Perish the thought I might be getting ahead of myself, but there are very definitely signs that a new season is kicking off. The advantageous bit, as far as SoS is concerned, is that there are a few more flowers appearing, but of greater significance, in the great scheme of things, is that there are a lot of things that are revealing their survival of the winter so far, shoots emerging from the ground, buds swelling on stems above ground, signs of life evident when layers of winter protecting leaves are moved aside. As the remaining detritus from last year slowly gets cut down, it is to reveal. not lifelessness, but renewal.
Six things happening in the garden on a Saturday is the brief for this meme; should your own sap be rising it would be lovely to have you join in, assuming you don’t already. There is a participants guide here, though in truth it’s a simple enough concept.
One.
What it doesn’t tell you in the participants guide is that it is de rigueur at this time of year to post pictures of snowdrops. I’m certainly no galanthophile, but neither am I a galanthophobe. I can offer only common or garden sorts, single or double. I have succumbed to the lure of Avon Bulb’s catalogue, varieties with names will be coming my way. My garden is not well furnished with places they can grow without risk of disturbance, something that is going to have to change.
Two.
Another plant that regularly makes an appearance at this time of year is Hylotelephium ‘Herbstfreude’, like clumps of miniature cabbages bejewelled with raindrops. I may call it Hylotelephium but will always think of it as Sedum.
Three.
I can’t complain that looking after Sue’s glasshouse while she’s been away has been too onerous, cacti and succulents are far better able to look after themselves than I am. Crassula ovata is flowering very nicely to itself in there. I took its picture, then drew back a little and took it again in context. Context is everything, forget it for a moment and you have spines in your nether regions.
Four.
There has to be a Camellia of course, and I have four or five flowering. Camellia ‘1001 Summer Nights’ Jasmine has a bit of a long back story which I wrote about elsewhere. Suffice it to say that it is supposed to be a new hybrid that flowers in summer, something like July to November. I put it in my six the day before Christmas, when it had come through the cold spell and opened its first blooms. It has about six blooms and a few buds, but will have to make new growth and set new buds before it can do more and I will be mighty surprised if it manages to do so by July.
Five.
Narcissus just won’t grow in my ground, for reasons unknown. I have a few in pots, like this N. bulbocodium var. conspicuus. They flowered well in their first year and haven’t done as well since, though the foliage growth this year seems pretty lush, so maybe next year they’ll be good. I don’t want to think that those fabulous pans full of flower that you see at the alpine shows were bought bulbs planted three months earlier.
Six.
Decision time, another Camellia or another succulent. The succulent has the looks, it hasn’t had to put up with winter weather. It’s a form of Echeveria pulvinata, variety unknown.
That’ll do. I have a slide show to put together for a garden club talk on Monday. Months out I say yes to these things, then with a day or two to go, wonder what I was thinking of. It’ll be fine.
garden ruminations 
Lovely signs of spring ❤ I love your echeveria and lovely red camellia. I struggle to grow camellias even in pots here.
My Six are here – https://rosegardenconversation.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/six-on-saturday-summer-lovelies-that-thrive-in-dry/
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In the middle of our “Arctic blast” in Vermont, USA, but still finding flowers inside to cheer me up.
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Snowdrops signalling spring are always a delight. They look great, and I think you may have answered with number 2, what a mystery plant under my rhododendron is!
As ever thanks for hosting:) There has not been much action in my garden but I have tried to gather 6 things of interest: https://onemorethyme.co.uk/six-on-saturday-4-february-2023/
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Good luck with the slide show for Monday. Nothing like a little panic to get things going!
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Me panic? I read yesterday that fear of public speaking is the most common human phobia, followed by acrophobia. I wonder what the word is for fear of computer/projector breakdown.
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Your snowdrops with raindrops is a lovely photo Jim. I bought 25 single and 25 double snowdrops in the green several years ago and I still don’t have a decent clump! Oh, well there are other bulbs. The Echeveria is rather lovely. Sue acclimatised to being back in the cold yet? Or is she spending all her time in the heated greenhouse?
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Sue isn’t back yet, she’s calling me up at 8am their time and complaining that it’s 28°C and stifling. She went to Brisbane Botanics yesterday and send lots of lush photos. Your experience of snowdrops chimes perfectly with my expectations, sadly.
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She’s having a lovely long holiday. I’m not sure I’d cope with the humidity over there, but I’d love to see the garden.
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Good luck with your named snowdrops, Jim – no doubt we will hear in due course what you have chosen. Early sedum (Hylo whatsit) foliage is fascinating, isn’t it? Its new name is a bit long to fit on plant labels though… My six are at https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/six-on-saturday-when-is-a-snowdrop-not-a-snowdrop/
Thanks for hosting
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Your snowdrops are just lovely. It’s too early for flowers in my little corner of the world.
https://stoneyknob.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/sos-a-clue/
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It’s quite encouraging how quickly things are getting going here, very definite sense of having turned the corner, even though we all know there are bumps in the road ahead.
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Snow is what we got last week. Big surprise. Today sunshine and temps above freezing, though, so this is welcome. I would not mind below freezing temps, but yesterday was a high of 6F, with wind chill of -25F. So, more whiteness in my post, and some houseplants to round it out. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has going!
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Oh yes, and the link: https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/february-4-2023-three-on-saturday/
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It is a joy to see the signs of approaching spring. Love the snowdrops and succulents. Sorry the daffodils do not thrive in your soil while they seem to be a natural in my yard.
Here is my effort mixing the expectant with the damage.
https://mensgardenvestavia.wordpress.com/2023/02/03/five-for-february-3-feb-2023/
Happy gardening to all! May the weather bring good news to your garden.
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Afternoon! Your snowdrops are looking lovely! I have a couple of little clumps in pots just outside my backdoor; they are a proper joy.
Seed sowing from me today: https://mysecretgarden61808037.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/sixonsaturday-seeding-mindfulness/
Have a great weekend! Louise
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The photo of the snowdrops is lovely! And, you are right, it is a relief to see sign of survival after the past few months. Unfortunately, this week my six split between the good and the bad of survival and weather damage: https://aftereden.blog/2023/02/04/six-on-saturday-4-february-2023/
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I’m looking forward to being invited some Saturday to oggel at your purchases from Avon Bulbs, Your savings from heating will be quite a tidy sum….Here are my six: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2023/02/six-on-saturday-4-february-2023.html
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Much of the heating cost I’ve saved by freezing indoors has gone into keeping Sue’s greenhouse plants alive (and a few of mine)
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I’m afraid my garden isn’t worthy of pictures this week! So I’ve gone through and collected some of my favorite pics from last year. Hopefully my (un-named) snowdrops will be more photogenic next week.
Your Hylotelephium ‘Herbstfreude’ is lovely! I’m afraid I’d call it sedum. So much to learn.
Here is my Six on Saturday link: https://mominthegarden.com/2023/02/04/summer-delights-for-motivation/
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Always sedum here too! Snowdrops, sadly no. I’ve gone for hellebores this week again and the first crocus. A colour post from you this week, the garden is definitely getting going. Here’s my six https://n20gardener.com/2023/02/04/six-on-saturday-progress-is-being-made/
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You’ll be delighted to discover that snowdrops have made it into my post this week! Thankfully, because there’s not that much else going on out there at the moment. Your photo, with the drops of water, is fabulous though. When to prune roses is the question I’ve been mulling over this week, as well as what do to with some cyclamen seedlings.
I’m off to check out Avon bulbs (I love your budgetary book balancing).
https://www.hortusbaileyana.co.uk/2023/02/early-february-in-garden.html
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You have some lovely colour this week. In particular the Echeveria and the Narcissus. The Camelia is very pretty too. Sue’s greenhouse is a wonderland of succulents, and just as well you did not step back into those huge spines on that cactus!
A mixed lot from me this week, including the promised aerial view of the vegetable garden, C/O Mr S who took the photo from roof. Here is the link to this week’s Six: https://hairbellsandmaples.com/2023/02/04/six-on-saturday-w5-2023-gingerly-through-the-garden/
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It really does look like the season is changing, in a hopeful way. I found some blooms in my garden too this weekend: http://www.balmerino.net/geekygarden
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I can only watch and admire all of your gardens, as here in the UK, Spring is dragging its heels. Just when I thought I saw some movement, the weather will drop back to freezing again next week!
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Lots of colour in your Six this week – it’s a tie between the Camellia and the Echeveria for me. Off to work now so I’ll check in again later.
https://thequiltinggardener.wordpress.com/2023/02/04/six-on-saturday-04-02-23/
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Getting ahead of yourself? It seems that you are getting behind yourself. Is today the fourth of February there like it is here, or is your region in a VERY different time zone?
Your camellia reminds me that I should have gotten more flowery pictures. I seem to make a habit of lacking flowery pictures. Camellia are somewhat easy to forget here. To me, within the context of our landscapes, the trees are more interesting.
These are my six:https://tonytomeo.com/2023/02/04/six-on-saturday-after-the-storm-2/
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I’m not sure I’m getting this time zone thing but am I right in thinking 4/2/2023 is the second of April where you are. A truly intelligent internet would autocorrect such anomalies when they cross boundaries. Then again the URL for your post is 2023/02/04 so you surely don’t turn that around and get 02/04/2023?
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OH MY! I did not catch that! I mean, I did not notice the ‘4’. Nor did I remember that the numbers are transposed.
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I just typed a comment and I pushed a random button and it disappeared, forgive me if it has popped up somewhere and I am repeating myself. Yes, I agree, I feel different about it all this week, as if it is indeed possible. I think it is going to get a bit cold again next week, but hopefully nothing like we have had. I too succumbed to Avon Bulbs, but not snowdrops. I considered a snowdrop photo, but the picture was so blurry I was ashamed. Your shot is great. Love the echeveria flower, what a wonderful colour. Here are mine https://offtheedgegardening.com/2023/02/04/six-on-saturday-mizzle/
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No random comments have popped here, other than the usual ones. My Avon Bulbs was not just snowdrops, my current best excuse is that it was the money I’d saved by having the heating turned low while Sue was away.
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I wonder if we have any in common. We shall have to wait and see.
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I’m so glad you have given in to temptation with your Avon bulb catalogue, snowdrops are so wonderful at this time of year, including the wild ones. Like your little Narcissus bulbocodium, so cheerful on a dull day.
My six are here……….https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com
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My caving in to the allure of snowdrops was very modest, and still not cheap. If all goes well I may buy some more in five years time.
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Beautiful flowers in your Six choices for this week! You manage to make believe that spring is around the corner (by the way, I too will continue to call it a sedum… what a weird name the other…) https://fredgardenerblog2.wordpress.com/2023/ 02/04/six-on-saturday-04-02-23/
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I think that ‘renewal’ is a great term for the garden as it comes back to life. I spotted one tiny Snowdrop peaking out this week, which I shall save for another SoS.
Here’s my six, I shall pop back later and catch up with folks
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Snowdrops are such a sign of spring. I remember living in Copenhagen and watching spring in Scotland when we were still in winter. The first snowdrops and daffodils always appeared there first.
Anyway, here are my six from a very humid Wellington, though there is a bit of a breeze this evening.
https://thistlesandkiwis.org/2023/02/04/six-on-saturday-04-02-23/
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