So here we are, brave new (old) world post-election. I don’t especially like the result but it was certainly unambiguous so, for good or ill, we move on and make the best of it. I am focussed on the fact that in only 18 days I will sow my first seeds of 2020. Just the chilli seeds, but still, I will enjoy doing it. In the meantime it is time for Six on Saturday. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything, a flower, a leaf, a job to do, a pest, a fungus, anything at all. Join in!
Here are my Six for this week.
1 – Cat business. I emptied out this planter a few weeks ago and loaded it up with tete-a-tete daffs and some re-distributed tritelia laxa ‘queen fabiola’. Something has been in there digging, or at least disturbing the peace. I suspect cats, probably ours. I need to tidy up and put some netting out until the growth fills out. Some of the daffs are beginning to sprout.
2 – Daffodils. Talking of daffs, these are the first ones up out of the ground. I think they are bog-standard yellow daffs planted two or three years ago. Bog standard or not, I’m very happy to see them.
3 – Savlia cuttings. These are caradonna, late cuttings that I took a couple of months ago. The hydropod was out of commission (for which read ‘needed a good clean’) so I set them up round the edge of a pot and then into a Ziploc bag they went. I’ve removed the brown ones, they have failed to thrive. I don’t see roots out the bottom of the pot yet, but I was unable to resist giving the green ones a light tug – I think they have rooted. I’m going to leave them be until March, no need to disturb them now.
4 – Tropaeolum tuberosum ‘Ken Aslet’. This is a more or less hardy form of climbing nasturtium. Brigitte, a gardening Twitter friend, sent me these tubers in the post this week. They would probably be ok outside in my conditions but I will store these in sand over the winter and pot them up in March to go out after the frosts. It should get to 2m in the first season and should do a nice job covering a bit of fence.
5 – Hellebore, standard issue. Those buds from a couple of weeks back? Coming out to play now.
6 – Jolly Boating Weather. Last weekend Mrs P and I were away near Bath, staying on a narrowboat. We visited the American Museum just outside Bath. In addition to the rather eclectic mix of exhibits, there is a decent sized garden. All pretty bare or dead just now, of course, but I do like a wander round a garden. There was an enormous great swathe of 6’+ allium skeletons. I wonder if they are the same as my tall ones?
Those are my Six (ish), 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 you can read the participant guide.
Have a super weekend, I hope you can dodge the weather to get at least a bit of pottering 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.
I look forward to seeing the Tropaeolum tuberosum once growing and flowering!
Here is the link to my SoS from the weekend, which I failed to share! https://www.kevinwgelder.com/six-on-saturday-14-december-2019/
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👍
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Election
So glad to have been out of the country and missed the faff
Hope to join you next time
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I can recommend obsolete hanging basket frames to keep cats of areas works with chickens as well unless they can get their head through a hole. Your Hellabore is nice and early not spotted one here yet but then I am not hanging around the garden much the rain seems to wait for me to put my nose out.
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Imagine, daffodils sprouting from the ground NOW! Wow. That will happen in about 4 months here in New Hampshire and they will likely be beneath snow even then. My 6 (actually 7) are here: https://amoveablegarden.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/six-for-saturday-december-links/
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Will be a while before they flower, of course.
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Even so!
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I didn’t know there was an American Museum in the UK! What’s a narrow boat? Are there wide boats too? I’m impressed you have something blooming. Here’s my gloomy six:
https://stoneyknob.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/sos-50-shades-of-gloom/
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Narrowboat is a canal boat, a habitable barge, basically. Pre railway the canal network was the primary means of transporting goods round the country they were built in the 1700s.
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No six from me this week, nothing much happening of interest in my garden unless you count the gate being blown off its hinges! Wild and wet again most of the week, I think I am giving up for this year 😦 And besides WP has messed up with the gallery settings so I wouldn’t be able to do my six squares as I usually do. Nice photo of those tubers, I must look them up. Normal Nasturtiums do well here so maybe this is an option for covering the fence.
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I’m so envious of your sprouting daffodils. My post this week pretty much represents my winter gardening opportunities! https://wordpress.com/post/pruneplantsow.wordpress.com/839
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👋 That link doesnt work I’m.
Afraid.
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This one should work. New phone, sorry!
https://pruneplantsow.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/sixonsaturday-december-14th-thank-goodness-for-the-porch/
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Love the tubers…such beauty and usually underground and unseen. Looking forward to seeing the plant in the summer. I trawled through the pictures I took when I visited the American Museum in July but the alliums were mostly in bud then. I was so busy with many items that I failed to post about this…Here are my six this week: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2019/12/six-on-saturday-14-december-2019.html
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Hello, yes they are unusual looking aren’t they. I’ll try to replicate the effect with my 200 new alliums!
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They seemed to have planting zones where they block planted about three different plants together, with hundreds of each, reminiscent of Piet Oudolf schemes.
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I hope to see the Nasturtium next year, that sounds interesting, glad some Daffs are showing up for you, I loved to see them when I lived far enough north to grow them and Hellebores! Here is my sixhttp://theshrubqueen.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-the-deluge/
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Yes I hope it thrives and flowers.
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Aren’t the nasturtium tubers pretty! Great to see your salvia seedlings taking – I completely forgot to take cuttings from my ‘Amistad’ this year and I don’t think the uprooted plants will survive, I left them in the ground during a hard frost. Here are my six for this week
https://blogoftwogardens.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-hot-stuff/
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They will tolerate a bit of frost but not much. Fingers crossed!
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I’ve been served Nasturtium tubers as a vegetarian main course before. There’re not something I’m particularly keen to eat again.
That’s a super photo from the American Museum. I’ve been a couple of times and found the displays and room sets very interesting.
Here’s my six for this week.
https://www.hortusbaileyana.co.uk/2019/12/mid-december-in-garden.html
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No I dont fancy eating them.much….🤮
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Hello stranger. Yes, I’m still alive and coming to the end of my year off! I’ve had Tropaeolum growing here for two years. I played safe and mulched over the roots last winter and it came back strongly this year and reached about 2 metres (I’ve got it growing up pea netting attached to a fence). But not a single flower. Though the foliage was a lot thicker than your usual nasturtium and a wall of green was better than a wall of fence.
If cats are a problem, move to the country and wait for cows to escape from the farm next door! 🙂
While I’m at it, you’ve got a newbie this week. Head over to http://www.kevinwgelder.com/six-on-saturday-14-december-2019 for more.
See you soon.
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Hello! Jolly glad to hear it. I will be disappointed if it doesn’t flower…
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Good morning. Glad you enjoyed Bath. I have supplemented my Six-on-Saturday with a few from halfway round the world, well maybe a quarter of the way. Home to the elections…oh, whoopee….and doing Christmas cards. See you soon.
https://grannysgarden229242407.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-14-12-2019
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Hello, good, look forward to seeing some more exotic six pics.
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The narrowboat sounds like fun. Do you pootle along the canal and go through locks, etc., or is it anchored in one place?
Here are my Six: Trees that i saw at a bonsai show.
https://sweetgumandpines.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/winter-silhouette-bonsai-show-six-on-saturday-50-december-14-29/
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We could have, but didn’t on this occasion.
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Cat business eh? It really is hard to find suitable garden action in the bleak midwinter….which is why I’ve opted for ‘texture’ this week:
http://www.balmerino.info/geekygarden/
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Hard, but not impossible! Just have to look a bit closer.
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Such is my dedication that I didn’t even think of sending in a sick note. Sniff, cough, sniff. Like you I’ve had mystery animals digging in the garden. My main suspect is squirrels. So far they’ve left the bulb pots alone. I like your silhouette – it’s that time of year. My version is a sunrise. https://wp.me/p97pee-u3 is the link.
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England expects…
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Love the allium photo. Love tall alliums under any conditions, but that’s a really great shot. I’m finding I also love all of the hardy nasturtium climbers. Think I might throw a Ken Aslet next to my Scottish Flame & see how they get along colour wise. 2 metres in one season isn’t something to scoff at. As to cats (or critturs) digging in gardens, I find netting only lets them walk over the bed, so I use the ever photogenic short bamboo canes until the plants can fend for themselves. There’s probably a nicer looking solution, but that’s mine. https://lorahughes.blogspot.com/2019/12/scraping-bottom.html
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Thanks Lora, I have some sticks I can use to discourage. Then it’s the air rifle and 24 hr patrols…
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It is now the wee small hours of Sunday morning…but here are my six https://basia329.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-14-12-19/
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👋🌚
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Cats in my garden have been thwarted by placing holly and upright twigs but that hasn’t stopped the squirrels. Any advice?
Seeing those first bulbs pushing through the soil is exciting and gives us hope.
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I’ve been lucky with squirrels the local ones dont seem to bother, but planting them much deeper than it says helps.
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Many years ago I saw T. ‘Ken Aslet’ growing over the hedges around the red garden at Hidcote. Beautiful. I planted some and never saw them again. With age comes a bit of wisdom (sometimes) and I should have started them in pots. You picked the right weekend for your trip to Bath, it’s gale force winds today.
I’ve messed up my link the past two weeks so here’s hoping third time lucky (I never get wiser with technology!).
https://thequiltinggardener.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-14-12-19/
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Success!
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It’s always a pleasure to see spring bulbs emerging. I liked your pictures from the American Museum – I’m based nearby and visited there in summer, its a lovely garden that they’re replanting in a big and beautiful way. Must pop back there for a winter visit myself!
This week I have a selection including a few winter favourites like pansies and bluebells, and I’m proudly showing off a new toolshed. https://doingtheplan.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-rainbow-pansies-and-a-new-shed/
Thanks for sharing your garden highlights everyone, it’s cheered me up a lot!
Jen x
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Yes they have replanted a lot of it from what I can tell. Would be nice to go back in the summer, bit of a trek though.
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Hi Jon, I googled to see what the Tropaeolum will look like and the flowers are really pretty! I can’t wait to see them next summer. For me too, sowing planning is getting closer. Chillies you say? I think it will be the same. https://fredgardenerblog.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-14-12-19/
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Actually, I should check I even have chilli seed! I suppose I could just take some seeds from this year’s chillies in the freezer.
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why not? if you need more, I have 3 different (hot) species that my sister brought back from Thailand
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i”m fascinated that you seem to have a specific date for planting chilli seeds. Is there a reason for that?
Daffodils are amazing. Even here they appear reliably every year.
Here is my six: http://janesmudgeegarden.com/wellington-sos-december-14-2019/
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New year’s day! They need a long growing season in the UK, it’s not hot or sunny enough. They crop well if started early. I’ll need to use the heated/lit propagator.
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Morning all and congratulations to all of you that are still managing to find six things every week – something that is becoming increasingly challenging at this time of year. I have tried sticking or scattering holly clippings on bare soil at this time of year to keep cats off and it worked reasonably well. Depends how determined your cat is! Here are this weeks six…
https://schoolhousegarden.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-14-12-19-light-in-the-dark/
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Am considering barbed wire.
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The ‘Ken Aslet’ tubers are oddly cute. I catalogued the records for the family that once owned Caverton Manor where the American Museum is based. I’ve never been there though https://onemanandhisgardentrowel.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-14-december-2019/
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You can eat them, apparently. Cooked, obvs.
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I love that you arranged the Ken Aslet tubers so carefully for their photo. The sort of thing I would do. I have daffs up in pots but not in the garden yet, not that I have many. I don’t do well with Hellebores, or they don’t do well with me, which makes liking them more difficult. I should stop trying to grow them and settle for liking them in other people’s gardens. https://wp.me/p6bCCa-25p
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I’m looking forward to growing those tubers. Hope they dont go off in the sand over the next few months. They will add to my climbing plant plans for next year.
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Isn’t it wonderful the way the daffs begin to pop? You just know that spring is coming.
I LOVE your narrowboat holiday. Fantastic!
Here’s mine for this week. Cheers. http://pruebatten.com/2019/12/14/sos-131219/
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I fear spring is a looooong way off yet!
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https://tonytomeo.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-nursery-work/
I have been doing some propagation of my own. It is not on the scale of what I should be doing professionally, but it is more than adequate for our landscapes.
Your new nasturtium score sounds compelling. I have never met a nasturtium that I did not like. There are several out there that I have not met yet.
What is a bog standard daffodil? It that the common sort that might be comparable to ‘King Alfred’?
Also, what is an American museum? I must look that up.
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It’s got a bunch of stuff in it. American history, art, crafts, that kind of thing. Allegedly it’s the only one outside the US. Was established after ww2 by an American and a brit collector.
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It sort of makes me wonder what the British would prioritize in such a museum. I mean, what is considered to be American? That is actually a topic that comes up sometimes even here, since so much of what we think of as originating with other cultures is actually American. Italians either do not recognize what we consider to be Italian food, or consider it to be American. (My ancestors are already aware of that.) Spaghetti and meatballs, and pizza were invented in Brooklyn. Some of the familiar Chinese food was invented in San Francisco.
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Well it was set up by an american, originally, anyway.
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Well, yes, but it must be intended to appeal to a British society, and what they are interested in.
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Your hellebores looking healthy. Mine are featured this week having been chomped on lots. I’m starting to feel the seed planting itch which isn’t good as still haven’t finished the bulbs yet.
My six for this week: https://30daysofwildparenting.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/six-on-saturday-14-12-19/
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Ha ha yes you should probably finish the bulbs first. 🌷
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Almost there. Got about 60 alliums in quickly today. About the same left. Then just 100 crocus for the front but I reckon that will be quick as plenty of empty ground.
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Hooray for daffodil shoots (I agree, not hooray for the election result). I’m at my Granny’s in Surrey for the annual Christmas swap with only mobile data available so most likely no Six from me, but I’m hoping to have a quick nose round her tiny garden for some points for next week.
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Excellent, we take our six where we can find them.
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