The 15th of October last year was the last SoS hosted by The Propagator, the 22nd, the first hosted by me. If you’re reading this Jon, I hope you’re well and have enjoyed being free of the self inflicted responsibility that SoS entails.
Jon hosted the meme for 283 weekly episodes from its inception; I have a very long way to go to match that and most likely will pass it on to someone else long before I do. Perhaps I should put an episode number in the title line, this week is 336 by my my reckoning.
It’s such a simple concept; find six things happening in your garden on a Saturday, take pictures, post said pictures in a blog or a social media platform of some kind and put a link in the comments at the bottom of this post. Full details are here.
One.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Cleopatra’. Or is it? This is a plant that I can trace back a bit. It came in from New Zealand in June 2005 as what they call ‘tube stock’. Basically rooted cuttings in plastic test tubes. The name it had on it then was ‘Tanya’. It may be ‘Tanya’ but it’s not the same as the two ‘Tanya’s in the camellia collection at Mount Edgcumbe. It’s a pretty thing, whatever its name, and like ‘Navajo’, which I put in a couple of weeks ago, and which is right outside a front window, this one is positioned to be viewed from inside at the back of the house. For things that flower in October and November, it seems like a sensible precaution. It is supposed to flower now and make new growth, which is reddish coloured, in spring. This year it has several new shoots now, liable to get damaged in winter.
Two.
Nerine ‘Stephanie’. It’s all well and fine aiming to have every square inch of a garden bursting with plants all year but there are plants that like a bit of space around them so that they can get all the sun they need, even when they’re neither in flower or leaf. It applies to Nerines, Amaryllis, Agapanthus and probably a few more things that we don’t treat as well as we should. I would say that currently, Nerines are proving the least forgiving. I include this as a pledge to do better next year.
Three.
There’s a pink theme emerging here, unplanned. Begonia ‘Torsa’ is a hybrid between B. grandis, long grown in UK gardens and reliably hardy in the milder parts, and an unknown species from Bhutan. It is a magnificent thug of a plant, producing massive leaves and stems 60-75cm tall with pink flowers in October. As it dies down it drops lots of pea sized bulbils from which it is easily propagated. Several young plants that I planted early last year came through last winter without protection and with no losses. They enjoyed the heat and dryness this June much less. Sadly, between Tuesday and Friday this week, most of the flowers dropped onto the leaves below them.
Four.
Cyclamen hederifolium. I’ve long been in the habit of grabbing decent forms of Cyclamen hederifolium when I see them, which is quite infrequently. I have two or three with silver leaves and have a number of seedlings, which seem to come almost 100% true, that need planting out. I also have a wonderful patch of seedlings grown from seed that Noelle sent me a few years back. I ended up with loads of seedlings and intended to put half in the garden and half in pots, but they all ended up in the ground. For all their obvious aristocratic heritage, they seem no less robust than the normal forms, so they’re probably better off in the ground. Thanks Noelle.
Five.
Maurandya. Bought as seed of Maurandya erubescens ‘Magic Dragon’, a few of these have produced flowers and are white when they should be red. I’m not too disappointed, white will do fine. It seems to be looking yellowish in the picture but I don’t think it did in the real world.
Six.
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’. This just gets on with what it is supposed to do, then keeps on going until it’s around six feet tall, quite a bit more than I was expecting. Then eventually it puts out a few fairly inconspicuous flower spikes which I think has been the cue for me to put it in a six before now. It’s a really fabulous plant that just doesn’t have a ‘now’ moment to grab your attention but it’s light and bright and robust and stands up straight on its own.
Mmm, I seemed to be dodging in and out between showers over a couple of days to scrape together a motley bunch of things for today’s post. Now they’re all together they don’t look too shabby at all. That’s the thing I guess, find six small things and get in close and no-one’s going to know they’re the last six spots of colour in an acre of green and brown, we’re all too busy admiring the intricate pattern of a flower we’ve never look that closely at.
garden ruminations 
Congrats on the year of hosting, for which I am very grateful. I know what a responsibility hosting a meme is! Those silver-leaved cyclamen must really stand out against green surroundings, as will that miscanthus.
Having scheduled my post in advance, I only linked to your blog and not this specific post, so I am doing that now: https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-patches-posts-pots-and-promises/
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Oh wow, congratulations on your one year anniversary! You’re the only host I’ve known and I hope you stick around for a good long time 😀 Loving all those pinks in your six — I’ve spent enough time griping about my finicky nerines in other comments on other blogs, so I will end by simply admiring yours and crossing my fingers that next year will be the year that mine will cooperate.
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Where did that year go? Sadly, I’ve given up on Nerines – too much shoe horned in around them for them to get enough sun. I also failed to grow them well in pots. No Six from me due to busy work week and the rain.
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Thank you for taking over the job of hosting! I really like the idea of six things, but I do have a hard time keeping things short and concise nonetheless. I apologize for that, and promise I am trying to get better! At any rate, I LOVE your pink theme today!
Here is my post for the week (month): https://cosmosandcleome.wordpress.com/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-october-21-2023-living-on-borrowed-time/
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No six from me this week, I just wanted to say thank you for your commitment to the SoS crowd, it’s much appreciated.
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Thank you for the year of SOS. I agree about finding six good things to focus on in the garden when the balance is not so great. It is a great weekly reminder of why we garden. Your pinks are wonderful this week, I cannot figure out why Nerines will not do in my garden, yours are beautiful. Thanks again, Amelia https://theshrubqueen.com/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-clear-sunny-days/
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Congratulations on your year of Sixer Service! A job well done. 🙂🌸 That Miscanthus is lovely as is the pretty pink Nerine, the autumn bulbs always amaze me.
My Six are here –
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Surely no one else has plants that are magnificent thugs!! Love your humor!
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One year on! You’ve done well – congratulations! Your camellias are always a delight to see. The Cyclamen are lovely – I spotted some in the garden centre during the week, but my two grandchildren were only interested in getting into the restaurant and I missed the opportunity for a purchase. I need to go back on my own… 😁
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You’ve just reminded me to bring in the nearly but not quite hardy Cyclamen hybrids that we keep on buying and killing. If they’re right beside me I might remember to water them. I’ll do it now!
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I just had to pop in to say happy anniversary Jim, I know how time consuming hosting a meme can be so your taking over the reins is very much appreciated. I haven’t joined in for a few weeks due to the sudden passing of my son whilst on holiday in Spain. A tremendous shock as only four days earlier he had been working with me in my herb garden. I shall get a post together soon to acknowledge the work he did in a place I find myself in to find some solace.
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I was very sorry to hear about your son and I should have replied to the post about him that you wrote, but I was then, and still am, lost for suitable or adequate words to say. We flew to the Scillies from Lands End and driving down I was thinking we must have come quite close to where you live; you were very much in my thoughts that day. You still are.
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I understand Jim that it is hard to know what to say. I thank you for thinking of me, it is of some comfort that my blogging friends have been overwhelmingly supportive through what is a horrific time. Getting out into the garden helps me take my mind off events, but increasingly difficult to do with the blooming wet weather.
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Happy first #SixOnSaturday birthday Jim. Love the nerines, I have a few too. They have just pulled through storm Babet (hit us hard it eastern Scotland), with only one being pushed over.
For those interested, my blog is here:
http://www.balmerino.net/geekygarden
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Congratulations on a year of hosting the Six! I had to laugh about the idea of taking close ups so we are directed to look at the flowers instead of all the plants that are closing up shop. I am relying on color wherever I can find it, which is mostly in the leaves of deciduous trees. It has been warmish, at least by afternoon, but today looks like rain may be in the forecast. We can use it, that’s for sure!
Here are my six:
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I like the pink and not too shabby theme. The begonia and the camellia are show stoppers.
Here are my six or so for this week.
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Good point about nerine etc. I needed the prompt too. Hooray for your camellias. I love to see them.
Thanks for hosting SoS. The year has gone so quickly.
Here are my six: https://frogenddweller.wordpress.com/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-change/
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As you say, not too shabby at all and rightly we have to look harder to appreciate what is there. The miscanthus is impressive! With the heavy rain we had this morning I nearly didn’t find six but on such an important day I had to give it a go! Congratulations on your year of hosting. Thank you. Here’s my link https://n20gardener.com/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-dont-give-up/
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Here is my link: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2023/10/six-on-saturday-21102023.html
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A whole year that you have been at the helm Jim, many thanks for all the energy you put in, and for the tips and advice you so knowledgably offer. You summed up the need to have space for plants like Nerines, but sadly my garden is not elastic, except when I am dreaming of plants and wanting to add more! I have loads of Cyclamen Hederifolium one or two year seedlings with nice leaf forms, they will take a year or two to come to flowering size. If any SOSs would like some, please write a separate comment on my post, to the one commenting on my post, with your name and address and the number you would like. This will not be uploaded to the post, but I will be able to send them to you. (UK only).
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Doesn’t time fly, a year already, well done for organising us all! You have more lovely plants this week, like your camellia and begonia. I am very fond of Miscanthus, have a couple here, yours looks rather lovely.
My six are here………….https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com
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Sorry Pauline, I have tried to leave a comment on your post, but it keeps coming up with an error.
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I had a bit of a foray into grasses when they were trendy some years ago but I’d be happy to have just Miscanthus and Hakonechloa; I can too easily find fault with all the others I’ve grown. Oh, add Melica uniflora ‘Variegata’.
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I would have to add Stipa gigantea to the list, fantastic backlit by the sun!
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I agree. Chionochloa rubra is a good one too.
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Wow, the year of hosting has slipped by very fast.
I planted some Nerine bulbs this year, but they show little sign of anything other than leaves, perhaps they need a couple of years to settle?
I also struggle to get Cyclamen to grow, even after Noelle shared some seed with me, although one corm and leaves have formed in a pot, outside they have disappeared.
Here’s my six for this week
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It’s strange what grows for one person and not another. I have Cyclamen hederifolium all around the garden in as wide a range of conditions as the garden provides. They grow and flower and self seed freely. Nerines did well for many years but have nosedived in the last couple of seasons and I’m not at all sure why.
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I love the miscanthus, it is a beauty. It is a good lesson to look close up in the garden and Six on Saturday is a great reason to do just that, for me anyway. As it gets tricker to find subjects, we look a little harder and find things we might have missed ordinarily. I’m getting all whimsical, I think I need a coffee! Here are mine, hope you enjoy them https://offtheedgegardening.com/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-disintegrating/
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I forgot to say Happy Anniversary and thanks 🙂
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This camellia sasanqua is very pretty and delicate. I love miscanthus, but you really have to be careful with the size because I have 2 and the tallest is now over 9 feet which is difficult to manage. Especially when it comes to pruning and mulching. It’s a plant that is not easy to cut into small pieces. Here is my Six this week : https://fredgardenerblog2.wordpress.com/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-21-10-23/
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I have a few shoots of another grassy thing rooting in a glass of water and I think that could turn out to be a monster. If it is I’ll put in on my allotment and cut and shred it for mulching. Are Miscanthus like bamboo, in that they produce taller shoots as they get older?
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I haven’t noticed that the more the years go by, the taller it becomes, however the diameter increases very slightly, but it’s nothing comparable with a bamboo. Very manageable
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Has it really been a year since you took over SoS hosting duties. Blimey and also thank you and well done. I hadn’t realised how colourful the new foliage of Camellia was. A few plants seem a bit confused this autumn https://onemanandhisgardentrowel.wordpress.com/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-21-october-2023/
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Not much is as forgiving as Agapanthus or Amaryllis. Both can grow wild on the roadsides. That is not a realistic standard for Nerine to comply with.
Anyway, these are mine, including some late angel’s trumpet.
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That would be true of Agapanthus and Amaryllis in your conditions but not generally in ours. Yet both seem to naturalise fairly readily on Scilly, which suggests it’s not that they can’t compete with other vegetation so maybe it is the lack of frost which would clobber the foliage of Amaryllis in winter. I think maybe the Agapanthus naturalise over there among sparser vegetation and along the edges of roads and paths, so maybe they are more affected by competition for light.
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Agapanthus do like good sunny and warm exposure. Many survive in somewhat shady conditions at work, but initially grew there before their situations became shady. They do not bloom much there, so do not disperse much seed to naturalize any more than they already are. I would not notice them if I did not know they were there, since they do not bloom much. Similarly, a substantial colony of Amaryllis belladonna grows wild on the creek outside, but does not bloom in the shade of all the riparian vegetation.
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Well done on 12 months hosting SoS, you are doing a great job! This week has certainly been a trial, managed a couple of hours weeding yesterday between the showers but on the whole, a washout! Here are my six https://davidsgardendiary.com/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-103/
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I confess I have rather wussed out of gardening this week, in favour of Camellia National Collection records updates, so armchair horticulture.
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Lovely delicate camellia. Can’t believe you have been hosting SoS for a year already! So much appreciated by us all.
Here are my six https://thistlesandkiwis.org/2023/10/21/six-on-saturday-21-10-23/
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