My big box o’ bulbs is still sat accusingly where I left it, un-dealt with. I did get around to removing the elaborate tomato plant support system last weekend, although the remains of the blighted plants remain. This weekend I need to get up on the roof above the kitchen as next door’s rampant ivy and equally rampant rambling rose is invading. Well, no, it has invaded, past tense. I need to repel boarders before they completely cover the roof light, plunging us into kitchen gloom. I might also plant some of those pesky bulbs. Some of the 100 alliums can go in two tubs, to guard the entrance to the patio steps. I like the idea of purple bobbles greeting me as I go hither and thither. Enough fantasy gardening, it’s 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 – Rose, ‘Buff Beauty’. Bought as a bare-root a year or two ago, this rose has put on a good bit of growth this year. A bush rose, it can be trained like a climber and should do a good job up to 6′. I’m growing mine up the inside of an arch. I’ve let it sprawl, and now this thorn-encrusted stem leans out at 45 degrees across the entrance to the untidy area at the back of the garden. An alert gardener performs a careful limbo dance. A distracted gardener gets lacerated. One of these days I’ll get round to tying it in.

2 – Wall of ferns. A few years old now, I have never quite got the mix of ferns right, a few always die for some reason. Either because it’s too dry before I get around to organising the drip watering system, or too wet once I have, or it’s too shady. Every now and again I consider re-building this to take more than three plant boxes, I think they could be made to fit.

3 – Rudbeckia, spent bloom. Providing some garden interest, albeit less colourful, in mid-Autumn. Eventually I’ll get fed up with them and cut em back.

4 – Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’. A cousin of ‘Purple Fantasy’, I have a few of these now as they take so easily from cuttings. It is a taller plant (or a more sprawly one) and can usefully be cut back during the season for fresh growth. I didn’t bother, so it is now a good 4′ tall. It is currently also flowering, rather non-descript, but pretty enough close up.


5 – Lonicera, or honeysuckle, ‘Gold flame’. I planted this to cover some fence, probably bought for a couple of quid in Morrisons. It is a bit of a thug, smothering things I’d rather it didn’t, including 2 climbing roses. I need to take it in hand for next year. It is still flowering, so I forgive it somewhat its trespasses.

6 – Physocarpus opulifolius. I have two of these ninebark shrubs in the garden, both get cut right back in the spring, both then proceed to (eventually) throw out fresh growth of several feet, sometimes 7′ or 8′. The leaves are a good purple.

Those are my Six, what are yours? If you’d like to have a go, 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 spiffing. For more details you can read the brief participant guide.
Have a super gardening weekend, don’t forget to pop back later as more links get added during the day.
I’ll be back next weekend for another #SixOnSaturday.
Thanks as ever for insight and inspirationl I’m going to have a look at persicaria as a result of your post this week. Here’s mine – all things red. https://chezwoodland.blogspot.com/2021/10/six-on-saturday-9th-october-2021.html
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I’m excited to join the #SixOnSaturday fest again today! Thank you Mr. Propagator! https://the-compulsive-gardener.com/2021/10/09/six-sun-kissed-succulents/
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Still Saturday in the midwest! Quite a pleasant day, too. Here are mine: https://dameeleanorhull.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-after-rain/
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I have an accusatory box too, although it has not yet begun to glare at me! I like the idea of a wall of ferns but I get why it’s not as easy as it might sound. I do enjoy a quiet giggle at your posts each week, Jon, so do keep them coming! 😁 https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-time-to-put-off-bulb-planting/
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My hands are showing the results of rose bushes! I really should wear gloves when gardening, but even if I start off with them they always come off. Most of my bulbs have been planted, not the tulips or last year’s bulbs so a mere 200 or so to do. Hoping for a few dry days to get some beds dug over now.
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Love those ginger heucheras!
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It’s nice to see flowers, any flowers, this time of year. I have a rose just like ‘Buff Beauty.’ It lies in wait for the unsuspecting or the absent minded (me), to walk by. Here’s mine: https://stoneyknob.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/sos-extremes/
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I get fed up with the black-eyed Susans really quickly! “Everyone” tells me to leave them for the birds, but in the years I’ve had them they aren’t the big bird magnets they’re said to be. Neither are the coneflowers. They aren’t much on pollinators either, so many more enticing flowers. Now, wild sunflowers are a different story. The house finches are all over them.
https://lisasgardenadventureinoregon.blogspot.com/2021/10/six-on-saturday-october-9-2021.html
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Lovely six this week, including the ninebark leaf. Before your note it reminded me of an African Hibiscus I found a few years back and haven’t been able to find, since. I was hoping maybe you had found it there somewhere. We ordered bulbs the same week, but mine won’t be ready to pick up until November. I’m very grateful mine are still in cold-storage and not staring me in the face because it is still too hot to plant them here, Good luck getting yours planted before they mold 😉 Here are my six for the week: https://woodlandgnome.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-with-patience-and-flexibility/
Have a terrific week, and please be careful with gymnastics on the roof….
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Lovely Persicaria, I fear that Honeysuckle. And love the Ninebark. Thanks for hosting, good luck with the bulb fiesta. https://theshrubqueen.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-reds-and-purples/
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I’m picking up my bulb order next week and hope to spend next weekend planting. ‘Hope’ being the operative word! Leaves have started to show autumn colours here…
https://wp.me/p50zvt-2f6
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I like your honey suckle but will it be the case that the harder you prune it the stronger it will grow back? Here are my six this week: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2021/10/six-on-satuday-9-october-2021.html
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Physocarpus opulifolius, peaked my interest and will look into getting a plant, just one though 🙂
my offering for the week’s sos:
http://gardeningmyway.home.blog/2021/10/09/six-on-saturda
y-9th-october-21/
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Fighting wild honeysuckle all year long in Alabama, I confess to being amazed that anyone would intentionally plant it. But, ‘Gold Flame’ is attractive. Maybe I need to investigate some cultivars. For now, though, here are six offerings from my garden: https://aftereden.blog/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-9-october-2021/
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Your callicarpa is gorgeous!!! And how lucky to have a musical spider in your garden. 😉
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I am so amused by the wall of ferns! It appears they are desperately trying to escape, get off that wall, and get to Mother Earth. Though some ferns grow on trees, your plants have mixed feelings😂. I will link to my blog, though there are more than 6 (sorry!) but a stag horn fern grows in a tree quite happily in my post and you might like to see!
https://jayneingeorgia.com
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Your wall of ferns is very effective. Here is to a good weekend bulb planting.
More six here
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Honeysuckle features n my six this week too. Yours is more impressive than mine though. Here’s my offering https://greengirlgardener.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-9th-october/
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Lovely honeysuckle shot there — looks like a slightly different one to the white and gold that I usually see here. Do you also pull out the stamen to get the nectar?
The Red Dragon flowers are also good! I’ll be back to take a closer look, and at everyone’s links.
https://onewordhere.blogspot.com/2021/10/six-on-saturday-20221-10-09-southern.html
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Like Roguegarden I am on the hunt for a few suitable persicarias, so good to see your one and to hear about the size. My six this week comes from travels to Sussex – so much more glorious than the home garden! Here’s the link https://n20gardener.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-a-glorious-garden/
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Just home from dinner at friends after wine tasting at lunch time…but still managed to fit in a Six on Saturday
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Good work! 🍷
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Try again
https://grannysgarden229242407.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-09-10-2021/
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Good morning. The ferns are looking very healthy, although I know you like every space completely filled…….haven’t you any spare plants to put in there? The honeysuckle is doing well this late in the year. Mine tend to get overrun by blackfly, at least those that haven’t overrun the nasturtiums and broad beans.
https://grannysgarden229242407.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/
six-on-saturday-09-10-2021/
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Spare plants yes, spare ferns no!
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I usually blame the rose, or bramble lacerations on my failing eyesight; I managed to yank a big nettle down on my sparsely furnished head yesterday. I like the look of your fern wall; presumably when you see similar things large scale on walls they’re planted into some vertical planting medium? It’s so hard to keep moisture levels even in smallish pots for months on end, even with drip irrigation. Here’s mine: https://wp.me/p6bCCa-32S
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Presumably. I have 3 window boxes in mine, with a mix of compost and leaf matter. It probably needs refreshing.
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Your front garden is indeed looking fantastic! Wish mine looked that great.
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There is certainly something accusatory about a box of bulbs lurking in the shed. Hope you feel less guilty soon. I think your ferns look rather lovely, and the honeysuckle is worth it, you are doing the moths a great favour by having it and it’s very pretty too. Here are mine:
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They get more and more resentful with each passing week.
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I don’t envy you the task of planting out all those bulbs!
The Physocarpus leaves are a lovely colour, especially for interest. I have some Rudbeckia in the garden this year and I’m looking forward to seeing them flower.
Here is my contribution for today’s Six:
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I really like your fern wall and I guess it’s natural that some ferns will do better than others and need a rejig. An extension would work well, I’m sure.
Here are my six, including some exotics in flower.
https://www.teabreakgardener.co.uk/exotics-auriculas-and-snowdrops/
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Morning!
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That red banana is a stunner! And… I’m yearning for a garden shed just like yours!
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Love the Buff Beauty rose, I have taken cuttings of mine as I like it so much! Impressed with your fern wall, does it need a lot of watering?
My six are here https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com/
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It gets watered daily by the irrigation system, once I remember to set it up each year.
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My new Rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ also should have been taken in hand during the summer. Soon, hopefully. It’s a fineline between a plant giving good cover and being rampant isn’t it. I’ve a lot like that in my garden.
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Yes and they seem to transition from fine to rampant while your back is turned.
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The Physocarpus leaf is very good looking. They must provide a great backdrop in your garden and I do like a shrub that positively likes being cut right back. I’m a fan of Buff Beauty too. Such a pretty colour and not too bad on the black spot front either.
Here’s my Six for this week. https://www.hortusbaileyana.co.uk/2021/10/an-october-garden-diary-and-giant-potato.html
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Love the ninebark, a great name and a fabulous leaf. I’ve never grown it, but often admired it. One for the new garden, perhaps. It is a week of thugs, the persicaria, the lonicera and your neighbours contribution. There is a thin line, isn’t there? Here are mine, after a few weeks absence, I was worried I would lose my spot if I didn’t show willing. https://offtheedgegardening.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-hello-sixonsaturday/
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Just in the nick of time. A few more black marks in the great SoS register and you might very well have been expelled! Did you move house? To Wales or something?
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Phew! And nearly ☺️
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I should have started my Six earlier. It did not occur to me at the time that I got no pictures of flowers or Rhody!
7′ or 8 ‘?! Does that mean that ninebark grows that big from getting back ‘completely’ to the ground? That would not be so bad, but could get quite large if it is 8′ on top of canes from the previous year. We got several of them. I hope that whomever tends to them simply alternates canes, like for a fosythia, but that could get big. I would have no problem cutting them back in my own garden, but my preferred procedures are not so appealing in public landscapes.
Is ‘Gold Flame’ honeysuckle fragrant? We got some at work, but it has not been growing much. It got root bound in a pot, and had been recovering very slowly. You would think that honeysuckle would not mind. The flowers look like those of ‘Hall’s’ Japanese honeysuckle, but with a bit of color.
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I cut the ninebark back to the framework, so not to the ground as such, but yes it puts on quite a lot of growth in a good year.
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Well, I suppose that is a good thing, . . . except where we put it. I suspect that the cultivars that we got will be proportionate to the site. Otherwise, the horticulturists who obtained them would have employed something else. I hope they do not get too big. I do not want them to get hedged!
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Beautiful Physocarpus leaves and gorgeous lonicera flowers!
I also really like my Persicaria … manageable and quite charming. Here is my link to my Six with almost all common colours: https://fredgardenerblog2.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-09-10-21/
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I have similar rose issues that I need to tackle but haven’t got around to. But I will, I must… just maybe not today. Nice to see some honeysuckle flowering. Mine haven’t been all that floriferous this year for some reason https://onemanandhisgardentrowel.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-9-october-2021/
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Good morning! The Physocarpus is looking good. Great shrubs, if a little too enthusiastic at times!
Here’s my Six:
https://kindheartsandcorydalis.co.uk/six-on-saturday-9th-october/
Thanks as ever and enjoy your weekend.
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And here are mine: https://roguegarden.wordpress.com
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I am developing an interest in persicaria. So interesting to hear how the same plants perform very differently under different conditions. While my honeysuckle did make it through a nasty aphid attack in early summer, I would certainly not describe its growth as aggressive (much to my chagrin). Perhaps it needs more time to get established, or maybe summers are just too dry here.
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