Six on Saturday – 3/12/2022

Categories six on saturday, , 56 Comments on Six on Saturday – 3/12/2022

Into December, meteorological winter and actual, frost on the ground winter. I don’t know what we will get, temperature forecasts are never very reliable and while there’s not much to choose between 30°C and 34°C, there is a world of difference between -2°C and +2°C. Plants in the garden have had it cushy of late, they haven’t been toughened up, so I expect Salvias, Fuchsias and Begonias to hit the buffers hard.
In other news, my Instagram account does at least now have some content. I’m not dropping Twitter yet but am prepared, if it comes to it. My Insta handle (is that the expression?) is jimstephens350. There is a #sixonsaturday presence already there. Onward then.

One.
My second Instagram post, and the third too, was a begonia I bought at Tregrehan Plant Fair in 2020. It had a hand written label saying Begonia aff. panchtharensis, a name that was a little less specific than I like. Within minutes I had its correct name, from the very man who collected it in the wild and named this particular selection of it. Sometimes you’ve gotta love social media. It’s Begonia pedatifida ‘Apalala’. It’s staying outside, being too big to lift and bring in. I need to protect it some.

Two.
I went out into the garden yesterday morning and turned straight back to grab my camera. The sun had just cleared the house and I had just a short window to get this shot before it moved behind a tree. Miscanthus sinensis ‘Septemberot’ in the spotlight.

Three.
Peas. A bit of variety never hurt. I’ve not grown peas over winter before but it’s supposed to be possible if you sow the right variety. These are Meteor, but I really didn’t fancy their chances going into cold, wet soil and sowed them in pots. I’ll plant them next week. Even if I don’t get much of a crop they will add to the living, growing plants I have on the plot to protect and improve the soil. Any food yield from a cover crop is a bonus.

Four.
Hedychium ‘Assam Orange’ was trying to flower when the summer was at its hottest and driest. Instead of getting the monsoon rain it wanted, it was fighting next door’s tree for every drop and its flower display was the worst ever. I reckon it’s doing a very fair job of redeeming itself with this butter yellow display.

Five.
Hydrangea serrata ‘Cap Sizun’. I love the way that winter sunlight picks out transient little vignettes that briefly allow you to forget the surrounding dreariness and pretend it is still summer. Except for the gloves and wooly hat maybe.

Six.
The view. I’ve been trying to take a set of photos at the end of each month, the better to keep track of changes. The most straightforward view is from upstairs in the house and here it is yesterday and six months earlier. There’s a similar level of lushness but a lot of the plants have changed. The third view, taken yesterday, looking back to the house, was one I didn’t do at the end of May, which is a pity. I like a high view, the angle less familiar.

That’ll have to do. I dare say most of you are far more interested in the football anyway. It must all finish soon mustn’t it? Toodle pip until next week.

Published by Jim Stephens

Gardener, no-dig allotmenteer, camellia enthusiast. I love colour, it cheers me up. Retired nurseryman.

56 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – 3/12/2022”

  3. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Glow | Rambling in the Garden

  7. I love your garden views and still so much colour! But the best photo has to be Bobby – what a face! I wonder what he has in his sight. (An enviable fur coat too, purrfect for this weather…) 😁

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    1. Bobby is a she, we have two sisters, very different from each other. Tomorrow I get to see their mum and another sister and brother, still with my sister who raised them. Boby was the only long haired one in a litter of six and neither mum nor dad were long haired either. I don’t think she was looking at anything, just away from me with the camera.

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    1. I barely engage with Twitter, in fact I’ve not even looked at it today, and Instagram I’m totally new to. They both make me nervous in a way that this blog doesn’t. Maybe it’s familiarity but I think it’s the way you are being monitored all the time and bombarded with adverts. I just wish they’d mind their own business and keep their noses out of mine. Yes, I know it’s the advertising that pays for all of it, but I don’t like it.

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  10. Still jealous that you have so much going on in the garden! We have no more snow on the ground, but wind chills in the single digits (Fahrenheit, mind you!). I am determined to brave the cold and get my Christmas lights up – so much cheerier to come home to twinkling lights! I am hoping for more snow – it is a nice change of pace to have everything blanketed in white. I only have two pictures this week, but am looking forward to my weekly tour!

    https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2022/12/03/december-3-2022-six-on-saturday/

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  11. You mentioned following football and I know you mean the World Cup. The USMNT made the round of 16 so there will be lot of interest today since we are playing the Oranje. The game will be televised this morning over here. Perhaps, of similar or greater interest is this is Championship Saturday. This is the day when the college football conferences play their championship games. This stage will decide which squad will go on to play for the national title. This all gets a bit tricky since both sides of the pond use the word football.
    But, I digress. Here is my post for this week. Still a lot of color to show you.
    https://mensgardenvestavia.wordpress.com/2022/12/02/winter-approaches-2-dec-2022/

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  14. Pingback: Six On Saturday: Enjoying the change of season | n20gardener

      2. Brilliant idea as I am not on the tall side and I like pea shoots. I’m going to sow some seeds in pots within the next few days. Thanks to you and My Tiny’s suggestion.

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  17. Pingback: Six on Saturday: 3 December 2022 – My Tiny Welsh Garden

    1. As far as I’m concerned, any growing plant counts as cover crop and is beneficial, provided it is easily removable and not seeding everywhere. I can’t help thinking that what gets included in seed company’s cover crop lists is pretty arbitrary. I’ve had several failures and find foxgloves excellent, though they’re never suggested.

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  21. I love the aerial view of your garden Jim and it’s such a good idea to track changes. One of the benefits of blogging is how it gets me out in the garden taking photographs to an extent I’m not sure I would otherwise. I have Six on Saturday to thank for the diary approach. I’m not surprised you doubled back to grab your camera – that Miscanthus is glorious. I’m also keen on that Hydrangea.

    Here’s my six – showing pictures of some areas cleared for planting, an old photo of part of my garden and a repotted Monstera.

    https://www.teabreakgardener.co.uk/looking-forward-looking-back/

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    1. I have a monopod, extend it fully, hold it as high as I can with the camera on 10 second timer. I back up the blog diary by noting each six in a Word document, with the link to the each blog embedded. I can then search for every time I’ve posted Plectranthus argentatus for example, and see what I said, and when. OK, I have OCD traits.

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      1. That’s a good system though. I once did a spreadsheet of everything in my blog but it needs an update. I wish I had stronger organisational traits. I rely a lot on memory! My studies last year forced me to do better as I had to reference everything I read for fear of plagiarism and to organise all my archival finds. I now even have folders on my desktop (I know that’s entry-level but we all have to start somewhere!)

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    1. My seed catalogue says October/November for autumn sown peas, so probably too late to gain any advantage over spring sowing. I’ve found spring sowing in pots gains me a good bit over sowing in cold ground, especially in percentage germination.

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    1. I’ve just added kitty at the bottom. Never let it be said that I don’t respond to my critics. The Yew is not new, in fact it’s the second oldest plant in view. (Ping! Are you meaning the yellow upright just to the right of the big Yew in the June picture, cos that was Berberis ‘Golden Torch’ before I removed it)

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      1. DANG! Kitty looks like a lion! (I meant that my #6 is not a kitty.) What is toodle pip? I remember the big yew because I thought that it was a ‘Swane’s Golden’ Italian cypress. I did not remember the ‘Golden Torch’ barberry though. Well, I remember it now.

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    1. I don’t watch much telly so can hardly complain that the football has bothered me. Today I have hazy sun, perfect for those shots where you want good light but not high contrast, like views, useless for much else. Professional photography must require so much patience, the ideal light will always be on the day before or the day after you went somewhere.

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  26. Pingback: Six on Saturday 03-12-22 – Fred, a French Gardener2

      1. The women’s soccer World Cup is going to be here and in Australia next year. But no – soccer is not that big a game here though it is growing in popularity I think. Luckily no wall to wall coverage here, also helped by the time difference!

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