Six on Saturday 08-12-2018

There is a definite theme of propagation through much of my Six on Saturday this week. I am living up to my moniker. What will you share in your #SixOnSaturday?  Could be anything – a flower, a tool, a pest, a job to do, a harvest, plans, anything at all. Join in!

Here are my six for this week.

1 – Crocosmia seedlings.  On a recent visit to a beautiful garden I liberated a few seeds of crocosmia Lucifer. They just came off in my hand guv.  They should be sown fresh, so with somewhat low expectations I sowed them straight away, just in a tray of compost, top dressed with grit.  Sown on 22nd October they are now beginning to germinate.

2 –  Weigela leaves. I grew this little weigela from a hardwood cutting.  I don’t know why really as I don’t particularly love the parent shrub.  Nonetheless I have planted it in one of the new borders. It is still small, just a foot high if that. I pruned it for shape over the summer, so it ought to grow on nicely next year.

3 – Hypericum, St John’s Wort, “Magical Universe”.  In an all-too-common fit of buying enthusiasm (in the same garden visit that yielded the crocosmia seeds) I bought a young shrub that I didn’t need, then immediately took two cuttings which have both rooted nicely, providing another two plants that I don’t need. I shall pot these fellas over the weekend, we’ll see if they make it through the winter. I have a much larger hypericum in the front garden, different variety. This one should be quite compact if I prune it right, getting to maybe 60cm. It’ll flower June and July then has bright red fruits in August and September.

4 – More plants, potted up.  Last week I confessed (that seems to be the appropriate word) to ordering a bunch of young perennials along with my bulb order. The prices are very reasonable, so long as you want at least 5, sometimes 10, of something. I spent a couple of hours last Sunday potting up the multitude.  They don’t look like much just now but should all spring into life in the, er, spring. I was interested to note that some were very obviously divisions, single crownlets of a larger plant.  Certainly that was true of the hostas and helenium.  I suppose in my head I was expecting plug-grown seedlings, and some are. I don’t mind, in fact the divisions will probably be much better. I have to report that the photo shows about half of the plants.  Eek.

5 – Japanese anemone, root cuttings.  Annoyed by their refusal to spread, I have taken matters into my own hands. A few weeks back I took dug up one of the plants and, sacrificing it to the greater good, chopped up the good chunks of root. Into a try of gritty compost they went, vertically with top of root section just below the surface of the compost. Today I see the first signs of life. Still tiny, these shoots are a tease, no roots will have happened yet, but the root sections have plenty of food reserves.  I don’t expect to have evidence of roots until the spring.

6 – Colour!  A rarity in my garden at this time of year (if we exclude brown and green), I was a little surprised to see this patio rose has thrown a new bud.  Whether it ever opens is another thing.

Those are my Six, what are yours?  Do tell. If you’d like to join in, just publish your post and pop a link to it in the comments below. If you also mention my blog in yours that would be fab.  For more details and other ways to take part, please have a gander at the participant guide.

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

I’ll be back next weekend with another #SixOnSaturday.