Tonight’s the night I am on TV, on Gardeners World. I’ve set the recorder to record it and may not watch it until later. It’s a good thing they filmed it last year and not this, they haven’t been as good this year for some reason. We’ve had three days of sunshine and I’ve probably spent as much time watering in glasshouses as out gardening. It’s all starting to move now, buds are breaking on the trees, the bare ground is slowly greening up. I went round in a bit of a rush this morning so I hope I’ve got six garden things worthy of a mention.
One.
Most of the plants in Sue’s glasshouse have been unwatered since October and we dont like to start splashing water about unless it is sunny and will dry quite quickly. This week provided the right conditions so I cleared away the heaters and moved a couple of plants out from the path. I gave the whole house a light sprinkle early in the week, just to get a little moisture into the compost, then followed up with a proper watering and liquid feed a couple of days later.
Two.
I nearly missed this Erythronium flowering as a big pot had been left right in front of it. It’s ahead of every other Erythronium I have in the garden, the other three, I don’t have very many and nowhere near as many as I’d like. This one is Erythronium ‘Susannah’ and it’s a very fine form which I’d like more of except its seldom offered and can be a tad pricey.
Three.
I put Euphorbia mellifera in a six very recently, when the very first flowers were opening. Things have moved on and in the sun today there were quite a few insects on the many open flowers. I took several shots of this hoverfly before he flew off and managed to get one that was focused at the right place.
Four.
Many years ago I planted this Hepatica about a foot away from my clump of Phyllostachys bamboo, thinking it would enjoy the shade. The bamboo has since then spread right through the Hepatica and out the other side and the old canes that were on one side of it are gone, replaced by younger canes on the other side. It doesn’t flower a great deal, and who can blame it but it’s a survivor and the photo barely does justice to the richness of the flower colour. Like the Erythronium, I’m not at all sure why I have not planted more, it remains a lonely solo plant. I don’t even have its full name.
Five.
I turned around from taking the Hepatica picture and spotted another flash of blue just across the path. Years ago I planted some Ipheion uniflorum bulbs. I don’t remember whether I bought the in flower in pots or as bare bulbs but I know they never came to anything. I don’t remember ever seeing them come up. It looks like something survived, because I have a single flower. I must go back through past years bulb orders and see if I can track down a planting date and name.
Six.
Sometimes getting to number six feels good, such as when I’m not sure I can scrape six items together. I like it less when I have to make a choice between a number of contenders for the spot. Should I have gone with the Camellia, seeing as how it’s what I’m on the verge of becoming famous for? No, it’s going to be the fern, Polystichum polyblepharum, or Polly Polly as Architectural plants used to call it, or Japanese Lace Fern if you prefer common names. There are a few fallen flowers of Camellia ‘Debbie’ in the background, so that ticks that box.
OK, that’s it for this week. As ever, I invite you to join us in our quest to put the world’s gardeners in touch with each other. The brief is simple, a picture plus a few notes about six things in your garden this saturday. Post your post and put a link in my comments below so we can all find it. That’s all there is to it but if you want a fuller guide there is one and it’s here.
garden ruminations 
You did really well on GW – maybe a regular guest spot?
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GW being on at a later time has meant I have not seen your moment of glory yet either, as I dutifully don’t watch anything after 9pm, but I am sure I won’t be disappointed…! 😉As always, Sue’s greenhouse is amazing, and your last photo has reminded me to add ‘trim ferns to my ‘to do’ list – thank you! Great photo of the euphorbia and hoverfly too 👍https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2026/03/21/six-on-saturday-avoiding-blooms/
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That view of the glasshouse never fails to astonish, can’t wait until you do the closeups later in the season. Also, you’ve reminded me that the ferns need clearing up some point in the next few weeks, ugh. I didn’t make it to six outside this week… luckily, indoors was a different matter.
https://littleblueandwhitehouse.com/2026/03/21/six-on-saturday-21st-march-2026/
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Your ipheion looks very much like my ‘Jessie’ a lovely blue. I watched GW this morning as my daughter interrupted my viewing last night with a phone call. You were excellent I have to say, and what gorgeous camellias. My white one is one of those that go brown on the shrub unfortunately.
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I’m rushing off to do some gardening at a friend’s place, and I bet she has camellias. Will read all the sixes later.
I love your garden as shown on GW which is what I wish Monty had said, not that he hasn’t warmed to camellias. Loved seeing you and I especially love that white kind of open one, with the small flowers.
Your erythronium and euphorbia m. and ferns are well ahead of mine, and for once I am glad because my mission today is to trim ferns at friend’s garden, and the rain delayed us from getting there as early as I usually would have, so I hope they have not unfurled. Mine are only beginning to.
Back to read more later on!
My six: https://tanglycottage.wordpress.com/2026/03/21/six-on-saturday-daffs/
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OHhh, I love Poly poly. And everyone else. Spring is wonderful. Can you put a link to Gardeners World I your post? I would love to watch it. Thanks for hosting. Amelia. https://theshrubqueen.com/2026/03/21/six-on-saturday-florida-freeze-rebound/
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Erythronium has a native species here which is now blooming. Common name is trout lily E. americanum. It is a very beautifull yellow.
Spring has definitely increased its pace here also.
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Love all your little blue flowers this week! Of course, the cacti are stunning, and it was good to get a hoverfly fix. I adore them and have met several species in my garden, but of course, nothing is stirring except the birds that are beginning to start nesting. I saw a sparrow yesterday with a lovely twig that I am sure went straight into the nest. Have a great week!
https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2026/03/21/march-21-2026-six-on-saturday/
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Once again interesting to see how you are ahead of things here. Which reminds me I never got round to posting my magnolia in flower – maybe next week. I’ve scheduled the GW programme for this afternoon. Here’s my link which is entirely spring bulbs https://n20gardener.com/2026/03/21/six-on-saturday-27/
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Oooops, this is my link: Geeky Gardener | My little green place on the web
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What a glasshouse, wow! I plan to use the iplayer to catch up with GW later, looking forward to it. I’ve also found a hiding erythurium, mine will have to wait until next week’s six as there’s no scape today: http://www.balmerino.net/geekygarden
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I love this time of year when there’s so much springing to life! Happy equinox 🙂
This is my six
https://doingtheplan.com/2026/03/21/tulip-van-eijk-narcissus-replete-blackbird-friend-magnolia-equinox-and-the-wall/
and for Tony, here is a link to Gardener’s World on TV 🙂 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b006mw1h/gardeners-world
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I shall be certainly be watching you on catch up. Sue’s greenhouse is an amazing sight. Your ipheion is a good blue, it looks like ‘Jessie’ to me. What a fabulous hepatica, it is a shame that the good colours are so expensive.
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Enjoyed your segment on last night’s Gardeners’ World, Jim. Your enthusiasm shone through and kept my interest. I liked the little Camellia lutchuensis best of all.
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I am jealous of Sue’s greenhouse! What a wonderful collection of cacti and succulents! Mine are drowning at the moment.
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I’ll also be watching on catch up as I was out last night. Sue’s greenhouse looks, as always, jaw-droppingly amazing. Crocus ‘problem’ solving for me this week
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Nine o’clock yesterday we turned over to Gardener’s World, and was delighted to see you amongst your Camelias Jim. There must be at least two more slots possible from your garden, and certainly Sue should be on with her glasshouse full of succulents and cacti. What applications do you give to the succulents at this time of year? Here are my Six this week: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2026/03/from-my-small-back-garden-six-on.html
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I’m using a liquid seaweed fertiliser at the moment, simply because I bought a couple of 5L bottles of it at Trago last year. Any balanced feed will do.
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Looking forward to watching it on catchup later and being inspired.
Meanwhile here’s my six https://wp.me/p88ZiK-cXZ
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That greenhouse is amazing. I’m very envious. Lovely photos as ever. I’ve not watched GW, but will do so soon, to get a wider angle view of your amazing garden. I’m heartened by, “I stuck this in and it disappeared but now it’s back.” A reminder that, as Jeff Goldblum says, “Life finds a way.” As an inveterate, “let’s plant this here and see what happens” person, I’m so glad that most of the time, it does. https://potsandplots.blog/2026/03/21/sixonsaturday-21-3-2026/
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I knew as soon as Monty said “Cornwall” and “camellias” that it would be you and I really enjoyed it. Not for the first time you made me realise I need to squeeze at least one camellia into my garden!
I love the hoverfly picture but of the plants, it’s the blue ones that are grabbing my attention this week, they are definitely going on my wishlist.
My six this week is here: https://mysanctuarygarden.wordpress.com/2026/03/21/six-on-saturday-21-03-2026/
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It was so nice seeing you on Gardener’s World yesterday and getting a more ‘big-picture’ view of your lovely garden. What a great feature! I really loved seeing the simpler, smaller Camellias – as you said, they might fit in better with certain gardening styles.
That’s a lovely pic of the hoverfly (looks like it could be a yellow-legged flower fly) on your Euphorbia!!
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First of all – how exciting! I will definitely be catching up on GW to see you. Secondly – now that Ipheion is truly blue, unlike mine. By the way, how do you say I…? I’m stumped. Always lovely to see Debbie, we had one at Cliffe. Hepatica is on my list of must grows. A lovely six. Here are mine https://offtheedgegardening.com/2026/03/21/six-on-saturday-ready-or-not/
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Thoroughly enjoyed watching you last night with your beautiful camellias, poor Monty having to admit that he didn’t have any, wonder if he will change his mind now! Love your blue flowers, but no sign yet of my Erythroniums, I will have to be patient!
My six are here………….https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com
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Beautiful photo of the hoverfly feeding on the euphorbia flowers!
After the next broadcast of your show, in a next SoS, please share a YouTube link, if one exists, so that we can watch it on the other side of the Channel. Tks
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Search for “BBC Gardeners World” on YouTube and it comes up. There were a lot of ads when I looked at it.
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Thoroughly enjoyed your Camellia spot on Gardeners’ World last night. You came across as TV natural and unlike Monty, I found myself wanting to find space for Camellia in my garden. Great photo of the hoverfly on the Euphorbia mellifera https://onemanandhisgardentrowel.wordpress.com/2026/03/21/six-on-saturday-21-march-2026/
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https://tonytomeo.com/2026/03/21/six-on-saturday-neither-here-nor-there/
Here is my Six.
I had to look up Gardeners’ World. I lack television, so would need to find it online. What time is it on?
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it’s on YouTube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzumnvubMwI
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Oh, it is blocked here in the USA.
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