Six on Saturday – 2/3/2024

Categories six on saturday41 Comments on Six on Saturday – 2/3/2024

Very gradually, it’s all getting greener. That should in theory make it easier to scrape together six things going on in the garden but I don’t think it has. Knowing I was going to be out all day today (Friday) I took a few photos earlier in the week. Another mixed bag.

One.
The hedgehog that I mentioned last week has continued to be active. He’s set off the camera several times over the last week, seemingly, with just one exception, on his way out. I have no idea how he gets back in undetected. I’m not sure whether he’s back in the box every day or whether he has somewhere else that he also uses. Or perhaps on some nights he stays at home.

Two.
I cut down the last of my Haknoechloa clumps on the last day of February. It was starting to break up and the new shoots are coming up apace. It’s done excellent service providing interest through the winter. This is Hak. mac. ‘Albostriata’, which seems to stay standing better than the rest.

Three.
These are Chionodoxa luciliae ‘Rose Queen’ as far as I know. Someone else put them in a six last week or the week before but I can’t remember who, to do a check on the name. You’ll put me straight if I’m wrong. The slugs are pretty keen on them but I have their measure.

Four.
Back in the autumn I picked up a couple of tiny Begonia plants in Trago. Took pity on them essentially. I then had to work out what I was going to do with them, so I shoved them in my propagator in the greenhouse until I’d decided. They’re still there, not because I still haven’t decided but because they were so obviously happy in there. I now know exactly what conditions I would need to provide for a proper terrarium, should I ever go down that particular rabbit hole. I don’t even know what temperature it’s set at, not very high, plus LED lights on a timer for about 10 hours a day.

Five.
Let the record show that my crocus flowers did open on at least one day. They may have done so on a couple of other occasions but I wasn’t there to see it.

Six.
The flowers on Camellia ‘Bob Hope’ are mostly tiny little things that haven’t developed properly, perhaps because it got too dry when the buds were forming, though some have developed normally. Such a good colour.

If you have six things in your garden that you think might interest the SoS crowd, please join in. Post pictures on a blog or similar and put a link to them in the comments below. See the full participants guide for more details.

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Published by Jim Stephens

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

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

  1. Pingback: Spring in waiting (Six on Saturday) – The Nostalgic Gardener

  3. I must put the camera back outside to see if our hedgehog has returned. It was zero last night so I expect it was tucked up somewhere. No six this week as I can’t get my photos to work. WordPress says they’ve downloaded but they appear as empty boxes. Very frustrating.

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  6. Pingback: A Glossy Start to March | Rambling in the Garden

  8. A lovely glimpse of Mrs Tiggywinkle (or Mr). It’s been such a wet old week that I wasn’t sure I’d manage to get any photos, but yesterday had one or two dry spells. I’m sure I have blue chionodoxa too though mine have much slimmer leaves and are only just poking through the soil. Maybe I’ll have some next week.

    Six on Saturday | lambs and lions

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  14. Pingback: SoS: Flowers in March – Piglet in Portugal

  15. Beautiful Begonia plants! They look like they just arrived from the grower, you’ve taken such great care of them. The box has made them happy. Without such a great set-up, one of my favorite eyelash Begonias getting on in the living room collapsed in mid-February. I expect to see new leaves once it gets outside this spring. They are tough little plants for all their beauty, but I miss it. We are finally enjoying daffodils here this week, and the redbud has started to break bud. Spring has commenced whatever the calendar may say. Here are my six for the week: https://woodlandgnome.wordpress.com/2024/03/02/six-on-saturday-certain-uncertainty/

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    1. I have Begonias in the bedroom, the office, loads in the greenhouses, lots in the garden. I don’t think there’s one I’m not worrying about to some degree. B. grandis in its various forms perhaps. Those two in the propagator are the happiest, along with the other four or five they’re sharing it with.

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      1. Are your really early hardy Begonias in the garden, that you showed a few weeks ago, still growing OK? As I recall, it was not a B. grandis, but a different species? None of our hardy ones have sent up a trial leaf yet, but I expect to see them most any day.

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      2. They’re still growing apace. Out front is B. pedatifida ‘Apalala’, then B. emeiensis, B. U614 and B. tengchiana. All were covered with several inches of leaves, dry at first but didn’t stay that way. B. pedatifida was pushing through the leaves in January. The leaves look really tender and I’ve covered them for the one night when frost threatened but didn’t happen. So far they’re fine and slowly unfurling, but we had quite a bit of hail yesterday and they’re slightly speckled by that, which isn’t good. It seems odd that they would grow at such low temperatures yet be so apparently vulnerable to freezing; I wonder if they would be covered by snow and not get exposed until the air had warmed up a bit. B. koelzii and all the grandis sorts still appear fully dormant.

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  23. It’s lovely to get a little glimpse of Mr Hedgehog – I’m sure you’ll find out more about him as the months go on. It’s always encouraging to see what’s coming up underneath newly cut back plants. I still have a few to cut back, but the weather has been against me all week. Result is that I don’t have a Six this week either, but if you’re interested, I do have a photography post.

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  25. Pingback: Six on Saturday 2.3.2024 | Lead up the Garden Path

  27. That thing looks scary. I have seen pictures of hedgehogs before, and those who are familiar with them insist that they are harmless, and actually eat slugs and snails. It still looks scary. I would not want to run into it in the garden at night, or anytime for that matter. Your Crocus and Chionodoxa luciliae ‘Rose Queen’ are rad. I should try Chionodoxa. I have seen it perform well here.

    Here are my Six.

    https://tonytomeo.com/2024/03/02/six-on-saturday-winter-to-spring/

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    1. There are no serious downsides to hedgehogs that I’ve found yet. We’ve had them hibernate in some awkward places that we’ve had to steer clear of until they’ve left, but that’s all.

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  29. Pingback: Six on Saturday | lambs and lions – Cornwall in Colours

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