Six on Saturday – 3/2/2024

Categories six on saturday43 Comments on Six on Saturday – 3/2/2024

We had a couple of really quite pleasant days this week and I seized the opportunity to put in some hours on the Camellia collection at Mount Edgcumbe rather than the garden here while I still had the car to myself, Sue being away for another couple of weeks. It’s meant I’ve barely looked at our garden since last weekend and I’d hoped that there might have been more signs of progress than there in fact are. Still, we’re only just out of January so each and every sign of fresh growth emerging has to be seen as a good thing.

One.
Crocus tomasinianus seem to do pretty well here but I haven’t added to my stock for a couple of years. It’s hard to judge whether they are increasing or not without my help. They endure a fair bit of my hindrance, in that I shove in annuals and tender perennials amongst them as their leaves die off, all too often unintentionally disturbing the corms in the process. They have probably been out during the week when it has been sunny, but so have I , so I’ve missed them. There’s abundant evidence in the photo that the slugs are getting pretty active; time to start my nocturnal revenge missions.

Two.
The relentless wind and wet before Christmas has meant that my Hakonechloas are not looking as good now as they usually do, but the best of them, H. macra ‘Albostriata’, ain’t looking at all bad for the beginning of Feb.

Three.
Another of the named snowdrops I planted last year is strutting its stuff; ‘S. Arnott’. It looks like I received and planted the 3 bulbs I ordered as a clump, rather than separating them and planting them more spaced out. I don’t have less than before, I’ll settle for that.

Four.
Polygonatum mengzense f. tonkinensis HWJ573 is a plant that looks handsome and interesting all year, without having an attention grabbing, look at me moment. As near as it gets is when the berries turn scarlet, which they have just started to do. For me the best bit is the colour and patterning of the newly emerging shoots in spring, a rich chocolate brown.

Five.
There are garden plants that are not especially showy and that have weedy tendencies and there are weeds that have considerable ornamental value but just not quite enough to make them welcome. The mouse plant, Asarum proboscideum, is in the first category, Yellow archangel, Lamiastrum galeobdolon is in the second. You may see them differently. It wasn’t intentional that they would be growing together but at this time of year we beggars can’t be choosers.

Six.
I have several Camellias with one or two blooms open but I’ll save them until later, maybe use one as a header. It being Six on Saturday, the number six slot shouldn’t get wasted on a skanky looking Hellebore or an inexplicably half dead Hypericum. Which just leaves one photo to be used, Euphorbia ‘Ascot Rainbow’. I confess I tweaked the contrast and colour saturation, it was such a dull day it seemed to need a lift.

It’s all starting to kick off now. The days are getting longer, the light brighter, the sun warmer*. There must surely be six things happening in your garden, which is all it takes to launch yourself into six on Saturday. Post six pictures online in some way and stick a link to them in the comments down below. If you’ve not joined in before and want more information, the participant’s guide is here. I hope to see you next week, or even this week.
* For us northern hemisphereans at least.

Published by Jim Stephens

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

43 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – 3/2/2024”

  2. I am with you on the asarum and lamium, and at least the latter is fairly easy to remove if it overextends any welcome it has. Your Hakonechloa looks stunning – I have been trying to establish H Aurea but it is still struggling – will perhaps check out your variety instead. My C tommasinianus self-seed everywhere – do yours? My six are at: https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2024/02/03/six-on-saturday-walking-with-witches/

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    1. I think most of the seedlings of crocus have been amongst the parent plants, though there a few further afield. All the Hak macs do OK with me but the growth rate varies greatly. ‘Albo-striata’ and ‘Samurai’ are the quickest, ‘Aurea’ and ‘Stripe it Rich’ the slowest. ‘Albostriata’ is by far the best for standing long into the winter.

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  3. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Walking With Witches | Rambling in the Garden

  4. The days are getting longer and despite the horrid weather (we seem to be permanently in mist and fog) I have managed to get outside this week and make a start on all that needs to be done. My crocuses, snowdrops and winter aconites are all being munched. I think we both know the culprits. Here’s my first post of the year. Let the spring begin…

    Six on Saturday | And so it begins…

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  7. Pingback: Six on Saturday | And so it begins… – Cornwall in Colours

  9. What beautiful photos this week, and all look decidedly wet. You certainly have been blessed with rain. Your garden is ahead of ours with your blooming Tommies and vibrant Euphorbias. I certainly wish we had the weather that allows your Galanthus to thrive so well. A lovely clump. I didn’t have your restraint, and so included photos of C. Nuccio’s Pearl, which just opened its first flowers this week. It is always a day to celebrate when that lovely Camellia blooms.

    Here are my six for the week: https://woodlandgnome.wordpress.com/2024/02/03/six-on-saturday-was-that-a-bird-i-heard/

    I hope your week ahead is another good one.

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  10. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Was that a bird I heard? – Our Forest Garden
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    1. We have plenty of blackbirds but still get more slugs than the relatively small amount of new growth being made at this time of year can keep up with. It may be that adding to my fallen leaves with mulches gives them too many places to hide.

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  16. Pingback: Six on Saturday: 3 February 2024 – My Tiny Welsh Garden

  18. The Hakonechloa looks fabulous, the shape and colours are a real treat in February! Good to see your crocus coming into bloom, none here yet.

    Although I have a post about roses this week it’s not a Six, I can still admire what’s happening in your garden, and others. Have a good weekend! 😊

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  21. Six on Saturday: Tree Circus


    Looking at your six reminds me that I should get more pictures of plants instead of other subjects. My six include only a single tree (although it has two trunks) and five items associated with trees that are no longer there.
    Would you say that Crocus tomasinianus is more purple than blue? That is the impression that I get, although I am sometimes told that it is blue. I want at least one species of Crocus that naturalizes, and would prefer at least one for the blue garden, where purple or even purplish blue is not allowed.

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    1. I’d definitely say purple, though there are quite a few varieties and there may be bluer ones than I have. And when the Scillas get going, the crocus are so far from blue they’re practically pink. The only reason I don’t put more non-plant things in my sixes is that I have so many damned plants to get through.

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  22. Pingback: SOS: Piglet’s Plot -January 2023 – Fruit and Vegetables – Piglet in Portugal

    1. At least Crocus don’t dwindle as quickly for me as Daffodils and Tulips, though I may be making progress with the latter. The only way to find out is to plant them and wait a few years, which with so many sorts of bulbs available, isn’t very practical.

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