Six on Saturday – 24/6/2023

Categories six on saturday56 Comments on Six on Saturday – 24/6/2023

Midsummer is now dropping away in the rear view mirror, a thought I no more want to dwell on than the continuing dryness. We had 15.5mm on Monday, it helped.
I have just come back from my allotment where I’ve been watering. It is 8:50pm. When I consider how much goes in to getting what modest crops I do, I am in awe of that large slice of the world’s population for whom self sufficiency is a matter of life or death. What a precarious existence that must be. I rarely put anything from my fruit and veg into my sixes, let alone all six. Next week perhaps.

One.
Alternatively I could start right now. Cabbages and Corn, ‘Kalibos’ and ‘Earliking’ respectively. Both doing remarkably well, considering the weather. I love corn cobs when you eat them within an hour of harvesting them. I know I’m tempting providence to mention it but I haven’t lost a single brassica to root fly so far this year, in contrast to last year when I lost most of them.

Two.
Back to the garden and ornamentals, one of the thirstiest plants I have is Impatiens stenantha, growing in the shade and probably root zone of my big bamboo. I could go off Impatiens for their neediness in that regard. This one came from Farmyard Nurseries and had Impatiens arguta alba growing amongst it, rather a nice form in fact, so that has been propagated and will be another thing to water.

Three.
Sometime last year Sue bought a verbena which is currently flowering beautifully but doesn’t appear to have a label. Verbena rigida ‘Santos Purple’ looks to be a reasonable guess and if I see that offered anywhere I will buy it. Shorter by far than V. bonariensis, better colour and more showy; doing well without water too.

Four.
The Watsonia that we planted out the front came sailing through the winter and is flowering very well with far more flower stems than last year. It also is lacking a species name and looking at Treseder’s list, the nursery from whence it came, he is listing Watsonia ‘Apricot Form’, so he perhaps didn’t know either.

Five.
Hydrangea serrata ‘Shojo’ is getting close to its best, so with H. serrata ‘Cap Sizun’ there is a goodly patch of cool blue in the partial shade zone of the garden. They are both lace-caps but ‘Cap Suzin’ has much bigger sterile florets and more of them, making for a real contrast between the two.

Six.
Sue’s cacti have peaked this week and I have tried to take a few pictures with them in focus the full length of the greenhouse. Monday was perhaps the best day but they are still going. A lot last only for 24 hours, but others last a few days. Here are a few shots.

That’s yer lot, time for a shower and sleep. I spent too much of today wrangling stinging nettles so my arms and legs are burning somewhat. Have a good 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 – 24/6/2023”

  2. Pingback: Summer Solstice behind us now | Mom in the Garden

    1. Impatiens glandulifera, Himalayan balsam, has become a ubiquitous invasive weed in recent years and I suspect some of the others have the capacity to follow suit, so I am circumspect about getting very many of them.

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      1. oh, that is interesting. I think what is common here is I. walleriana, which I just don’t like for no good reason and I have seen it go invasive in gardens.

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      2. I think I may dislike I. walleriana for the same reason, though it is never invasive here. Himalayan balsam is a beautiful thing and I’ve seen it smothered in bees late in the year, so it is providing a service, but it has spread almost everywhere and is virtually impossible to eradicate.

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    1. I had assumed that the Verbena was a clonal thing but I just looked it up and it is seed raised. I will also try to remember to add it to my seed list. Watsonia is borderline hardy even in Cornwall, wants full sun and very good drainage. It was naturalised in the sand dunes on Tresco, a pretty good indication of what it wants.

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      1. I know I have seen seed of it available, but the one I grew I think was just a generic V rigida. Shan’t be growing the Watsonia here then!!

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  5. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Nearly There! | Rambling in the Garden

  7. Wow! Love Sue’s cacti. And your beautiful hydrangeas. Question. Do you prune the lacecaps the same as mopheads or like paniculata? I have two in flower this year and never grown them before. With the mophead I leave the flowers on over winter then cut back to the first pair of buds, with the paniculata I prune it quite hard so it doesn’t get all tall and floppy.

    Six on Saturday | Midsummer

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    1. Lacecaps of serrata or macrophylla get pruned the same as mopheads, though I rarely do more than remove the dead flower heads at the end of winter. Paniculatas I prune hard, but leave it fairly late because we’ve had problems with birds pecking the buds.

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  9. Pingback: The City Garden in late June - Enthusiastic Gardener

  10. Wow, the cacti are splendid! Do you ever eat young nettles? I made a nice pesto once, but don’t always get to the marsh when they are young enough to be tender. Actually, I was there yesterday and they seemed to have removed them from where I used to harvest. My husband always suggests I should plant corn, but we are surrounded by it and have a corn festival in town. True, best eaten fresh, but I just can’t be bothered to grow it myself. Here are my six – still feel a bit behind, but I have lots of greens to eat anyway! I agree that I would be in trouble if I had to rely on my efforts to feed myself!

    https://wordpress.com/post/wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/6315

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    1. I don’t eat nettles, they usually get closer to eating me. I have eaten them once or twice, way back when it seemed like a good idea, now I leave them for the caterpillars, which more often than not, don’t show up. I had a suspicion that corn might be a bit too ubiquitous with you for it to be something you’d grow yourself. Most of what is grown here is fed to livestock.

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  11. Pingback: June 24, 2023 Six on Saturday – Gardening in the Prairie

    1. There’s something a bit Zen about nurturing a plant for a year for a flower that lasts a day. A little goes a long way though, give me things that flower for months in the main.

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  13. Thank you for sharing a photo of your allotment, Jim. It is coming along. I hope you are enjoying your crops for dinner, soon. Lovely six this week, particularly Sue’s cacti. What an impressive collection in bloom now. Best wishes that the rain finds you soon. We have blessedly enjoyed rain all week, leaving us with ground like a kitchen sponge. (and not a breath of a complaint- we are grateful for the rain!) Here are my six for the week: https://woodlandgnome.wordpress.com/2023/06/24/six-on-saturday-anachronism/

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  14. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Anachronism – Our Forest Garden

  15. Hydrangea serrata is a thing of beauty. I have one given to me as a seedling. I will be more diligent in cultivating it. I do like Verbena bonariensis as it towers over my perennials like a purple beacon.
    The dry spell is over here in central Alabama. The forecast is for intense heat next week with upper 90’s (36 to 38 C).
    Here is my effort for this week.

    After the summer solstice 23 June 2023


    Happy gardening y’all.

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    1. I have seen groups of Hydrangea serrata with a carpet of seedlings beneath them. Mine have never produced any but I wonder if they have good seed that doesn’t get a chance to produce new plants.

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  16. Apologies first. I’ve been AWOL as I was away without my passwords so could read but not post as my phone wasn’t logged in to whatever it needed to be logged in to. I’m also late today because I was flaked out last night watching the Foo Fighters rather than getting my Six written.
    Anyway – lovely selection Jim and good to see some of the allotment too. Sorry to hear you’ve been having it so dry down there. The Watsonia is looking superb and flowering cacti are a treat to see.

    Here’s my six for this week. I’ve put in a short video, which is a first for me, but I think you do need to make it full screen to appreciate the rain. I was expecting to spend the whole morning watering so I was delighted to be saved that task.
    https://www.hortusbaileyana.co.uk/2023/06/roses-roses-everywhere.html

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    1. Veg gardening is a constant battle, against rabbits, voles, mice, moles, rats, slugs, snails, birds, drought, insect pests in great variety, blights, mildews and much else. You have me wondering whether Watsonias are in any of the bulb catalogues, I would be happy to have more.

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  20. Pingback: Six on Saturday: 24 June 2023 – My Tiny Welsh Garden

    1. We have an overabundance of V. bonariensis too. It’s one of the few plants Sue and I are seriously at odds over, she loves it, I’d get rid of it completely. Actually, it’s just one of many, now I start thinking of it.

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  22. Pingback: Six On Saturday: June madness | n20gardener

  25. As you say let us focus on what is good, the best surely are Sue’s Cacti, well worth waiting a year for. Your other summer plants are doing very well indeed and that Verbena has been added to my list. I shall be catching up with two weeks worth of Six on Saturdays from everyone, so I am sure there will be tips on coping with the drought. Here are my six this week: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2023/06/six-on-saturday-mid-year.html

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    1. I’ve started thinking about reducing the number of plants we have that need watering, especially the fillers that have been a real struggle to get established in the dry. Might be worth blogging about what has done well with minimal watering.

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      1. I certainly need to learn a few things, and look forward to people mentioning good plants that need little watering once established. Very good idea Jim.

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  28. Pingback: Six on Saturday. 24.6.2023 | Lead up the Garden Path

    1. At the moment I’d welcome a few seedlings from the Verbena as it has no growth that isn’t covered in flowers, so nothing to propagate from. It looks like it may have spread a bit since last year, runners perhaps, so that may be the way to go.

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  31. Pingback: Six on Saturday | Midsummer – Cornwall in Colours

  32. Watsonia is one bulb that performs well here, even with minimal chill. I am more concerned with such bulbs getting enough chill than getting too much. I do not consider that they may not survive winter in some climates.
    The cacti are exemplary. There seem to be many that bloom with similar white flowers, but I can not see what the bloom originates from.
    These are my six.

    Six on Saturday: Like Totally!

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      1. Yes, lack of bloom, or perhaps confused bloom. Some cultivars of apple do not perform well here because they do not know when winter happens, and therefore do not know when to bloom afterward. Bulbs do the same.

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  33. I would try that Verbena also, as it does look lovely and would fit in all sorts of places. Alas, if you buy a Verbena Bonariensis here, you can expect to pay €12 – I hope you were sitting down. I cannot even imagine what they would try to charge for the Verbena rigida, with it being a superior plant and form – according to your thoughts.
    My success growing Verbena B. from seed was failure personified.

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