Six on Saturday 03-08-2019

Cue Cliff Richard, or possibly The Young Ones, “we’re all going on a summer holiday’.  Yes, the clan is off to the sunshine and balmy weather of Southern Scotland.  Or, more accurately, the overcast and rainy Southern Scotland.  Sigh, the forecast is not terribly encouraging.  Still, as a family we clearly need a once-a-decade reminder of why we normally go abroad.  More importantly, I have some pre-holiday tasks to do, including making things as simple as possible for my poor neighbour, she of the holy watering can, who will be taking on the grave responsibility of keeping my tomatoes and other important plants alive.

Six on Saturday then, you know the drill. For more details please have a look at the guide.

Here are my Six for this week.

1 – Crocosmia.  At some point over the last 9 months I bought two 3L pots of unidentified crocosmia, for the princely sum of £1 each. One is this reddy-orange colour, the other is more yellow. I planted them in what looked like plenty of space, but they have been overwhelmed a little by neighbouring plants. I might move them later in the year.

2 – Gaura ‘passionate pink’. The parent plant bit the dust over the winter, but I took cuttings late last year, a few of which rooted well, resulting in three decent size plants. I will take insurance cuttings again in a few weeks.

3 – Eurybia divaricata, white wood aster.  I grew these from seed last year. I got one solitary flower last year. They have bulked up this year and are just starting to flower profusely. They are happy in the shade.

4 – Coreopsis.  An act of desparation, bought in a bit of a panic run to the garden centre. I had become convinced that one of my borders was looking very tired and a little bit empty. Think “Supermarket Sweep”. In hindsight, I’m not sure I like this plant very much, but I’m going to give it a chance.

5 – Delphinium x ‘Cupid’.  I grew these from seed this year, the seed coming from the HPS seed scheme. I was not expecting them to flower this year. I was also not expecting them to survive the slugs. Four of the five plants I put in the ground have been munched to soil level. The fifth is struggling on gamely and has put on a decent flower spike.

6 – Helenum ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’.  It’s a helenium, and it flowers early. Job done.

Those are my Six, what are yours? If you’d like to join in, just publish your post and pop a link to it in the comments below.  I try to reply to all, and to read the posts, but that is getting more challenging each week, apologies in advance if I don’t get to every one.

Enjoy your garden this weekend, don’t forget to check back in during the day as more links get added.

I’ll be back next weekend for a holiday Six on Saturday.