Six on Saturday 10/08/19

Holiday time finally arrived and prior to going away I spent quite a while getting the garden ready as I didn’t have anyone to water etc. I now have three solar powered watering systems working off of water butts. Due to the huge lack of rain I’ve been filling the butts with the hose for a while but at least it meant that everything  connected to the drippers was sorted. Other pots were stood in large saucers and left very well watered. Within two days the heavens apparently opened and a deluge fell! For various reasons we have returned home a bit early and I spent yesterday emptying all of the plant saucers and raising the pots to drain the sodden compost. Better than everything drying to a crisp I suppose. I also spent time adding supports to plants in preparation for last nights and todays awful weather. Looking outside this morning the garden is definitely leaning to one side and there’s still hours of gale force winds due. Whilst propping and tying I managed to get a few not too wind blown plants for todays Six.

1. It’s amazing how much things change in a garden in just a few days. Japanese anemones are opening, Michaelmas Daisies are showing colour and Cyclamen hederifolium are appearing. It’s too soon to be autumn!

2. There don’t seem to be many truly blue flowers but Salvia patens comes pretty close. I left this plant in the ground last winter and it came through really well. I just wish more of the flowers would appear at the same time.

3. I overwintered cuttings of Lobelia cardinalis ‘Queen Victoria’ and L. ‘Hadspen’s Purple with great success. However, Queen Victoria has proved to be an absolute slug and snail magnet and has amounted to nothing this year. Hadspen’s Purple has fared better thankfully. Sorry, it’s not a great photo. Although there’s a bit of blue sky visible the sky overhead was very dark and it was raining.

4. Dahlias have been a huge disappointment this year following several years of pretty good success. Ones left in the ground over winter have been nobbled by SnS as soon as they’ve shown their heads and the others started well but haven’t followed through. However, D. ‘Honka Fragile’ has started to flower at last. This is a new form to me and rather different. The bees and hover flies love it.

5. Last year I bought a plant of Pennisetum glaucum ‘Purple Majesty’ and saved some seed. Germination rate was good and the resulting plants have grown well but are all single ‘stemmed’. The original plant was ‘multi stemmed’. The ‘Rustic Dwarf’ Rudbeckias have grown taller than previous years!

6. A fern to finish with. Cheilanthus tomentosum or the Woolly Lip Fern is a lovely soft grey-green colour. I planted it last autumn and it’s been slow to get going but it has been very dry here and I’ve probably not given it enough water. The new fronds are so delicate.

I’m going to venture outside now and check the damage so far. I hope the weather is kind to you this weekend and that you have time to enjoy your garden. Then check out the other gardens courtesy of our host at

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