Six on Saturday – 3/10/2026

We had a night of heavy rain on Tuesday but otherwise a week of benign weather. It’s all looking remarkably good considering what it was like just a couple of months ago. While the garden is not too bad, my allotment is getting very weedy and the grass paths are growing lush and need cutting. Plenty going on so no problem picking out six things for my Six on Saturday, which you are as ever invited to join in with; just post a picture or two of six things in your garden this Saturday and leave a link in my comments below.

One.
Five weeks back I was getting excited about a Yucca I’d had for many years finally producing a flower spike. It’s now looking as good as it’s ever likely to so I’m bringing it back for an encore. I’m going with the name Yucca gloriosa ‘Bright Star’, even though that’s not the name I acquired it as. I’m not sure what will happen now, several side shoots coming up to replace the flowered one is what I expect.

Two.
Also out the front of the house, which is south facing and therefore gets more sun than most of the rest of the garden, is this pot of Amarine ‘Emanuelle’. A hybrid between Amaryllis belladonna and Nerine, they have the form of Nerine but are nearly twice the size. This potful has thrived on the neglect it has had to endure and a hot summer was just what it needed to produce a dozen or more flower stems. Too bad it is cramped between my car, a water butt and the front door; it really deserves better.

Three.
Out the back now and a shrub that has a longer flowering season than any other I can think of. I have been growing Indigofera pendula for several years and my original plant had been in decline for the last couple of seasons. I managed to get a new plant going from Special plants seed and it is shaping up to be even better than the deceased specimen it replaces. It is a better colour, a clearer, deeper pink and it looks set to flower for even longer, though that may be down to youthful vigour and a funny growing season. I just need to figure out how to deal with a plant that has stems barely more than pencil thickness at the base and well over 2m long.

Four.
Podochaenium eminens is another plant that takes more management than most to keep going. The last two winters I have taken cuttings in autumn and kept them in a heated propagator until late winter. The parent plants have been left in the ground and have not survived the winter. This year the side shoots that I have used for cuttings are much bigger than they’ve been previously but I aim to do the same again. I haven’t tried but may have a go at lifting and potting one of the two plants in the ground, cutting it back hard and seeing if it survives to shoot in spring. I’d be immensely chuffed if I could get one to flower, all I’ve managed so far is leaves.

Five.
Every year for as long as I can remember, come spring there were lots of tender perennials like Plectranthus, Salvias and Penstemons in the greenhouse ready to plant out for extra summer colour. They might have been potted up in the autumn or overwintered as cuttings in the pot they were struck in. Sue just got on and did it and I left her to it. I took cuttings of this Plectranthus argentatus today, struggling to find good material. I’ve done lots of Salvias and some Penstemons this last week or so, reflectively.

Six.
I’ve cut almost all our Fuchsias down to the ground over the last few years in an attempt to stay on top of Fuchsia gall mite, clearing away all the prunings and fallen leaves in hopes of getting rid of overwintering bugs. I think it works to some degree and will continue to do so. This Fuchsia ‘Delta’s Sarah’ got missed last autumn, came through the winter with little or no winter damage, languished through the heat of the summer and took off a month ago to produce this late display, with a lot more to come. Which gets me wondering about my pruning strategy, there being no obvious gall mite on it, with others that were cut down now so badly affected I shall be removing them when I get around to it.

October now, slipping slowly into an autumn that doesn’t seem to know which way it’s facing. I had a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses at the door this morning, I wish I’d thought to ask them what their God had to say about global warming. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst would sum up my take, I hope to be better prepared next year and that the end of summer reflections for 2027 are an improvement on ’26’s.