Six on Saturday – 10/6/2023

Categories six on saturday63 Comments on Six on Saturday – 10/6/2023

It is actually raining as I write, but only just. I am not remotely optimistic that we are going to get enough rain to be useful and the forecast for next week is for it to be dry and even hotter. The garden is parched, my stored water is almost exhausted and I’m almost exhausted with carrying water cans. Much the same as the rest of you in short. Our biggest problem is that we have too many plants, especially in pots and newly planted in the garden. The way that I chose to deal with such problems is to go out and buy more plants. Tregrehan Plant Fair was last Sunday and I managed to limit myself to seven plants. Many hundreds of other people in attendance bore testament to the power of plant buying as a mood lifter.

One.
My first six on Saturday item then is in fact seven on Sunday and they qualify as something happening this Saturday on the grounds that they are all still alive. Clockwise from the fern on the left they are Pteris quadriaurita, Briggsia kurzii GWJ9342, Colocasia ‘Pink China’, Titanotrichum oldhamii, Begonia xanthina ‘Marmorata’, Primulina ‘Hissako’ and Polystichum setiferum ‘Mrs Goffrey’. OK, it’s seven plants, but it was only one shopping trip.

Two.
Self sowers have long been a good source of colour in May and June but none of the three things we have tended to rely on most have had a good year, they being Geranium palmatum, Foxgloves and Aquilegia. I don’t see a way back for Aquilegia, mildew has all but wiped them out, so I’m in the business of letting one or two other things in to see how they fare. Verbascum thapsus, our native and common Mullein, has transferred itself back from my allotment and hasn’t been attacked by mullein moth as it has on the allotment. It’s pretty striking even when not in flower so is likely to be a keeper. I just measured it at 1.4m tall, and it’s growing in hardly any soil.

Three.
Hydrangea serrata ‘Cap Sizun’ * is hanging on in there in spite of having had only a couple of cans of water. The serrata’s really don’t like hot and dry but this one is in shade for much of the time. Hedge woundwort, Stachys sylvatica, is not on my list of permitted self seeders, it’s just hiding in plain sight right in the middle of the picture. I don’t get why it’s easier to spot weeds in a photo than when you’re stood in front of them. * I originally had this named as ‘Tiara’ in this post, but it’s not.

Four.
Paeonia ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ is happy with the dry weather and its blooms are in better condition than they ever are when it’s wet. It’s a fabulous flower and not one I’ve found easy to do justice to in pictures.

Five.
Nemesia was a plant that as a child I grew from seed. Nowadays it mostly seems to be grown vegetatively and sold as plugs or plants in small pots. This white form, which may be ‘Wisley Vanilla’, has become something of a favourite as it seems to have the strongest scent. I even have the “in context” photo to show where we’ve positioned it in a big pot beside the path.

Six.
Another plant we have fared better with in pots than in the ground is Eucomis. This potful is a variety that struggled in the ground for some years, before I took pity on it and potted it instead. It spends its winters in the polytunnel where it is kept bone dry. We had both ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ and ‘Zeal Bronze’ at some point, I think this is more likely ‘Sparkling Burgundy’. It is as dark as I’ve ever seen it, on account of being in strong sunshine. ‘Pink Gin’ is a comparatively new addition and that seems to be doing well in the ground, it will doubtless appear here at some point.

That’s your lot. I’m hoping for a wet weekend, which most people would think was weird, but gardeners are not most people. But you don’t need me to tell you that.

Published by Jim Stephens

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

63 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – 10/6/2023”

  1. Pingback: Six on Saturday: “Oh Deer!” – Our Forest Garden
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  4. Despite the lack of rain your garden is looking grand – lots of watering cans I imagine. I’m only just managing to keep up with my pots and annuals, with the numb hand it is a lousy time to have a hosepipe ban. Some overnight rain barely dampened the dust and it has been foggy all day here with terrible humidity. When is your garden open for the NGS?

    Six on Saturday | Geranium Time

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    1. I reckon when it’s hot I’m putting on 200-300 litres a day, which eats through stored water pretty quickly and is a lot of 7.5L water cans. Our garden is open 16, 17, 30 June, I, 22, 23 July and 12, 13 August.

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  5. Too many plants, Jim…? No, never!! 🤣 I would love a wet weekend too and envy you your rain today, however little there was… I also envy you your E Sparkling Burgundy’ – I had one for a number of years that has never flowered (and hasn’t had the dark leaves either), so bought one in flower which hasn’t flowered since! My y E pole evansii flowers every year, so I don’t know why SB is so temperamental – do you? All my eucomis are in pots in the Coop. https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2023/06/10/six-on-saturday-in-need-of-rain/

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    1. There really wasn’t enough rain to envy all weekend. The ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ is in a good sized pot which goes outside in full sun when growth starts in spring, back in the tunnel when it gets cold around November where it gets kept dry until spring. It flowers very well on that regime.

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      3. I might move the pots outside after our open days, Jim, or certainly SB, and see of it makes a difference – the Coop does get sun, but not full sun

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  6. Pingback: Six on Saturday: In Need of Rain | Rambling in the Garden

  7. Your nemesia are looking very neat and floriforous. Mine overwintered and I can second you on the wonderful scent. I hadn’t realised that Peonies would withstand the hot dry weather, they look so luxuriant, however maybe you have been watering it to keep so healthy. Lucky you with the little bit of rain, the atmosphere here late Saturday is still very dry.

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    2. The peonies have had no water and perhaps haven’t lasted very well as a result but look healthy enough. Several things like ferns and grasses, made more growth than usual with all the rain we had back in spring, so are now suffering badly as a consequence. I’m going to have to splash a bit of water on the Hakonechloas. I’m interested you overwintered the Nemesias; I’m never quite sure with things like that whether it is worth the space and effort to try to keep them, or just to buy more in the new year.

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      2. I will leave them in situ then, see what happens. Could even put dry leaves over them and cover it with a piece of plastic if it gets really cold.

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  11. We have a lot of mullein here – never thought of putting it in he garden, but why not? The nemesia is lovely!
    Hot and dry here until tomorrow when it will be cool and (fingers crossed) wet. All the same, I watered my baby trees, the elderberry, and the lilacs in addition to watering my garden. The raspberries are swelling and look like they will be a good crop. Not so many flowers blooming, but buds forming, so it won’t be long! https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2023/06/10/june-10-2023-six-on-saturday/

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  12. Pingback: June 10, 2023 Six on Saturday – Gardening in the Prairie

  13. The dry conditions also plague us here in the American South. It has been cool some mornings and it does cool enough before sunset that I have been able to keep up the watering. Despite the dry, the garden is prospering. There are many blooms to push aside the worries of gardening.
    The Hydrangea serrata is magnificent. Our hydrangeas suffered from the historic cold of this past winter so I much enjoy yours.
    Here is my effort for this week.

    It is summer 9 June 2023

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  14. No sign of any rain here, yesterday I tried to plant some plugs plants in one area of the garden and had to give up as the ground was so hard. Sorry to hear about your aquilegia, I’d be hardbroken if that was me, they are amongst my favourite flowers and I’m trying to get as many varoitoies as possible in the garden. I have the same peony in my garden but no sign of it’s buds opening up here, maybe all the sun this weekend will encorage to finally open. The link to my post is here: https://thisandthat721924294.wordpress.com/2023/06/10/six-on-saturday-10th-june-2023/

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    1. I’m hoping that enough Aquilegias will survive through to flower and set seed to keep them going and perhaps build a population with disease resistance, but I’d say at least two thirds are succumbing before flowering at present.

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    1. The Hydrangea is the first of my Hydrangeas to flower, I think the serratas may be a little earlier than macrophyllas but the other two that I have are three weeks or so later …….. at which point I have just realised that it is not ‘Tiara’ at all, it is ‘Cap Sizun’!!! I gave away my plant of ‘Tiara’ some years ago and replaced it with a macrophylla variety. I’d better edit the original post.

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  16. Pingback: Six on Saturday. Spoilt for Choice. | The Blooming Garden
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    1. The advice about Hydrangeas is especially true of the serratas but shade makes all the difference and they are happier in shade than macrophyllas, provided it isn’t the shade of some water hungry tree in the same root zone. I tossed a bowl of water I’d washed lettuce in over it earlier; it doesn’t need much.

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  21. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Whose garden is it? | n20gardener

  22. We’ve had ‘just barely’ rain here as well; other areas have had more, which has helped with the forest fire situation. My garden is now catching up to your European ones, with peonies in full bloom and Iris peaking. I love that mullein – it was introduced to North America by settlers and is now a common site in fields and roadsides and gardens, like mine. They’re very attractive to pollinators and readily self seed – I tend to edit them out (aka pulling weeds) unless well situated.

    Six on Saturday – 10JUN2023 – Smokin’

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  23. Lovely six this week, Jim. So happy to hear you are getting a little rain and I hope that more is on the way. Once the ground dries, it is a real challenge to get enough water to penetrate down to the roots and make a difference. Your Hydrangea is stunning and I don’t see any ‘weeds’ in your photo. It all looks fine to me- but I don’t know S. sylvatica. And I’m with you about seeing all sorts of things out of place in photos that just don’t register while you’re standing and staring. C. ‘Pink China’ is one of my favorites here so I’m very happy for you to score a lovely start of it. The Begonia in your photo looks very interesting, too. Good luck with keeping them all alive! Working with plants- or adopting new ones- does have a way of lifting one’s mood. Here are my six for the week: https://woodlandgnome.wordpress.com/2023/06/10/six-on-saturday-appreciation/

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      1. Well, I hope you can get your stored rainwater topped off again over the next few days. We are sunny and dry today, but expect rain again by Monday. It is such a blessing to let nature take care of the watering.

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      2. I collect water from about 100 square meters of roof, so every mm of rain gives me 100 litres. I have 5590L of storage so 55.9mm would fill it. Our average for May is 87mm, this year I think we had none, our average for June is 81.2mm, so far we’ve had nothing measurable. It can get rather depressing.

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      3. Jim- I just read an article about the installation of a rain forest planting on an old farm in Dorset. It was probably in the Guardian- are you aware of that? Looks like a terrific project if there is enough rain to support the trees as they establish.

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      4. I read an article in the Guardian a couple of weeks back about a project at a place called Cabilla, which is just a few miles from here on the edge of Bodmin Moor. https://www.cabillacornwall.com/ The inspiration for it is at least in part from the work and writing of Guy Shrubsole, whose book “The lost Rainforests of Britain” seems to have reached a suprisingly wide audience. It’s very readable and very informative but with the climate pushing temperate rainforest ever nearer the brink, it’s hard not to think it’s likely a lost cause. Lush, water dependent vegetation is the first thing to suffer when the climate gets hotter and dryer, but preserving it wherever possible, or, as Shrubsole advocates, restoring it, has considerable potential to mitigate climate change. Giving in and planting a more xerophytic flora, in gardens or wilder areas, seems to me likely to accelerate climate change.

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      5. Jim, that sounds like it is likely the same project. I had the same questions about getting new trees established when the weather is already ‘off’ of what it has been historically. Rain forests require rain- but newly planted trees/ferns/shrubs etc. of course need regular irrigation for at least the first year to get established. I wonder whether they have plans to provide that irrigation?
        We have ‘temperate rainforest’ in our Pacific Northwestern states of N. California, Western Oregon and Western Washington. Then a few hundred miles to the east, the land turns into desert. There have been terrible fires in recent years in those ‘rainforests’ when the weather has been too dry. My daughter lives in that region and talks about the effects of the fires and lack of rain. I’m going to have a look at Shubsole’s book- sounds fascinating. Of course the trees are absolutely necessary to keep the water circulating and mitigate climate change. I wish the folks Bodmin Moor every success.

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      6. Fires are becoming an increasing risk in the UK, and given that they are not remotely part of the natural cycle, will wreak terrible damage without the vegetation having much innate ability to recover. Even without fire, drought damages tree root systems leaving them very much more susceptible to pathogens. The Shrubsole book has a lot of links in the section at the back and I’ve been looking at some. James Lovelock, who died very recently, has long been the source I most trust for climate change information. I find it a very hard subject to read about, there being precious little to be optimistic about.

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      7. Yes, Jim, I agree with you that it is very, very hard to read about the specifics of climate change. I am enjoying the book you recommended and I had no idea there was as much of the rainforest left along the Atlantic Coast as I’m learning about. I recently finished reading Katherine Genet’s books, set in the present day, in ‘primordial’ forest near the Atlantic coast where she speaks of the thinness of the veils between worlds. Many of the things she mentions I find echoes of in the Shrubsole book, especially the trees she describes. It is so good to know that at least some vestige of the ancient woodlands remain. Dr. Lovelock contributed such important work over his long career. I’ve been aware of his Gaia theory for quite awhile, but hadn’t heard of his passing. I would be interested in learning more about how drought affects the many organisms in living soil, and how much their decimation contributes to tree roots’ susceptibility to pathogens. I believe that Mycelium are often protective, as one of their many functions. We had a bit of rain last night and so things are looking OK here today and I was freed from my morning appointment with irrigation. We may have more on the way early next week, and so I’ve feeling very appreciative for the cool, damp morning here today. You might find this of interest- https://jccwmg.org/wordpress/christmas-ferns-a-small-step-towards-climate-solutions/

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      8. Jim, I just downloaded Shrubsole’s book and found this: The Science of Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change by Brian Dickinson. It looks like it addresses some of the issues you raised. -e

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  24. I love the colour of that hydrangea. My admiration continues for those plants managing to hang on despite the lack of rain. Do us gardeners need more challenges after the ones we’ve already had this year? Absent from my update are the French beans I planted out I now realise way too early. They’ve hated the cold nights and the wind, and are barely hanging on. Just sown a new lot.

    My six https://whatcathyreadnext.co.uk/2023/06/10/sixonsaturday-my-gardening-week-10th-june-2023/

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    1. I planted French beans just a few days ago, they definitely like it warm. Most of my well established stuff is hanging on, it’s the new stuff that doesn’t have deep roots that is really suffering, or would be if I let it.

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  25. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Appreciation – Our Forest Garden

  31. First of all “YOU HAD RAIN!” nothing here and all blue skies again. I will have to look up your new plants, some I definitely haven’t heard of before. Tiara is a favourite of mine, Marwood has a lovely one, so delicate. Nemesia (why do I always want to type nemesis?) is lovely (see below). The eucomis is beautiful. Would it be quicker to say they are all great? Here are mine https://offtheedgegardening.com/2023/06/10/six-on-saturday-frazzled/

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  32. Pingback: Six on Saturday. 10.6.2023 | Lead up the Garden Path

  35. You know, prior to reading this, I was feeling terribly guilty about purchasing a few banana pups. I purchase almost nothing. I feel even guiltier because I made the purchase after acknowledging that the poinciana and esperanza seed that Crazy Green Thumbs sent to me last year did not survive. I have my excuses, but feel guilty nonetheless. At least I did not purchase SEVEN different items! My six for this week are neither at work nor in my garden. They are almost seven hundred miles away!

    Six on Saturday: Buckeye

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    1. There are a lot of things ahead of plants in the queue for me to feel guilty about buying. As an ex nurseryman it feels like support for the industry and plant fairs are where the little guys go to sell their wares and I’m very happy to support them rather than the sheds and supermarkets.

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      1. As an not yet ex nurseryman, I feel obligated to grow countless copies of what I purchase, as if they all must be stock plants. I feel guilty about purchasing them because there is SO much here that I want to grow more copies of. I feel less guilty about purchases if they are for the landscapes at work.

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  36. Pingback: Six on Saturday | Geranium Time – Cornwall in Colours

    1. I’ve not grown ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ from seed; my ‘Pink Gin’ produced a seedling by itself this spring, so I’ve potted that up; I’d be very happy to get flowers in two years, it’s only 2cm high at the moment.

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