It was great to spend a good chunk of time in the garden in last weekend’s early spring sunshine. I got quite a bit done but of course there is an unending list of things still to do. I have a light weekend on the running front so I shall be out in the garden again, weather permitting. Talking of the running, it is 10 weeks until I attempt 100km on the south coast. This will either be the last such thing I will ever attempt, or the first of several this year, we shall see. For this first event I am raising money for Macmillan, a cancer charity here in the UK that provides specialist nurses and other advice and services to cancer patients and their families. If you’d like to support me by donating you can do so safely and securely at this link:

Time for Six on Saturday. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything, you decide. Join in!

Here are my Six for this week.

1 – Seeds, sown. One of several jobs completed last weekend, some of my seed sowing for this year. In this lot are the HPS seeds I got the other week plus some early annuals – cosmos, tagetes and the like. They are in the heated bench. I normally sow into a layer of vermiculite or grit but I have neglected to replenish my stores of either. Never mind, I expect they’ll be fine. No signs of germination yet. Taps foot in impatience.

2 – More roses? I was minding my own business, not thinking of buying any new roses, when the latest David Austin catalogue popped through the letterbox and thunked accusingly onto my doormat. I’ll just have a look, I thought, no need to buy anything. I think I got away with it.

I have just the spot for these roses that I haven’t bought, honest guv, and when they arrive “within 10 working days”, I shall be shocked, shocked I say, at their sudden and unsolicited appearance.

3 – Veg plot, untidy. My aim this weekend is to tidy up this area and mulch to get it ready for planting. If I’m feeling adventurous I’ll remove the wooden sides of the beds. I’ve been thinking for a while that I don’t really need the raised beds and the woodwork provides a hiding place for the cursed slugs. If this tidying goes well I have onions, garlic and shallots that should go out around now.

4 – Suspected teasel seedling. I accidentally grew a teasel a couple of years ago (I thought it was a foxglove at first). Not one goldfinch did it attract, then it produced seeds prolifically, many of which I think it dropped on my lawn. This is one of what might be dozens of seedlings. I’ll be digging them up and chucking on the compost.

5 – Hart’s Tongue fern. Last year’s fronds are looking a bit past it now, I should cut them off to reveal the crooks of the new growth. I had one plant initially, but now have 3 or 4 large plants having divided the original. I can see both bare ground and weeds, both of which are verboten. Work to do in this shady corner, clearly.

6 – Salvage job, maybe. I have had this senecia ‘angel’s wings’ for a few yers. For the last couple of years it has been plagued by aphids and maybe slugs and had begun to look pretty decrepit, certainly not deserving of prime patio real estate. I remember reading somewhere that they respond well to a hard prune, so I’ve cut it back extremely hard. Kill or cure. There are very small encouraging signs. Well, sign singular really.

Those are my Six, what are yours? If you’d like to have a crack, just publish your post and op a link to it in the comments below. If you also mention my blog in yours that would be splendiferous. For more details you can read the brief participant guide.

Stay safe, have a fab weekend, I hope you manage to get some gardening done, or at least acts preparatory to. Don’t forget to pop back as links get added during the day.

I’ll be back next weekend with another #SixOnSaturday