Past the middle of October and the garden is getting scruffy but there’s still plenty of flower and I’m certainly not at the stage of doing an autumnal clear up. Which is not to say I haven’t made a start on some of the tasks on my winter check list.
Anyhow, finding six things to feature wasn’t a problem for me and I hope not for you either. If you can come up with six things at this time of year you really need to be joining in; it’s very simple, find six interesting things in your garden on a Saturday, post pictures and a bit of chat about them and put a link in the comments below. There’s even a participants guide!
One.
Last week I was lamenting the remorseless spread of Fuchsia gall mite through our once quite extensive collection. I have cut down the first three badly affected plants and taken them to the council tip. This one is Fuchsia perscandens and it appears to be immune; nevertheless it will be turfed out with the others. I thought I’d dug it out a year ago, but I missed a small piece. It has grown to cover roughly 12 x 4 feet this year and so far hasn’t produced a single flower. They would come later, in the depths of winter, dull purple and black and generally not numerous, they are a woefully insufficient reward for taking up so much space.
Two.
Bomarea edulis is a plant I dug up and put in a pot because the slugs would just not give it a chance to get going in spring. It’s an herbaceous climber, capable of growing 4-5m in a season if allowed to. It has rather languished in its pot, with me not sure what to do with it. I gave it a bit more attention this year and have a few flowers on no more than 1m of growth.
Three.
It’s puzzling how some plants get ravaged by slugs and others are untouched. Impatiens have the soft fleshy look of something the molluscs would relish, but clearly they also contain some sort of deterrent as well. Impatiens arguta ‘Alba’ was originally given me by the lovely Gill, then supplemented by a passenger in a plant of Impatiens stenantha I bought. I already had Impatiens arguta in its original purple form. Now I have various shades in between too. All seed generously but not so far problematically in my shady area.
Four.
Begonia sinensis ‘Red Undies’ BWJ8011 is from the Chinese version of the Japanese Begonia grandis. I potted up several small plantlets early last year that had grown from the tiny bulbils the plant sheds when it collapses in autumn. They were then planted out as plug plants early this year and have grown to 30-40cm and started flowering in September. They may start flowering a little earlier when established, and should carry on until frosted. The terrible name refers to the undersides of the leaves. You may be able to see slug and weevil damage on the Liriope and Polygonatum in the foreground but like Impatiens, Begonias seem pretty good at defending themselves.
Five.
Very few members of plant family Gesneriaceae will survive outdoors in the UK, which is a shame because they are a beautiful bunch. Primulina isn’t hardy but is pretty robust and accomodating as a greenhouse plant. This one is Primulina dryas ‘Pretty Turtle’.
Six.
I had a fair sized patch of Nerine bowdenii which in early summer I moved up to my allotment because they had all but stopped flowering where they were. They are much happier where they are, in a south facing sloped bed with no shade, and are already flowering better than they have for years. Meanwhile, in an even shadier spot than they were in, I have Nerine bowdenii ‘Stephanie’, flowering beautifully. Much in gardening makes little sense. They’re next to another new Salvia we grew this year, called ‘Lake Blueberry’, which is itself a mighty fine plant. The first picture I took had a bit of Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’ in the background, which clashes mightily. I’ve left it in because there’s also a bit of Salvia ‘Amistad’, from which ‘Lake Blueberry’ is very distinct.
Once again, that’s yer lot for this week. See you next week.
garden ruminations 
I love to quote your amusing statements. Today I found a simple sentence that speaks truth to me. “Much in gardening makes little sense.”
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So lovely, even at end of season.
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Lots of interesting plants from you as always – would you say primulina are more accommodating than streptocarpus? Thanks for hosting https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2025/10/18/six-on-saturday-the-benefit-of-a-list/
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In my limited experience Primulina are much more accommodating than Streptocarpus. We could never keep Streps going for more than a couple of seasons while my two Primulinas have been out in the conservatory, just frost free, very little attention, and seem to take whatever’s thrown at them.
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Oh, that’s a recommendation and a half then!! I probably manage just a couple of years for my streptocarpus too, although I do work hard to meet their needs and have increasingly wondered if they are worth it… 🙄
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Those nerines and salvia are on my wishlist for next year. I was unable to purchase a couple of giant salvia amistad recently, because I could not have fit them and our houseguests into the car. Close call. 😉
Here’s this week’s selection from our garden in Frome: https://doingtheplan.com/2025/10/18/dancing-pixies-pirouette-clematis-mown-a-meadow-hydrangea-and-primrose/
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We do need saving from ourselves, we gardeners, don’t we.
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You still have a lot on offer in your garden. Mine is decidedly coming to an end. We have not had frost yet, but the asters are mostly done, goldenrod too, there is still some Agastache available, as it sent up very small flower spikes when I deadheaded some of the plants to avoid needing to pull up all the baby plants. I love the Primulina (guess it would not last the winter where I am either, haha!) Here is my autumnal post, that includes some houseplants because there is not much left out there! We do not clean the garden at all, as that can be detrimental to many of the insects that I wish to encourage, certain butterflies, fireflies, soldier beetles. At most I may do some deadheading of the more aggressive natives, but everything else stays up and the standing stems tend to capture leaves, so we do not end up needing to rake. I am such a lazy gardening, I will make up any excuse!
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We tend to get comparatively mild and wet winters where all the soft stuff turns to mush, so I do a bit of tidying, but not a lot.
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Ah, those annoying S&S I have given up on so many plants because of them. ‘Red Undies’ is a bit of a daft name, though I see why. I often purchase or don’t purchase plants based on their name. As for the very pretty Primulina, just the foliage is worth growing it for, very much like Gloxinia and African Violets – same family I suppose. I used to grow those in Cape Town on a south facing windowsill, but didn’t have much success in the UK. Now I just don’t have many windowsills.
Most probably my last six other than the usual annual review at the end of the month.
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Beautiful examples, as always! I’ve had much luck with Impatiens over the years, too–both I. walleriana and I. hawkeri, and our native I. capensis. And the fact that they grow well in shade helps in this location, too. That Bomarea edulis is interesting and beautiful. Great idea to grow it in a pot. Thanks so much for hosting! Here’s my link:
https://plantpostings.blogspot.com/2025/10/seasonal-transitions-for-six-on-saturday.html
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Somehow my comment went on the back of Graham’s comment, and to his comment about the name being a little ‘pants’ that made me laugh!
Returning to your Six Jim it is interesting about the Begonias not being attractive to the slugs and snails. First time I’ve seen Primulina dryas ‘Pretty Turtle’ nice to have such a beauty in your glasshouse. Here are my six:
https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2025/10/six-on-saturday-18th-october-2025.html
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I agree with you about the silly name for Begonia sinensis ‘Red Undies, it does have pretty flowers and foliage though. I think I’ll have to try Impatiens next year – anything that deprives slugs and snails of a tasty meal has to be a good buy.
My link: https://notesfrommygarden.co.uk/2025/10/18/final-autumn-photos/
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You always manage to come up with lovely unusual plants Jim, making my offering very ordinary! Never mind, I’ve learnt that most of my plants have to cope with a certain amount of flooding at various times! My six are here…………………..https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com
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That fuchsia is a thug! I love the pictures of nerines, too. My six this week is here: https://mysanctuarygarden.wordpress.com/2025/10/18/six-on-saturday-18-10-2026/
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Wow to those last two photos of the Nerine et al. I’m glad you explained why the Begonia was named ‘Red Undies’ as I’d found myself squinting at the flowers trying to find some resemblance to undergarments. The choice of name is rather pants! https://onemanandhisgardentrowel.wordpress.com/2025/10/18/six-on-saturday-18-october-2025/
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Very interesting about the Begonias not being attractive to the slugs and snails. First time I’ve seen Primulina dryas ‘Pretty Turtle’ nice to have such a beauty in your glasshouse. Here are my six:
https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2025/10/six-on-saturday-18th-october-2025.html
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It seems like some species that are severely damaged by mollusks must be from ecosystems that lack mollusks. They do nothing to make themselves distasteful to mollusks.
Here are my six.
https://tonytomeo.com/2025/10/18/six-on-saturday-bad-timing-3/
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Hi Jim, always very pretty photos as usual! About the bomarea, I see that you have flowers. Here, the slugs came first and I didn’t get the flower stems. Last year it climbed up to 2 m high in the greenhouse. This year, 1 m was the maximum, like you. My link: https://fredgardenerblog2.wordpress.com/2025/10/18/six-on-saturday-18-10-25/
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