedged my bets by leaving most of it in place, for those I will wait until the spring. Honest, Guv.

3 – Wallflowers.  I ordered 60 wallflowers from Mr Fothergill’s, a special offer whim, the work of interweb moments.  They didn’t look perky on arrival but I planted them anyway. While some have hung on and even fewer look quite lively, most are looking very sickly indeed.  Mr F’s did refund me the cost of the plants, so I do not hold a grudge. Any that do perk up and flourish in the spring will be a free bonus.

4 – Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’.  Often a sprawler, this plant has stayed fairly upright this year.  The frost this week has largely finished it off, but there is still a hint of colour. I saw an idea on Twitter to use the pruned stems for cuttings.  According to the poster, the lower stems produce little leaves which will root if placed on top of compost.  When I cut it back in the early Spring, I’m going to give it a try for the fun of it. Because I need more plants. Not!

5 – Salvia ‘Hot Lips’. For a long time I coveted this plant, mainly because I had somehow failed to successfully grow it from cuttings. I have ended up with two plants that I have bought at different times. I now can’t decide if I like it or not. I like the smell of the foliage a lot, but the flowers, the things that initially attracted me, magpie style – not so much anymore. The novelty has worn off. It definitely wants a good prune in the spring, mine have got quite sprawly this year.

6 – Garlic, emerging. I was a first-time grower of garlic last year and am back for a second dose. I bought some seed garlic but have added to that by planting some of the cloves grown this year. They are just beginning to emerge from under the mulch that I plonked on top of them a few weeks back. If you haven’t tried to grow before, dead easy, stick it in the ground and leave it be. There are spring planting varieties.

Those are my Six, what are yours?  Join in, all the best people do!  Just publish your post, pop a link to it in the comments below, and maybe mention my blog in yours.  For more details and for other ways to take part, please have a read of the brief participant guide.

Have a fab weekend, hope you manage to get some gardening done, don’t forget to check back in during the day as more links get added.

I’ll be back next weekend for another #SixOnSaturday