Six on Saturday – 9/11/2024

Categories six on saturday31 Comments on Six on Saturday – 9/11/2024

The weather has been in limbo for a while now, a benign limbo, which is extending autumn and holding winter at bay. I haven’t cut much down, there aren’t a lot of leaves to rake up, plants are neither growing nor dying, active gardening is on hold. Most flowering things are winding down but so many things are still sporting the odd bloom. Campanula portenschlagiana is getting ahead of itself, thinks spring has already arrived, Salvias are making up for a dull summer even though it’s just as dull now as it was when they refused to flower six weeks ago.

Six on Saturday then; perhaps not the easiest time of year to join in but you’d be all the more welcome for that if you chose to take the plunge. Just post a picture and a few words about half a dozen things in your garden this Saturday and put a link to it in the comments below. The participants guide provides guidance should you need it.

One.
We have one bed with three tall, late flowering Salvias in it, S. ‘Black & Bloom’, S. ‘Amistad’ and S. ‘Phyllis’ Fancy’. I could have done them separately but it’s the overall impact that I was trying to capture.


Two.
Self sown Nasturtium has gone berserk this year. It needs to go before the things underneath start to suffer but I haven’t hardened my heart to rip it out yet.


Three.
The aforementioned Campanula that thinks spring is here.


Four.
Plectranthus zuluensis usually gets a look in around this time of year, another really late performer most years and especially so this year.


Five.
Acanthus spinosus is a plant I want to like but it is an invasive thug and gets terrible mildew, so it’s not easy. Today it was doing what our cats are good at, trying to look appealing.


Six.
Call it indecision, call it bragging; there were too many things to leave out so I’ve done a single composite 6 x 6 picture. Don’t be mislead, the garden isn’t awash with flowers but there are a lot of different things still putting on a bit of a show and it seems unlikely they’ll do so for much longer.

Till next week; happy gardening. By the way, if you’re interested in Camellias, I just posted a video on YouTube about the autumn flowerers in the National Collection at Mount Edgcumbe: https://youtu.be/jb8a0Ix6wkg

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Published by Jim Stephens

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

31 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – 9/11/2024”

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  3. Your montage is beautiful! So many lovelies blooming, even if they’re not as plentiful as in the spring and summer. We’re having similar weather here in the Upper Midwest U.S.–no hard freeze yet, which is late for us. Your Nasturtiums are amazing–so prolific!

    Beth @ PlantPostings.com

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  5. Pingback: Six on Saturday. Anticyclonic Gloom. | The Blooming Garden

  6. I loved your sentence, “Today it was doing what our cats are good at, trying to look appealing.”

    Your six by six was most impressive.

    When I was raking leaves today,I uncovered several summer plants blooming. Brave souls!

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  7. No Six from me – not because of the dismal election results here, but because I have a lot of homework due tomorrow. I have some nice pictures of our first frost to share at a later date. I loved the blue salvia, it had a calming effect on me that reminded me that I am a bit stressed, even though I am pretty good at suppressing it when a situation is out of my control. Funny, the class I am taking is Disaster and Emergency Management, and there is a chance that the incoming president will purge the civil service that does the work of actually running the government. If knowledgeable staff are replaced with incompetents, that would be a disaster waiting to happen.

    Loved the patchwork of color in the final image!

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      1. It is a bit terrifying on many levels. It will be interesting to see how people will feel when they see what their vote got them. I cannot imagine if the plan to dismiss the bulk of civil service employees takes place how government will function on any level. Well, hopefully he doesn’t come for the universities too soon, and we have in my state a sort of shield in that the state went for Trump, so we won’t be in the crosshairs of his toddler’s rage immediately.

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  9. My goodness, Jim, those salvias – glorious! Presumably they are all hardy for you? I gave up trying with Amistad as it barely flowered for me and certainly never overwintered outside. My Phyllis, despite its small pot, is pretty astonishing though, but will come inside in due course. How tall does Bllack and Blue grow? It’s a very pretty shade. My six are here: https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2024/11/09/six-on-saturday-cutting-remarks/

    Thanks for hosting

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    1. Last year the Salvias left in all came back and were a foot or so taller than the new ones we added (the backup set, in case the ones in the ground died). This year almost all those left in the ground failed. They produced a shoot or two early on, but even those disappeared. I’m not convinced it was cold that killed them, maybe a root pest or disease. ‘Black and Bloom’ (sic) is about the same height as ‘Amistad’.

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  10. Pingback: Six on Saturday: Cutting Remarks | Rambling in the Garden

  11. Jim, I hope you will consider making your 6×6 tile a regular monthly feature. Fascinating, and such a good way to show off a lot of garden action in a small space. Your Salvias are enviable, too. Shows what great care and regular rain can do. Thanks for the link to your Camellia video. I’ll enjoy watching that. Here are my six for the week, fall color in our very dry garden: https://woodlandgnome.wordpress.com/2024/11/09/six-on-saturday-tough-plants/

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    1. The 6 x 6 was a challenge today, even with lots flowering, but I do like a challenge and it doesn’t have to be flowers. Monthly, OK, I’ll see if I can pull it off. First thing is to put a reminder somewhere.

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    1. The Lonicera has grown through the fence from next door so I have no idea what variety it is, though ‘Peaches and Cream’ doesn’t seem to be available here. There’s a ‘Strawberries and Cream’ and a ‘Rhubarb and Custard’, among many others. It’s probably ‘Serotina’

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