Six on Saturday 02-11-2019

I’ve had the week off, much of it spent pottering about in the garden. I picked a good week weather wise, it was dry and quite sunny until Thursday night. I have had one very light frost which annoyed, rather than troubled, the more tender stuff. I could hold back no longer though, I have begun the process of cutting stuff back, mainly to facilitate the planting of 250 daffodils, nearly all of which have gone in the borders. I am feeling virtuous in the bulb department, all 1200 are in.  Time for Six on Saturday. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything – a job done, a flower, a harvest, a disaster, a success, a plan, anything at all. Join in!

Here are my Six for this week…

1 – Tulips, planted. 42 pots of tulip joy. I’ve used old compost with a bit of new mixed in, plus some bonemeal for good measure. As the bulb contains most of the energy needed, I’m hoping this will be adequate. I’ve planted 12 or 13 per pot, in two layers, nice and deep. There are umpteen varieties in this lot, without a scintilla of colour co-ordination. It will look like a terrible accident in the sweet shop, but it will be joyful. The pots are just florists buckets, bought for pennies from Morrisons a couple of years ago. I haven’t planted any tulips in the ground this year, I’m waiting to see if last year’s burial experiment pays returning flower dividends. I am not hopeful. This lot will be adorning my patio steps and the area around the front door.

2 – Rose ‘compassion’, balled. I think this is a rose flower that failed to open, having got gummed up by the rain. Or perhaps it’s an odd shaped rosehip. The former, I am almost certain.

3 – Allium ‘Summer Drummer’. I’ve not grown this variety before. Last year I potted up all my new allium bulbs in pots, with the idea that I could plant them out into gaps as they became obvious in the early spring. It worked pretty well, so I’m doing again. I went overboard on bulbs generally, and I have a total of 200 alliums potted up like this, I think just 25 of these summer drummers. Allegedly they get to 5′ tall so should be back-of-the-border fare. They were large bulbs so I’ve put them in 9cm pots, all are now poking through most vigorously.  Perhaps these won’t wait till spring…

4 – Salvia ‘hot lips’.  For a plant that I don’t much like, it is getting a lot of air time here. To be more specific, I don’t much like the flowers. I do, however,  like that they are still here, and that sleepy honey-bees can load up on whatever nectar is left, and I also very much like the aroma of the leaves which smell strongly of blackcurrant when brushed past, or gratuitously rubbed.  I’m itching to cut it back, it’s a disgraceful encroacher.

5 – Lonicera xxx.  This was among many £1.75 climbers I bought from Morrisons a couple of years ago. This one is on the sunny fence, keeping the roses and clematis company.  It is flowering now. Odd.

6 – Prunus incisa ‘kojo no mai’. I’ve got two of these, one large than the other, both bought at better than half price at different times.  The other one dropped all of its leaves a week or two back, bad enough, but during the week too, so I missed the chance to take a photo. This one is much more co-operative.

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. If you also mention my blog in yours, that would be fab. For more details, please see the brief participant guide.

Have a good weekend in the garden, and/or watching the rugby. Come on England! Don’t forget to check back in later as more links are posted during the day.

I’ll be back next week with another #SixOnSaturday