Six on Saturday 15-02-2020

The garden seems to be responding the mild weather we have been having. On my Friday lunchtime potter around the garden I was surprised to find I had plenty of things I could include today. Last weekend was largely a washout, this weekend looks set to be a total loss gardening-wise, heavy rain and high winds throughout. Thanks a bunch Dennis! I have a pretty long run to do on Sunday morning so that will be lots of fun. Not. Anyhow, time for Six on Saturday. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything – a flower, a job to do, a pest, a mystery plant, a harvest, anything at all, so long as it is happening in the garden around now. Join in!

Here are my Six for this week…

1 – Digitalis mertonensis, seedlings. I sowed these a couple of weeks ago, I think. D. mertonensis, or the strawberry foxglove, is a short-lived perennial cross between d. lutea and d. grandiflora. They may flower this year but more likely next year. They get to about 75cm tall, best in partial shade. I’ll let them get a bit bigger before moving them on to a tray or individual pots.

2 – Crocus, a cornucopia. I am seeing the benefit of planting excessive amounts of bulbs each year for the last 2 or 3 years. I’m getting a lot of crocuses! Many are dotted about in the borders, but some are now appearing in the lawn too. Lovely to see a bit of colour in the garden again.

3 – Acanthus mollis, bear’s breeches. I remain underwhelmed by this plant. Supposedly it gets quite large, but this has never got more than a foot high, usually just giving up and going back to sleep. Flowers? Forget it. I have read that they prefer to be confined, so perhaps I need to move it to a pot of some kind.

4 – Persicaria ‘purple fantasy’. I enjoyed this plant last year, so I’m pleased to see it emerging for another crack. It was also easy to raise babies from cuttings so I expect, unable to help myself, I’ll have another bash at that.

5 – Prunus kojo no mai. I was surprised to see one of my KNM’s beginning to bud out already. I hope it doesn’t get frost nipped.

6 – Allium, purple sensation. I have 49 of these, most are poking through now. I will soon be sprinkling them liberally around the borders, along with several other varieties I have in similar state in the greenhouse. As a little bonus, a teaser, through the mucky window you can see some of my tulip pots, coming on nicely.

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 right-on brother. For more information you can read the participant guide.

I doubt I will be getting much gardening done, given the grim forecast, I hope you get the odd lull you can take advantage of. Or, put your feet up and spend the weekend reading all the SoS posts!

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