Six on Saturday 31-08-2019

So that’s it, meterologically speaking, it’s the last day of summer today. Downhill now to first frost, so let’s enjoy the garden while still in something approaching its pomp. Last weekend I spent time giving the garden its post-vacation tidy up and was much happier with it afterwards. The flopping were staked, the untidy tidied, the unplanted planted, weeds were weeded, the parched watered. I have plenty to do this weekend, although I have a half marathon on Sunday morning which will be followed by an epic snooze so I may not get a lot done. Anyhow, time for Six on Saturday. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything – a flower, a pest, a harvest, interesting foliage, a job to do, a weed, anything at all. Join in!

Here are my Six for this week.

1 – Salvia amistad. Originally the result of one pilfered cutting, I have several of these plants now. This one is a little hemmed in by the surrounding plants – a case of poor planting space discipline, I am a repeat offender. It’s about time I took some more cuttings, in fact.

2 – Rose sawfly (I think). They look like caterpillars but are the larvae of an insect in the same category as bees and ants. Wandering past Rose ‘The Pilgrim’ yesterday I noticed several leaves had been stripped. On closer inspection I saw these critters. Left to their own devices they could have done some real damage. If disturbed they roll into a ball and drop to the soil to fight another day. The trick then is to have a hand out ready to catch them. I did just that then dispatched them with my organic size 12 boot.

3 – Ricinus communis var. gibsonii. Not something I’ve grown before, I was keen to try this year. I was expecting/hoping for 6’+ giants with enormously pre-historic leaves. I think my expectations were more fantasy than realistic. The plants have all grown pretty well, but most are in the 4′ to 5′ range.

4 – Eccremocarpus scaber, Chilean glory flower. I have a few of these, one of the more successful outcomes of this year’s batch of mystery seeds. Technically a tender perennial, it’s usually grown as an annual in the UK. A climber, if I’m lucky and it survives the winter, it will grow back stronger next year and could get to 3m. This year it is heading towards 2m and is helping to cover my front garden fence.

5 – Gaillardia, blanket flower. Special only really because I grew them from seed this year, these are a cheery low growing denizen of the front row.

6 – Digitalis lutea, small yellow foxgloves. Clever these horticultural types, because this plant is small, yellow and a foxglove. The full trifecta. Also grown from seed this year, I had thought I was growing for next year, and tall plants to boot. Turns out d. lutea is a perennial, growing to 60cm or so. At least it will be back with us next year.

Those are my Six for this week, what are yours? If you’d like to take part, 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 you can read the brief guide here.

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

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