April. It’s bursting out all over and threatening to overwhelm me, same as every year around this time. At least the weather has not been a hindrance for the last week or so and with luck the storm forecast for the weekend won’t affect us much down here. I’m doing a lot of weeding, getting ground ready for planting on my allotment, even planting one or two bits, sowing lots of seeds, starting to move things out of the glasshouses. It’s chaos, the idea of opening the garden to visitors seems absolutely absurd right now, just as well its not due to happen for months. It’ll be alright on the night.
Six on Saturday is a meme for garden bloggers who have a bit to say about half a dozen things rather than a lot to say about one thing. If that sounds like you, do join in. Just copy what everyone else is doing or you could read the participants guide should you need more direction.
One.
Now you see it, now you don’t. Camellias are pretty tough plants and when something goes wrong they don’t tend to die quickly. This is C. ‘Minato-no-akebono’, a plant I moved some years ago and which has never truly thrived in its new location. Over the last two or three seasons it has pretty much stopped making new growth and the leaves have become progressively more yellow. It has had every chance to make a go of it and hasn’t; time to go. Once lifted the problem was all too clear, my old enemy honey fungus yet again. Black rhizomorphs amongst the roots. bark dead around three quarters of the stem at ground level.
Two.
Hosta ‘Spartacus’ is the first of my Hostas to leaf out. I have quite a few hostas, nearly all in pots, where they are no better at resisting slugs but can at least be removed and hidden away when they get too awful.
Three.
Lilies are another thing that I find get attacked by slugs almost to the point of being ungrowable. I grow them in pots, overwinter them in my polytunnel then plunge them, pots and all, where there are gaps around the garden. If by then they’re a couple of feet tall, they can outgrow the slugs and have only lily beetles to contend with. They are massively thirsty though, so need a lot of watering, which tempts me to have another go at growing them in the ground, especially now that I seem to have partially cracked my slug problem with my traps. This is Lilium leichtlinii, which is almost as beautiful with its emerging new foliage as it is later in flower.
Four.
Pachyphragma macrophyllum isn’t the most sophisticated of plants, a bit weedy in appearance and behaviour, but it produces masses of clear white flowers and grows quite happily in dry shade, so it certainly pays the rent on the space it occupies.I just have to watch out for it crowding out less robust neighbours.
Five.
Anemone nemorosa, the wood anemone, is a plant I’ve been growing in two or three blue forms for many years but all of the original plants have become infected with Anemone alloiophylly virus and I should probably be ruthless in getting rid of them. However, they have seeded about to some degree and the progeny can retain some blue colouration or as in this case, be nearly pure white. I couldn’t decide whether this flower had just a hint of blue or not but in the photograph it looks like it does. It was in deep shade where it was hard to tell.
Six.
Camellia ‘Spring Festival’ is now in full flower. It grows naturally into a narrow conical shape but as it gets older tends to lose it and broaden out. There are two plants here, the last two of a row of five, planted to screen us from the neighbours; the other three succumbed to honey fungus , bane of my gardening life. The flowers are small but prolific and the new growth when it comes is strongly red flushed.
Another week, another six. There seem to be a lot of things in the garden that are coming to the end of their flowering season and far fewer on the cusp of starting theirs. The biennials; foxgloves, Geranium palmatum and Aquilegia have not filled the gap as well in recent years as they used to. I must keep an eye on other people’s posts for ideas to fill in between seasons.
garden ruminations 
Sorry Jim. I am late again!
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My favorite quote today is your comment on a favorite plant, “it certainly pays the rent on the space it occupies.”
I’m such a poor gardener that my plants seem to be dying to get away.
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I am so relieved not to have experienced honey fungus here, not yet, anyhow, and hopefully never do. You have now warned us all about this anemone fungus though, so that’s something to watch out for – what would the symptoms be? I too am interested in the Pachyphragma, so if you are offering seed might I ask for some too please? Thanks for hosting https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2026/04/04/six-on-saturday-spring-blossom/
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This post captures what a heartbreak gardening can be at times. I don’t think we have the awful honey fungus. I did notice that a couple of blocks away, in a stand of several camellias, one has yellow leaves. I’ve seen that before at work. Also in my long ago Seattle garden the three that my grandma had planted got leaves coated in black mold from scale. I washed them!! But at a job here on the Long Beach Peninsula (SW WA state, USA) there were several HUGE ones completely black. The client would not go for a hard pruning so I just focused on other things there.
Here’s my Six. https://tanglycottage.wordpress.com/2026/04/04/4-april-six-on-saturday-welcome-plants/
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It might help if I attached my link!
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So many pests and diseases. It’s as well we gardeners have such a positive attitude, though, having had a honey fungus scare I dread its appearance.
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Anemone nemorosa is a favorite, for sure, as are your Camellias. Too bad about ‘Minato-no-akebono’ but it sounds like it was time to cut it back. We have so many Hostas here (100s? I’ve never counted them). I haven’t seen much slug damage. But we have dry shade since we’re on the side of a hill and the rain drains off. I know I’ve seen Pachyphragma macrophyllum in plant nurseries, but I’ve never tried to grow it. It’s lovely. I’ll be back next weekend with “six.”
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You do seem to suffer with the honey fungus. It sounds like it can spread quite easily so I hope that the camellia next to the one you removed is safe. I’ve lost a few plants this winter, due to the wet, but so far my garden mojo is a bit lacking. Fortunately the bulbs planted last autumn are keeping my spirits raised.
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I like the white anemone! I have just planted blue ones! https://enthusiasticgardener.com/2026/04/04/early-april-in-the-city-garden/
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Much as I love the various fungi in my yard, honey fungus does not sound like it plays well with others! I read that the mushrooms are edible, even delicious if cooked, toxic if not, and mildly toxic if ingested with alcohol.Also, clearly you don’t want to risk infecting your other plants. I learned that the fungus I posted last week will kill a crab apple tree. And it is right there neat my crab apple tree. So I buried that log and will take a wait and see approach. The wood anemone is so delicate! I also love the pink camelias. Hope they do not also succumb. Are any plants known to be resistant?
Here are my six. Not all plant, not all in my garden, but things are still a bit sparse here.
https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2026/04/04/april-4-2026-six-on-saturday/
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Wait what, wood anemones come in other colors than white??? I’m so used to seeing them wild I never thought about that but now I want the fun ones.
https://littleblueandwhitehouse.com/2026/04/04/six-on-saturday-4th-april-2026/
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I have never heard of the anemone virus. Yet another horrible plant pathogen to worry about. And the dreaded honey fungus is a scourge which has caused me tremendous heartbreak in the past. But never mind, plenty of wonderful things going on in your garden and lots to look forward to.
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Camellia ‘Spring Festival’ is a beauty. Sorry that honey fungus got the other but thank you for the information on what is the culprit. This weeks it is my irises that are the main show.
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I really love that pot full of lilies – it shows so clearly how they multiply and I can imagine what it looks like when the plants are in bloom. And ‘Spring Festival’ – WOW!!! SNow has melted here and I have a few flowers in bloom…
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It’s a shame that Camelia didn’t make it, but you have an ecquisite selection as always.
This week’s highlight for our garden was when the sunshine finally hit the daffodils in the planters that have been in shade all winter long. 🙂
https://doingtheplan.com/2026/04/04/aubrieta-tulips-daffs-in-sunshine-blackbird-friend-new-steps-and-roses-forget-me-nots/
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sorry, forgot to add my link…………….https://www.leadupthegardenpath.com/
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Not pleased to hear that there is now something attacking wood anemones, there’s always something new isn’t there! Can’t say that I have noticed anything attacking mine but will go and have a look. Your camellia is wonderful, such a lovely colour.
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The anemone and Camellia are beautiful! I didn’t know that slugs liked lilies so much. I’ll have to be careful when we transfer them from the pots to the garden – so far the slugs seem to have preferred other plants.
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Here’s my offering for this week. None of hosta are as advanced as yours yet. I no longer try to grow them in the ground and have moved them into pots. I use galvanised metal pots as it feels like the slugs don’t like them as much. Certainly when I grow Calibrachoa they do survive the slug onslaught unless they’re in the metal pots. https://potsandplots.blog/2026/04/04/sixonsaturday-04-04-2026/
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You have put so much work into your garden Jim, with things growing in pots that you can sink into the garden at the appropriate time. You’ve given us all strength to face our garden problems, deal with them, and find alternatives. It is sad about the honey fungus, lily beetle etc. Although I haven’t got room in the garden to plant out lilies, the foliage on yours is lovely, and I may well try them just in a pot another year. Here are my six for this week: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2026/04/six-on-saturday-4-april-2026.html
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Wonderful Camellia – no chance planting them in southern Germany, though they might be found here in botanical gardens.
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That Lily foliage is stunning. Lily beetles, and their disgusting habits, stopped me growing them a few years ago. The garden is a continual battle against pests, disease and the weather!
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Your hostas are massive compared to the little shoots I’ve got in my Six this week! I’m very envious. I can’t wait to add more to this garden as we have a lot more shady areas than our last place.
My six – https://thegarrett.garden/2026/04/04/six-on-saturday-4-april-2026/
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I’m sorry to hear you lost one of your camellias. I havn’t heard of the plant you mention for dry shade but I’ve added it to my list because I have just such an area I’m working on. Unfortunately here in Berkshire we’re forecast to get a visit from Storm Dave for a few hours later this afternoon.
My six https://wp.me/p88ZiK-d21
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‘Spring Festival’ camellia is impressive. Camellias do not grow so large here. The anemone is exquisite. I took my six from someone else’s garden.
https://tonytomeo.com/2026/04/04/24624/
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my ears pricked up at grows in dry shade. I shall be looking into Pachyphragma macrophyllum. A beautiful anemone too. Least said about HF the better. No post from me today. It’s a busy weekend.
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I found out recently that Salvia is exceptionally hardy too….thank goodness, because I can be the menace in the garden! the anemone is beautiful
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The Anemone nemorosa is a beauty. I had no idea there was an anemone virus – there always seems to be something that infects/attacks something – except hairy bitter cress unfortunately. ‘Spring Festival’ is a show https://onemanandhisgardentrowel.wordpress.com/2026/04/04/six-on-saturday-4-april-2026/
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The speed that bittercress reproduces at must help it evolve fast and keep ahead of the P & D. It’s a bigger problem on my allotment than in the garden.
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You are quite right about the lily foliage, very beautiful. I don’t seem to be able to keep wood anemones and am very envious of those who do, I love them all, white, blue, double, single. I’ve not heard about your dry shade lover, pachyfragma, is it an umbellifer? Here are my six, hope you like them https://offtheedgegardening.com/2026/04/04/six-on-saturday-keeping-on/
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Pachyphragma is a crucifer, seeds around freely so i can send you seed later if you want some.
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Thank you, that would be great
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