Six on Saturday – 15/6/2024

Categories six on saturday43 Comments on Six on Saturday – 15/6/2024

The first of our garden open days is now behind us, the second is today. The less said about the first the better. Could have been worse in that it could have been Thursday, when it rained all day. Our first visitors turned up 90 minutes before we were due to open and 90 minutes before were were ready. We let them in of course, with apologies for the fact we were still doing some last minute preening.

I found a couple of minutes to whizz round with the camera and get a few shots for my Saturday Six (that’s what you’re reading, if you hadn’t already twigged, and you’re very welcome to join in; there’s a participants guide here).

One.
I’m going to start with a view down the garden and I’ll aim to repeat exactly the same shot on the weeks we open to show the progression.


Two.
Fern of the week is Araiostegia parvipinnata, a picture of which I put in in March as it first started to unfurl its fronds. It’s in a 10L pot stood on a pedestal at the back of the border. The idea of growing it in a pot is that you should be able to see the rhizomes hanging over the sides; I have one in the ground, it is very happy but the rhizomes, which are covered in golden bristles, are hidden. They’re hidden behind the foliage here too.


Three.
My peonies are having a bad year as far as flowering is going, this may well be the only bloom I get on ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ so it has to go in now. Even one bloom is a bit of an event.


Four.
One of the plants I bought at Tregrehan plant fair has a bloom on it. This is a form of Impatiens sodenii with dark red stems. The RHS have quite a few forms of I. sodenii in their Plantfinder list and I assume it is one of them but don’t know which. It’ll be another plant that gets planted out for summer then probably overwintered as young propagated plants for the following year. It’s still in the greenhouse at the moment.


Five.
Rodgersia ‘Bronze Peacock’ is having quite a good year. It’s had the moisture it needs to be happy this year, demonstrating that if in future years it’s dry in the spring, this is one plant that will reward keeping well watered.


Six.
The same is true of our bamboo, Phyllostachys aureosulcata ‘Spectabilis’ in that given abundant moisture it makes much more vigorous growth. The new canes are numerous, thicker than they’ve ever been and almost certainly destined to be taller than they’ve ever been. I’m not so sure that giving bamboos too much encouragement is a good thing, I’ve already removed a few feet of runners going under the adjacent path. The taller it gets the more vulnerable it is to wind too.

The rain will have brought a new rash of slugs out, so now I’m off out to let them know they’re not welcome here.

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 – 15/6/2024”

  2. Six on Saturday – Mind Your Head!

    90 minutes early – aargh! The first of ours on Thursday were about 15 minutes early, which was bad enough, as I was just on my way to put out some cushions as the rain had (only briefly, sadly) stopped . I hope today’s visitors were more timely for you both. I look forward to seeing your long view over the weeks, and I am prompted by it to move my ‘Easter Island’ head from where it is now completely hidden by folage to somewhere more visible!! Thanks for hosting – my six are here: https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2024/06/15/six-on-saturday-mind-your-head/

    Like

    Reply
  4. Pingback: Six on Saturday – Mind Your Head! | Rambling in the Garden

  5. Hi Jim,

    You probably know a lot more about bamboo than I, for a laugh I will throw in my six pennyworth.

    I was once asked to help my wife’s employer by trying to clear the spread of a miniature bamboo – it had developed into an attractive patch but the runners had developed to at least a metre right round the perimeter of the patch. I did what I could to clear the new shoots but the roots were a solid mat and as they had invaded other plantings it would have needed a lot of work to clear.

    Years later I visited a bamboo collection down in your neck of the woods and learned that the way they contained their plants was to put a 9”x 9” deep trench round each plant.

    They had bamboo there like Chinese scaffolding (lord knows what the roots would have been like) and some which would have made lovely fishing poles.

    I guess your rather attractive variety strays slowly ?

    All the best,

    Mike

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Most years ours spreads slowly but chuck in a wet spring when it’s making growth and it goes a bit mad. We had a customer came back a couple of year after buying Phyllostachys vivax ‘Aureocaulis’; not to complain but to ask if we could come and take it away, it had run 20 feet (under a membrane) in a single season. She was a bit spooked by it. They’re not to be trifled with.

      Like

      Reply
  6. Pingback: Six on Saturday | 15th June 2024 – Little Blue and White House

  7. A beautiful selection again this week, Jim, but I love your first view down the garden the best. Your moai statue is just wonderful and a perfect focal point. You have brought it all as close to perfection as can be done, given the weather, the slugs, and the other challenges this year. I hope your open day today has gone well.

    The fern shot is my second favorite- a beautiful composition. I have spent some time this week finally cutting back the yellowing fronds from my holly ferns. I usually wait as long as they may be doing a bit of photosynthesis, but they were at the point where they had to go. Congratulations on your beautiful Rodgersia.

    There was an interesting article about bamboo in the British press this week… maybe the Independent? At any rate, it showed bamboo coming up into people’s homes. One shot had bamboo emerging from someone’s oven, and it discussed the importance of adding the clumping type in any garden rather than the running type. We found the running type here when we moved in and every year we watch it approach closer and closer to our home. It is such a beautiful beast, though.

    Here are our six for the week: https://woodlandgnome.wordpress.com/2024/06/15/six-on-saturday-middle-june/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. As far as I’m aware, though bamboo can be a scary spreader, it is also shallow rooted, so it’s hard to imagine how bad the foundations of a house would need to be for bamboo to get in. The media do love the odd plant scare story though.
      Coincidentally, when I did a quick scout round this morning, looking for the things we’d missed before opening day one, it was the old leaves of holly fern that I spotted and removed. It’s tempting to think that these things don’t matter, that people won’t notice, but I’ve done a lot of flower show gardens in my time and I know that while people perhaps couldn’t be specific about jarring elements, they are very sensitive to the overall effect of everything looking right.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. It is the little things that make the greatest impressions, I believe. It is hard to keep up with everything if one has a life beyond gardening, but is is amazing how easy it is to improve the overall impression of a space or a planting with some strategic pruning. Once the ‘distractions’ are gone, everything else somehow looks better.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Middle June – Our Forest Garden

  11. Ninety minutes early! My mother taught me to never show up less than 10 minutes late to someone’s home. She hated it when people showed up on the dot. Next year, advertise the time for 90 minutes after the real opening!

    I love the fern and the gorgeous peony. I also agree that some plants that I thought were fading last year were maybe just stressed by the drought conditions and I should do more to water. My six are evidence of the building tension. Flowers are about to explode into color! Maybe by next week.

    https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2024/06/15/june-152024-six-on-saturday/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Today being day two, we were ready to go from early morning and when no-one had arrived by ten minutes after our opening time we started worrying that no-one would come. It’s best to just chill and go with the flow.

      Like

      Reply
  13. Pingback: June 15,2024 Six on Saturday – Gardening in the Prairie

  14. The view down your garden is lovely, I like all the grasses. You were very lucky not to have opened on Thursday, what a horrid day! Yesterday was a bit hit and miss here too – some sun, lots of heavy showers and even hail and sooo windy. Today is still very windy, but at least the sun is shining so I hope it is for you too. Hope the closure of the A30 this weekend doesn’t affect visitor numbers. My post is a reflection on the unseasonable weather we are all experiencing this year.

    https://cornwallincolours.blog/2024/06/15/six-on-saturday-junuary/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. In nursery days I would advise people against buying cheap bamboos, they’re the ones that spread fast and are readily propagated. The slow spreaders are expensive but worth it in the long run.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I had a very attractive dwarf variegated bamboo for many years, contained (I thought) in a large pot with its bottom cut out. Of course it escaped and even though the main clump/pot is long gone I still have the occasional shoot springing up. Helps make gardening life interesting!

        Liked by 1 person

  16. Pingback: Six on Saturday – | Frogend dweller's Blog

    1. It’s true that a lot of things are making prodigious growth. Our paths are almost impassable by autumn every year, this year that point will come earlier and if we’re still opening will require some serious tying back.

      Like

      Reply
  18. Pingback: Six On Saturday: Chaos! | n20gardener

  19. The view down your garden is a beautiful tapestry of colour shape and texture, I’m sure your visitors will enjoy it. My Sarah Bernhardt also only had one flower after producing lots of buds, they all seemed to vanish! Your Rodgersia Bronze Peacock is looking rather splendid, my rodgersia is nowhere near flowering yet! My six are here………………https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  20. Pingback: Six on Saturday. 15.6.2024 | Lead up the Garden Path

  21. What a beautiful shot down the garden. I’m afraid I’m going to post and run as I’m away this weekend (garden visiting of course) and I’ll catch up on all your posts when I’m back, as my phone won’t let me post any comments, although I can read the posts. I expect there’s a solution to this, but so far it’s beyond me. I need to configure something somewhere apparently.

    https://www.hortusbaileyana.co.uk/2024/06/flaming-june.html

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I can’t make head nor tail of any part of blogging even on my iPad, never mind a phone, so you’re not alone. You need to ask a young person, they’re all experts.

      Like

      Reply
  22. Pingback: Six on Saturday: 15 June 2024 – My Tiny Welsh Garden

    2. Herman was an acquisition from our nursery days when Sue had responsibility for doing pot orders. We could never get as many Hermans as we wanted and then they stopped doing them altogether. We’ve seen many versions in many garden centres since then but never one that we’ve liked as much. Tell your friend that Herman does have a fan club but there are only two members.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  27. Pingback: Six on Saturday | Junuary – Cornwall in Colours

  28. Impatiens sodenii was formerly Impatiens oliveri. It grows wild in a few riparian or coastal situations near here, although I doubt that it really naturalizes enough to become invasive. I brought some back to my Pa’s home in Montara, and it seeded itself into a few odd spots, but it was appealing regardless. Most of the naturalized sort were pale pink. I hoped for a white specimen, but never found one. Sarah Barnhardt looks splendid, even if it is not a good year. (I do not bother growing peonies with the mild winters here.)

    These are my six:

    https://tonytomeo.com/2024/06/15/six-on-saturday-no-rhododendrons/

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment