Six on Saturday – 8/7/2023

Categories six on saturday57 Comments on Six on Saturday – 8/7/2023

Horticultural highlight of the week was a Hardy Plant Society garden visit on Wednesday evening to Bucks Head House near Constantine. If you’re anywhere near on a Friday afternoon, it’s open for NGS; go. That’s quite a long way from here, down the other end of the county and well over an hour’s drive, so we took in a couple of nurseries, like you do, and came back with not quite a car full, like you do. Like we do, at any rate.

We’d been contemplating what we should be planting to fill out a few areas that aren’t quite working and also to get some relatively drought tolerant permanent planting into a couple of places where in-filling with annuals has not worked very well in very dry conditions. Rather more than six additions have been made to our plant stock over the last couple of weeks, so I’m not short of things to talk about.

Six on Saturday is a meme that invites you to show us six things happening in your garden on a Saturday, on a blog, in a tweet, wherever you like; and to then share them by posting a link in my comments section down below. You’ll find a fuller explanation here, though it’s really very simple in principle. Right, onwards.

One.
Kniphofia ‘Pineapple Popsicle’ is intended to partly fill an area where after spring bulbs die down, we have been planting annuals which have struggled. I cringed at the name, then cringed again when I saw it was one of several Popsicles. They looked to be pretty good though and have relatively fine foliage which I liked better than many of their kin. I subsequently found out that they are a product of Terra Nova Nurseries in the US, who I am relatively well disposed toward because they have produced some very fine Begonias that I grow. The nursery I bought the Kniphofias from had grown them on from liners they’d got from Seiont Nurseries, a wholesale nursery whose catalogue is worth looking at if you interested in new varieties that might be worth looking out for in the UK. Order 28 trays of 20 plants, just 560 plants, and you’ll get free delivery! They do six different Popsicles.

Two.
Lilium leichtlinii is a bit further back from where the Kniphofias are going and flowers at the same time. I planted 10 bulbs in a 20L pot and this is their second year, sunk almost to the rim in a gap in the border. They spent winter in my tunnel. I could probably divide them between two pots for next year, they’ve increased quite well in number and size.

Three.
Sticking with yellow for one more, this is Alstroemeria ‘Sweet Laura’. Also in a 20L pot, plunged so it could overwinter in the tunnel away from the slugs, except it never got moved to the tunnel so has been quite badly chomped. It perhaps isn’t in the ideal spot either, a bit too shady. It’s another of the areas earmarked for a rehash.

Four.
Sue came back from Trago* a bit back with a plant of Hydrangea paniculata ‘Switch Ophelia’, for which she’d paid the princely sum of £5.99. I looked it up to find out more about it and the main thing seemed to be that £18.99 is a typical asking price. Very compact for a paniculata variety, long flowering season, opening white then turning pink. If it delivers on the promises, it’ll be very good. When it was planted on 30th June, it was greeny-cream, now it’s pink. I’m not seeing the new growth that would keep it flowering until autumn, perhaps the flowers are very long lasting.
* I’m not going to try to explain Trago Mills, if you’ve been there, you’ll know.

  • 30/6/2023
  • 7/7/2023

Five.
Did I mention we’d done a bit of plant shopping? Did I imply that we knew the places we were buying for and would be focussed on getting suitable plants? Did you fall for it even for a moment? I thought not. Trevena Cross Nursery had several sorts of Mangaves. Choosing between them was well nigh impossible. What is one to do in such circumstances? That’s Sue’s glasshouse they’re in, nuffin’ to do wiv me guv.

Six.
Fred sent me some Abutilon seed from a plant with pale pink flowers. I sowed them 18/4/2022; they flowered and I eventually selected out five. Here are two of them flowering now and pretty fabulous they are too. I’m hoping they’re going to get quite a bit taller because they need to be seen from below. How tall do they get Fred? And will they survive outside in winter?

If it doesn’t rain, I shall probably spend most of the weekend picking and processing blackcurrants. Jam will be made, some will be frozen, others bottled. Some may find themselves drowned in cheap Vodka. See you next week.

Published by Jim Stephens

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

57 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – 8/7/2023”

  2. That is quite a gilded collection this week, Jim. Congratulations to Sue on finding such a beautiful Hydrangea. That is a variety I’ve not found over here, though we have some beautiful ones available. Such fun how the Hydrangeas bloom in one color and then shift to another. Good work on the Mangave collection, too! The Abutilon is absolutely impressive! Love the texture of the flower petals, which reminds me a bit of Hibiscus. So rewarding to grow lovely plants from seed and watch them grow into something spectacular! Sorry to leave just the link earlier and no proper comment. We had a thunderstorm growing ever closer and I was racing to publish and send you the link. We’ve had a wonderful rain today that dropped our temperature from horrible to comfortable. So happy to see everything well-watered again. Hope your black currants bottled up nicely.

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  5. Pingback: Six on Saturday. Lazy Summer Days. | The Blooming Garden

  6. You have just reinforced why it is not a good idea to visit a nursery. Although saying that I have managed to acquire 4 new plants this week without even leaving home! I am jealous of the kniphofia even if it does have a daft name – I assume (hope) that there is more than one plant in that photo. My yellow one (that should be apricot) still has only on bloom 😢 and is in its third year now.

    Six on Saturday | The Heat Goes On

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  8. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Curing ‘Plant Blindness’ – Our Forest Garden

  10. That’s an interesting idea, to sink your lily pots into the ground. I just grow Asiatic lilies (because they seem to be easier?) but keep them in pots and overwinter them in the greenhouse (because I can). I then have to find a spot for them to sit in once summer approaches, and wonder if finding a place to sink them into borders might be the way to go… Hmm, on second thoughts, there is probably zero chance of finding ANY space, and at least sitting in tall pots above ground they are more accessible for lily beetle removal. Incidentally, thought they had done their bit for this year, but then I found a couple of them today… 😒Thanks for hosting, as always. https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2023/07/08/six-on-saturday-you-say-cle-may-tis-i-say-clem-a-tis/

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  11. Pingback: Six on Saturday: You Say Cle-may-tis, I Say Clem-a-tis | Rambling in the Garden
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  14. Beautiful as always! I really need to just go out and get another Alstroemeria rather than sit around staring sadly at everyone else’s. This is me putting it on the to-do list. Also, may I ask why you sink your lilies in pots rather than let them stay year-round?

    (I think this pinged already but here’s a link anyway)

    Six on Saturday | 8th July 2023

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    1. With the lilies I was copying something I’d seen in another garden where they’d grown lilies in pots in order to be able to put them where they were needed when they were in flower, then remove them afterwards. That they escaped most slug damage turned out to be a big bonus.

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  15. Wonderful pictures! I have a garden center across the street, which is dangerous. If I can’t afford to spend, I go without my wallet. It can be dangerous! Thankfully I do not have a glasshouse or I would be in big trouble! Of course here one would really need to spend money heating it if one wanted to keep things not suited to our winters.

    July 8, 2023 Six on Saturday

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  17. I am envious of your kniphofia–I’ve tried a variety here that claimed to be hardy in my zone, but there was no sign of it in the garden the following year. Some gardening friends and I are about to embark on an adventure today, first visiting a nearby garden club’s flower show and extensive plant sale (I’m eager to learn exactly what an extensive plant is, lol), and then traveling on about an hour farther to make a first-time visit to a native plant nursery. I imagine we will return home with car load of plants, as one does.
    My weekends have been full of activities to take me away from home, so I’ve been absent from the blog world for about a month. Having actually written this post late on Friday night, here are my six for this week: https://cosmosandcleome.wordpress.com/2023/07/08/six-on-saturday-july-8-2023-in-the-midst-of-summer-already/

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  18. Pingback: Six on Saturday; July 8, 2023: In the Midst of Summer Already! | Cosmos and Cleome
  19. Pingback: Six on Saturday | 8th July 2023 – Little Blue and White House

    1. I put the lilies in pots originally so that I could plunge them, in the pot, wherever they were needed when they flowered, then take them away when they’d finished. Then I discovered how much better they did than in the ground, here, at least.

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  23. Pingback: Six On Saturday: Those flowers keep coming | n20gardener

    1. Lack of room rarely stops us getting more. There always seems to be some under-performer or ailing thing that can go and the older and bigger it is, the more room there is for something new.

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  25. Pingback: Six on Saturday: 8 July 2023 – My Tiny Welsh Garden

    1. So far slugs have made very sure that no Alstroemeria ever becomes invasive here. I know their reputation, I’m not going to say it would be a nice problem to have.

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  30. I do like the lilium leichtlinii, I would have to try to put a pot of them as well first and see what happens.
    A nice choice of plants this week and a nice collection of 3 mangaves starting! The one in the foreground reminds me of mine which is ‘Moonglow’. Is it the same?
    Finally obviously to finish: Congrats for the very beautiful result of your abutilon which is a much more powerful pink than mine!
    Mine is in a pot that I bring into the greenhouse every winter. It’s 1.60 m tall and I prune it. But in Orthez in the south of France where I had the seeds, they live in the ground and measure up to 2.50 m tall. https://fredgardenerblog2.wordpress.com/2023/07/08/six-on-saturday-08-07-23/

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  31. I can just imagine you two together choosing plants at a nurser: so much knowledge and skill. Did you end up with a little possie following you? The efforts you made with bulbs and plants taking them in for winter shelter then sinking them again for a summer display helps to show the magic tricks it takes to achieve a garden as beautiful as yours. The lillies just shine out, love their colour. I have a cubic metre of mulch delivered yesterday and Glenholme herbs open day to visit this morning, so may not be posting this week.

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    1. As is so often the case these days, the only part of the nursery that was busy was the café. There were very people about in the plants. The middle of summer is a good time to take stock and decide on changes, a less good time to implement them. I’ve been planting things today and wondering whether I should be waiting for autumn. The lily is a cracker, it was a trick we copied from Keith Wiley at Wildside. It helps that Leichtlinii has quite fine foliage, it blends in better than a couple of others I grew in pots.

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  32. It seems to me that some breeders give their cultivars silly names to embarrass the nurserymen who must grow them. ‘Pineapple Popsicle’ is certainly not the weirdest.
    Anyway though; I put a bit of effort into getting six pictures that really were from this past week instead of a considerable time prior, and then could not send them to myself. It is a long story about insufficient signal and not connecting the telephone directly to the computer. Consequently, my six are rather random, and some of them are not exactly new, . . . and one picture may have been used already. https://tonytomeo.com/2023/07/08/six-on-saturday-again-no-signal/

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  35. Love your Kniphofia, Jim. I need some spikey flowers for a border and those yellows would be perfect. The lilies, of course, are fabulous. Thoughts going through my head for next year. Glad you had a good day out at the Hardy Plant Society garden visit – I’d go if I lived closer!

    My holiday is well over so here’s my contribution for this week:

    The Unexpected Heatwave

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  37. I think I will have to plant my lilies in pots in future and keep them under cover for the winter, it would keep them out of all the winter rain and my wet clay! I can remember when the undergardener and I did garden visiting and popping into nurseries, the car was always laden by the time we returned home!
    My six are here…………..https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com

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