November now and there’s a sense that 2024 is winding down. However, the weather is benign and everything looks much as it did a week ago. Finding six things wasn’t a challenge.
Followers will know that the six to which I refer is Six on Saturday and to be honest, non- followers might have worked it out from the blog title. Anyhow, we all post pictures of six things in our gardens on a Saturday, then put a comment to this blog so that everyone involved can find said contributions. I can’t recommend the participants guide too highly.
One.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Navajo’ has made an appearance at about this time for years. It might well be the plant that has appeared most often in my sixes. It is reliable, flowers when other things are fading and tends to get both a ‘just opened’ and an ‘at its best’ entry. Bang outside the front window.
Two.
Fuchsia seedling ex F. paniculata? This was grown from seed purloined from a garden we visited and I put it in a six in July, enthusing about it then. It’s still looking good, with lots of tiny flowers which are now being augmented by masses of shiny black berries, each of which represents an opportunity to raise lots more. I wish I knew which fruit contained the seed with the very best variety in it. I have two seedlings from the same original plant, very different.
Three.
Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’ has tended to miss out in SoS postings because it flops and the flat on the ground look is not a good one. I put a bit in a pot, expecting it to arch over gracefully; it has stayed pretty upright all season even with all the rain we’ve had. I’m not complaining, it’s looking lovely now.
Four.
Hesperantha coccinea ‘Major’ has never appeared in one of my sixes for the same reason as the Hakonechloa. It has always chosen to flower with its face in the mud. We now have a couple of clumps on the bank at the back of the garden and they are standing up and looking good.
Five.
Hedychium densiflorum ‘Assam Orange’ doesn’t have a long flowering season so it’s handy that it has a couple of other strings to its bow. The first of them is when the seeds ripen and suddenly there are these red and orange candles blazing away. I’ve grown them from the seeds and they come true, or as near as makes no difference.
Six.
A couple of weeks ago I put Acer ‘Sango-kaku’ into a six, a plant, not in my own garden but one that I look out on from the front of the house. Today it got “pruned”, along with everything else in the same garden. She’s probably very happy; it’s all back “under control” and is almost certainly exactly what she asked them to do.
This was the flyer he gave me. It’s a little different from the sign on his vehicle where ‘all types of tree lopped topped and felled’ became ‘all types of trees topped & felled’, ‘fully qualified’ was ‘full qualified’ and ‘special rates for senior aged citizens’ was ‘special rates for senior citizens’. There were also two phone numbers, neither the same as the one on the flyer; plus a web address, which I’ve not checked out. I’m not showing them, I’m not going to advertise his services for free. He asked me if I wanted work done on my big oak tree. I declined.
Have a good week.
garden ruminations 
That Navajio Camellia is very handsome, as is the Fuchsia. You seem to have a Camellia flower for every week of the year! 🌸
Here are my six-
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I love your camellia and the lovely fuchsia. Your hesperantha reminded me that I didn’t bring any with me when I moved and I had quite a collection. The petals are so lovely and shiny. I have done quite a short post today due to lack of time, but it’s November, let’s make hay whilst the sun shines, goodness knows what we will be able to find next month.
https://wordpress.com/post/thebloominggarden.wordpress.com/18969
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I am always so jealous of those of you who have flowers blooming at this time of year. Here’s what the American Midwest looks like in early November (and it’s been a very mild year so far): https://dameeleanorhull.wordpress.com/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-10/
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I hesitate to leave my link today, as tree lopping is involved…but by someone we have used before, and trust, and who doesn’t advertise on his van or try and drum up business from our neighbours…. https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-going-2/ Thanks for hosting, Jim
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I am sorry about the Japanese Maple. Some of the local pruning appalls me here, actually most of it. Your fuchsia collection delights me yet again. Thank you for hosting. https://theshrubqueen.com/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-fall-finds/
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I’m glad you have comments worth reading. I hesitate to copy and paste your words that made me chuckle. I’m definitely not a gardener, but I cultivate words. I loved your saying “the flat-on-the-ground-look is not a good one.”
I’m going to repeat that to someone today, and I’ll laugh with him or her. It is so appropriate!
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On the plus side I imagine she has more light in the house now. I just wish I could find a reliable and competent roofer! I detest having to use trades, you never know whether you have got a bodger. Meanwhile this is my last SoS for a couple of months, until something new appears. But I will continue to check in. Love Navajo.
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I love the camelia but not the tree ‘specialists’. They send a shiver down my spine. I am an infrequent sixer and am so pleased that you have taken over the reins. May it flower as long as the wonderful fuchsia.
Here are my six things for the week spent recovering from Covid. https://plots11and24.edublogs.org/2024/11/01/down-the-rabbit-hole-6-things-31-10-24/
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A very interesting six this week, Jim, and perfect for early November. I’ll grieve for that poor Acer and the rest of the woodies those chaps attack for a while. A shame your neighbors hired them to massacre their garden. And a shame you and Sue will have to look at it every day. I’ve not seen seeds on Hedychium before. Those are lovely. Our H. coronarium hasn’t ever produced seeds I’ve noticed. The Fuchsia seeds remind me of the tiny ornamental peppers growing on my front porch, but without such lovely flowers. Things are still bone dry here, so my six are almost all Camellias again: https://woodlandgnome.wordpress.com/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-waiting-not-waiting/
Enjoy a terrific week as the garden continues to prepare for winter. WG
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Camellias of all types are beautiful. The sasanquas definitely signal the end of dry autumn weather. I also become annoyed if plants “flop”. I have removed Crocosmia from my garden for that reason.https://mensgardenvestavia.wordpress.com/2024/11/01/autumn-colors-2-nov-2024/
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The camellia is lovely, and I also enjoyed the seed heads of your “Assam Orange”. Tree trimmers – well, lopped and felled it seems they can manage, but a trim or actual pruning may be beyond the capabilities of your neighbor’s chosen tree service.
Things are winding down, but unseasonably warm weather is to continue through November. Here are my six, with less color every week from her on out!
https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2024/11/02/november-2-2024-six-on-saturday/
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Loving the flower and berry combination on the fuchsia, definitely one to propagate. Leaflets from ‘tree surgeons’ and ‘roofers’ fall through our letterbox nearly every day. Thankfully I have two very reliable guys in these areas and the leaflets are quickly recycled. Here’s my six – not as glorious as yours but I’m still finding a few things! https://n20gardener.com/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-careful-what-you-throw-away/
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Municipal pruning! Why do so many people pay these ‘experts’. There seem to be a lot of ‘gardeners’ who just see plants as shapes to be made to fit in rather than as living, breathing things. I’ll stop now as this is one of my (many, as the non-gardener would say) soap-box subjects. Just a quick six from me this week as we’re out for the day. I’ll be back tomorrow to catch up with everyone.
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the amazing colour of number 4 is almost neon…
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I do love that little fuchsia, I’ve never grown them from seed. How long between sowing and flowering? The hesperantha is beautiful and of course the camellia is wonderful. As for the “tree surgeons” all can do is weep, unfortunately it is not rare. Here are mine, have a good week https://offtheedgegardening.com/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-november-already/
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The label on a sister seedling of that fuchsia suggests I sowed it September 2022, which makes sense in that we probably went to the Tremeneere plant fair then on to Trengwainton while we were that far west. I’m pretty sure they germinated that autumn and flowered in 2023. I must have taken pics of the parent but have lost them
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Not long then!
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Hmm, it took me a while to spot what was left of that acer in the ‘after’ photo – I had to zoom in. That fuchsia is very pretty withe both the flowers and berries. Always good to see Camellia sasanqua ‘Navajo’ again https://onemanandhisgardentrowel.wordpress.com/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-2-november-2024/
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This fuchsia ex F. paniculata is really stunning and different from the others. I hope you will be able to reproduce the ideal plant precisely. I hesitated to feature the Hakonechloa but no more space. It’s all gold and brightens the garden at the moment. ‘Assam Orange’ has finished flowering here and the red fruits attract the birds! https://fredgardenerblog2.wordpress.com/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-02-11-24/
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I searched a long time for the picture I must have taken of the parent of that fuchsia but seem to have lost it. I don’t remember it looking much like my seedling. I don’t find the birds here ever go for the Hedychium fruits, I don’t know why. Too busy eating my apples perhaps.
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Hmmm….that flyer….. I of course love the camellia.
Just a short post from me this week. https://thistlesandkiwis.org/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-02-11-24/
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Gads! I could have done without the last! Lopped, topped and felled, . . . . and fruit tree specialists! Oh my! Yet, they have clientele. Yes, I remember you mentioning that Sango Kaku maple. Enough already. My Hedychium greenii made bulbils, which I did not know that it knew how to do. I think I mentioned that on Six on Saturday earlier. This week, I got seed from ‘Charles Grimaldi’ angel’s trumpet, and I sort of wonder if they are worth growing. I suppose that if they were, someone would have done so by now. Fuchsia berries are numerous. I know that they are edible, and I sometimes read that they can be made into jellies and pies, but where on Earth can one find enough to fill a pie?! Anyway, enough of the ranting. These are my six.
https://tonytomeo.com/2024/11/02/six-on-saturday-attempted-autumn/
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I’ve tasted Fuchsia berries a few times and they didn’t taste of much. There are too many more prolific and more flavoursome things to bother with them for fruit.
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Exactly, but for different reasons; there really are better fruits to bother with. I thought that fuchsia berries were only somewhat good. They were sweet, but lack flavor otherwise.
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