Six on Saturday – 10/10/26

Categories six on saturday, , , , 46 Comments on Six on Saturday – 10/10/26

The temperature dropped to 6.6°C on Thursday morning so it’s gradually getting more autumnal, having said which, the growth spurt that took off when the drought broke is showing no sign of abating. Funny old year, like every year.
Not much has happened in my garden since last weekend so I’ll just dive into my six choices for the week.

One.
Several of my ferns died down in the summer heat and are shooting anew. Lastreopsis microsora was given to me as a potted plant over a year ago and was planted out just as this summer’s drought started to bite. It struggled somewhat and I watered it occasionally. It didn’t die back at all and is now growing enthusiastically. It comes from Australia and New Zealand where it grows in rainforest or Eucalyptus forest so is probably better suited to hot dry conditions than many of the ferns I have. It’s quite small, about a foot high.

Two.
A few weeks back I went into B&M for cat food and made the mistake of strolling around their garden centre section. There I spotted this Fatsia for sale and fell over myself to grab it. My expectations of the sheds as plant suppliers are modest indeed but you just never know. Fatsia japonica is well known and widely grown. Fatsia polycarpa is much less well known or grown but is held in high regard by enthusiasts for worthy green plants. Edward Needham was, i believe, a Truro librarian who went plant collecting in his holidays, to places like Taiwan and Vietnam. He created a garden, Tregye, which is packed with choice exotic plants but which has never been open to the public. I was therefore astonished to see that a plant that presumably originated there has been picked up by a Dutch nursery, mass produced and supplied back to B&M. Needham died in 2008 but I may well see the current owner next week and will ask him what he knows.

Three.
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Septemberrot’ outgrew its spot on a corner by the greenhouse, was moved back a foot or so but was still encroaching on the path alongside it. I dug it up, replaced it with a canna and moved it to where I’d taken out a massive, even more wide spreading Molinia caerulea. At least Miscanthus is fairly reliably upright, at least I’m hoping it is. It’s settled in very well and in its second season flowering about 1.5m tall. I’m not sure which bit of it was supposed to be red in September.

Four.
It will forever be Sue’s greenhouse but I was poking around in there earlier today and realised that it is inevitably moving on from where she left it. I have potted up cuttings she’d taken, taken more myself and potted them up. I’ve bought some new plants, thrown away some of the old ones. She’d have done the same but it has been me doing it. These are all plants or plantings she didn’t get to see.

Five.
Our speaker at the Hardy Plant Society meeting on Wednesday evening was Caroline Stone, talking about Nerines. I put Amarine ‘Emanuelle’ (in my six last week) into my three stems vase and took a pot of Amarine ‘Tomoko’ along for the display table. Turns out she doesn’t much like Amarines, big graceless hybrids between Nerines and Amaryllis, my three stems took third behind a wrongly labelled Camellia and three fine Dahlia blooms. This is Nerine bowdenii ‘Stephanie’, which I didn’t take because it was a little weather battered.

Six.
Amarine ‘Tomoko’ is another of the Belladiva range of hybrids but seems less readily available than the others, perhaps because it is considerably less vigorous. This year is the first it has flowered for me and it only produced one stem from three bulbs; it’s a fabulous colour and I think I will try to get more of it. At least being in a pot meant I could put it in Sue’s greenhouse out of the wind to take a picture.

The garden changes less week to week as the weather cools and the plants that are winding down don’t get superseded by up and coming stars. There’s always something going on though, unless you’re somewhere that gets a lot of snow or prolonged freezes. There’s as much creativity in finding something to write about as in the writing itself so if you like a challenge, join in at the sharp end of the year, post a picture and some words about six things in your garden and leave a link in my comments below. There’s a guide here, should you need more info. Have a good week.

Unknown's avatar

Published by Jim Stephens

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

46 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – 10/10/26”

  6. Pingback: Six on Saturday | Changes – Cornwall in Colours
  8. Pingback: Six On Saturday ~ Summer into Autumn – Tish Farrell

  9. Hello from Orkney Jim, a real autumnal week in this neck of the woods. The garden here is slowly fading, the trees, courtesy of recent gales, are pretty much bare. There’s an ongoing project here to plant ferns, a mix of natives and species from far flung places, the test for them, as always, will be our winter wet.

    This weeks Six on Saturday is a wander around the garden.

    https://agardeninorkney.com

    Like

    Reply
  10. Pingback: Six on Saturday – A garden in Orkney

  13. The little fern is nice! I love ferns – my Matteuccia struthiopteris are definitely giving over to autumn, yellowing leaves are lying down and only the stark black fertile fronds are standing proud. The Fatsia was a good find! I like that one better than the other varieties I have seen and it is an interesting backstory. I secretly love Miscanthus but it tends to be invasive here, so I enjoy it vicariously. Weird that I was not terribly into succulents when I lived in an area where they would thrive. It is really lovely to see all of Sue’s succulents continuing to bring joy to you and everyone who sees them, including all of us!

    You can imagine that things are winding down here. We are supposed to have a lovely summerlike weekend, and then the temperatures will begin dropping until we are frozen again. Here are my six for this week:

    https://wisconsingarden.wordpress.com/2026/10/10/october-10-2026-six-on-saturday/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. I do love shade plants with different shapes. Fatsia fits the bill. I have F. japonica. That is a lovely fern. Hurricane Isaias caused its damage and has passed to the north of us. Rainfall was a little more than 2 inches on my gauge. It is not quite daybreak now so plant damage assessment will be later in the day.

    Petals & Hurricanes Oct 9

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. Pingback: October 10, 2026 Six on Saturday – Gardening in the Prairie
  17. Pingback: Six On Saturday – 10 October 2026 – The Garrett Garden

  18. Those nerines are beautiful! Our neighbours have a clump of bright pink ones which are such a joy to see.

    Round our way, most of the back garden will be in shade until March, but we do have coneflowers, cosmos grown from seed, a wild geranium from a visit to a national trust garden, and rudbeckia flowering cheerily despite the lack of sun.

    https://doingtheplan.com/2026/10/10/shady-six-on-saturday-fading-light-coneflower-cosmos-geranium-rudbeckia-horsey-and-birdsong/

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  19. Morning, Jim! another wonderful selction this week but it is the Fatsia that caught my eye as I am looking for a green plant for a shady area of the patio. Will it grow outside in a pot?

    https://pigletinportugal.com/2026/10/10/six-on-saturday-whats-flowering-in-the-garden-in-october/

    The Camillia I bought earlier in the year is finally in flower but the leaves while healthy look like they are curling. Is this normal?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  21. Pingback: Shady Six on Saturday, fading light, coneflower, cosmos, geranium, rudbeckia, horsey and birdsong - Doing The Plan
  22. Pingback: Six on Saturday – What’s Flowering in the Garden in October? – Piglet in Portugal
  24. Pingback: Six On Saturday: A last colour blast – from Seville | n20gardener

      1. True, but they’ve been enjoyed by many others, albeit virtually, and have probably inspired people to try growing them. The same with plants you feature so that’s a sort of legacy.

        Like

  26. Pingback: Six on Saturday: 10 October 2026 – My Tiny Welsh Garden

    1. I have to say that Amarine ‘Emmanuelle’ has been extraordinary this year. It is a relatively ordinary pale pink but has been very free flowering and the flowers last very well, on the plant or cut. Plus it’s really robust and unfussy.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  28. the fern looks very lush and I love the leaves on the Fatsia. I hope it grows successfully for you. Fancy not being impressed by those beautiful Amarines! It takes all sorts, doesn’t it? I really hope they become a thing out here in the wilds of Tasmania. You are doing well with Sue’s greenhouse. The ‘furry’ succulent in the blue pot has caught my attention. https://cathscamera.wordpress.com/2026/10/10/six-on-saturday-10-10-26/

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. The furry succulent is Echeveria setosa. Sue had propagated lots of them and since she’s no longer around to sell them at craft fairs, I potted them all together in a wide, shallow pot and am rather pleased with the result.

      Like

      Reply
  29. Pingback: Six on Saturday: {10/10/26} – Cath's Camera
  33. Pingback: Six on Saturday. October Treats. | The Blooming Garden

Leave a Reply