Six on Saturday 21-12-2019

It is relentlessly wet here. I did get some weeding done last weekend, but that was about it. This weekend it is the winter solstice, the tipping point on the way to spring. I already see daffodils poking their noses through, along with some alliums and crocuses. No sign of snowdrops yet.  There’s still a couple of months of winter, of course, but I will be tapping my feet impatiently to sow seeds once Christmas is out of the way.  While I wait, it is time for Six on Saturday. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything – a flower, a beastie, a plan, a job completed, a design, seeds, anything at all. Join in!

Here are my Six for this week.

1 – Overwintering tubers.  In here are the ‘Ken Aslet’ tubers from last week (left), plus two colocasia rhizomes (right). They are just in damp sand, should be enough to keep them safe. The colocasia tubers had been left on the potting bench and had been attacked by mould of some kind. I brushed them off, sprayed with some fungicide and interred them in the sand. I’m hoping that will sort it out, but am not confident.

2 – Big pile o’ manure. After an initial flush of compost enthusiasm last year, where I made enough for all my mulching requirements, I have been a lazy git heap-wise this year. I may have overcompensated.  On this pallet is over 2000 litres of rotted, organic horse manure. Over the holidays I plan to give a nice thick mulch to all my borders plus the veg beds. This is a luxury way of introducing lots of lovely organic matter to the garden. It was a bit pricy, but not extortionate and I will see the benefit of it in the spring as everything gets turbocharged.

3 – Foxgloves seeds. I mentioned seeds above, they are never far from my mind. I’m looking forward to growing these. D. mertonensis, the strawberry foxglove, is a perennial cross between D. Lutea and D. Grandiflora. It will be happy in any aspect and is short compared to the biennial varieties, getting to perhaps 75cm. The flowers are a pretty pink with a dark interior. The seeds come true, despite being a hybrid. The D. purpurea ‘sugar plum’ are an improved version of ‘pam’s choice’ (for which, incidentally, I also have seeds…). The flowers are a pinker pink, more closely packed and get to about 120cm, 4′ tall.  I have got out of synch with my foxglove sowings, so I don’t think I will have many flowers next year, probably I will have to wait until 2021 for that.

4 – Achillea ‘new vintage violet’.  No evidence of violet, vintage or otherwise, just now. I bought this plant in a slight panic at the state of this bit of border. It was distinctly underwhelming. It might very well still be next year, we shall see. This yarrow is now putting out new growth at the base, always an encouraging sign.

5 – Primrose (or primula? I can never tell).  I only went to buy a Christmas Tree. What? It happens. These were half price, decent plants.  I don’t much like primrose, I think the leaves are ugly, but at this price and in these colours, I was happy to take them home. Or, some might say, I just couldn’t help myself. Now I just need to plant them…

6 – Sedum of some sort. I do vaguely recall planting this years ago. It is some kind of creeping sedum, I think. It minds its own business in the shade under the big hypericum shrub in the front garden.   It doesn’t do much, to be honest, and every year I start weeding it out before remembering what it is.

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 totes amazeballs. For more details you can read the brief participant guide.

Will you get any gardening done this weekend?  I will muck about a bit, but probably not terribly productively. Don’t forget to check back in as more links get added during the day.

I’ll be back next weekend for the last #SixOnSaturday of the decade!