Six on Saturday – 20/6/2026

Categories six on saturday32 Comments on Six on Saturday – 20/6/2026

Day one of 2026 garden opening done and dusted. Weatherwise an iffy day so might get a better turnout tomorrow with the forecast return to heatwave conditions. The garden club came Wednesday and were very complimentary. This week’s six is a bit of a case of what they all might have been taken with when they came. I quite often ask people what they would choose if they could take just one plant away with them.

One.
Hydrangea serrata ‘Shojo’ is not the showiest of my several hydrangeas but was the one getting most attention today, partly because it’s further on than most but it’s also quite distinctive, a bit different from what people are used to seeing. The foliage is heavily pigmented with dark red, to the point of being nearly black on a lot of leaves and the pale blue flowers, not yet fully expanded, contrast strongly with it.

Two.
Leptospermum scoparium ‘Nana Kiwi’ or something like that, has been in the running for inclusion for two or three weeks but it’s a scruffy bush and didn’t make the cut. Just because it’s been trying so hard I think it’s earned an outing. It’s looking a bit less dwarf than I really want so a pruning is scheduled in the next week or two.

Three.
It can be pretty annoying when you have a good form of a plant and it gets admired and people want to know its name and you don’t have a name. This rich purple Iris ensata is a really good performer as well as looking fabulous but I don’t know the variety. I never did, we acquired a bit of a collection back in my nursery days and not all were labelled. The poor old ‘Moonlight Waves’ below it has been massacred by the slimy assassins.

Four.
There are things in the garden that I am at risk of missing. Digitalis parviflora is a plant I’ve had for several years but in most of them it hasn’t flowered. This year it has quite surpassed itself and I still very nearly missed it. I wonder how many of our visitors noticed it. Hopefully it will set seed and I can get more to try elsewhere, see if I can find somewhere that suits it better.

Five.
I have two plants of Dryopteris erythrosora and both are looking striking at present so I took a quick snapshot of it then noticed the lily poking up just above it. Closer inspection revealed a second survivor from the 15(?) bulbs of this martagon lily that I planted here. Moist shade is what martagon lilies want but it’s where the slimy ones hide out and fatten up. Lilium x dalhansonii ‘Guinea Gold’ is the variety. I grow a number of lilies, almost all in pots so I can protect them from slugs when they start into growth in spring. Why I have possibly the most vulnerable one in the ground is a bit of a mystery.

Six.
Did I mention that Polgooth garden club visited on Wednesday. They managed to time it to perfection for the cacti, which no open day or group visit has hitherto pulled off. Most of these were flowering Wednesday and are now collapsed but some stick around a bit longer and some were pictured later and are still out.

This was the garden at 8am Friday morning, the mist cleared later but we didn’t see the sun all day.

A very indulgent six on Saturday, flouting the rules as laid out in the Guide for participants. Am I bovvered? Nah, not so much.

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Published by Jim Stephens

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

32 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – 20/6/2026”

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  6. My favorite quote today was a comment about a plant. “Just because it’s been trying so hard I think it’s earned an outing.”

    I particularly enjoyed the cactus blooms. My daughter brought a cactus from her home in New Jersey. It grew and bloomed near her front door. She planted five or six near my house, plus three in pots. New growth has come on almost all of them, but I don’t know which things are new plants and which could be blooms. I’m waiting patiently.

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  10. I love the Digitalis – the color is striking. Also, the first cactus image proves that someone has a sense of humor. What striking color, the red against the grey, but what a silly way to flower – makes me smile!

    The second looks like it is staring at me while wearing funny glasses. The colors are amazing!

    I don’t have much color yet, but things are lush and growing, so I can’t complain. Here are my six:

    https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2026/06/20/june-20-2026-six-on-saturday/

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  19. I’m starting to grow more cacti and I do have one shown in your first image (which reminds me of a dalek with the red flower on the horizontal). I’ve had mine – and other varieties for many years and not a flower among them in all that time. I hope your second open day goes well.

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  31. That’s an interesting and elegant foxglove—*Digitalis parviflora*—that you’ve shared with us. Another one I really like is Isoplexis canariensis : I saw it in Brittany last weekend, though it seems too tender for my area. Perhaps in a few years, with global warming? It certainly looks like we’re heading that way, given the current weather. Have a great weekend and good luck with the open garden! https://fredgardenerblog2.wordpress.com/2026/06/20/six-on-saturday-20-06-26/

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