Six on Saturday 26/05/18

This weekend work is getting in the way of all of the gardening that needs to be done! And it means my Six is rather late this week as well.

I hadn’t thought about how little rain we have had here in the last month or so until a Hydrangea and several Clematis started to collapse this week. I try not to water plants once they’ve had a season in the ground but had to make an exception this time. Thankfully, we had a useful days rain on Thursday but still nothing like the amount that was forecast sadly. I’ve several water butts that were getting quite low but as I’ve a lot of plants in pots waiting to be planted out that are watered every day this wasn’t surprising. I must practice some joined up thinking! Anyway, here’s this weeks six from my garden.

1. The flowering stems of Stipa gigantea are rising rapidly. This is, I think, my favourite grass. So elegant and long lasting. The leaves get a bit unruly but that’s a small price to pay. I suspect this will feature again as the pollen is revealed.

2. A sedge this time, Carex elata ‘Aurea’. It positively glows when the sun is on it. The dark flowering spikes stand out so well. Although sedges like damp spots mine is growing in quite a dry area of the front garden so it can’t be too fussy!

3. I have some English Roses growing on ropes and posts at the front of the house. They aren’t colours that I’d necessarily choose now but were chosen to fit with a colour scheme I had (for a short while) some years back. Then I decided life was too short for colour schemes in a small garden. This is Crown Princess Margarita which is the first to flower this season. The perfume is heavenly. It made a sneaky appearance in the Stipa photograph.

4. The hardy geraniums are really getting going now. This is Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’. It doesn’t flower for very long sadly but has glossy aromatic leaves so that makes up for it.

Next is Geranium cinereum ‘Ballerina’. I love the dark eye. There was a shower just as I took the picture! It’s battling for space with Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ with which I have a love/hate relationship.

The final one this time is Geranium renardii. This earns it’s place with it’s lovely textured leaves.

5. A plant that I’ve come back to after a few years absence, Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’. I staked it as it emerged (if only I’d been that conscientious with everything else) and it’s standing up beautifully, so far! Being a thistle it’s a magnet for bees and other insects.

6. The Aqualegias have been good this year, mine are mostly ‘selected’ self-seeders, a loose term. I did have ‘Magpie’ (aka ‘William Guinness’) but it didn’t appear last year. This year, in the vicinity, is this Aqualegia which seems to be a mix of Magpie and a Granny’s Bonnet type.

Don’t forget to check back in with our host to catch the other late entries!

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