My seventh in the #SixOnSaturday series, inspired by The Propagator. Six things going on in my garden over the last seven days. One discovery this week was that I'm rather allergic to our Juniper bush. When working from home, and if I don't have to gobble lunch in between meetings, I'll not infrequently do five minutes of deadheading or weeding or something before going back to my desk and screen. I'd spotted weeds popping up through the Juniper. Five minutes later and my arms were red, stinging and itching. Happily a good wash and a slather of Antisan calmed it and an internet search confirmed it was quite common. No more gloveless weeding for me.
Sitting out on the patio this morning contemplating which six things to include today, I was struck, not for the first time this week, by the intense buzzing in the virginia creeper which surrounds the patio doors. At this time of year it bears loads of very unremarkable flowers but what they lack in visual appeal, they clearly make up for big time in attracting polinators, in our case many varieties of bees. Later on in the autumn the flowers will be replaced by deep black berries and, as the leaves give their autumnal show of red, the birds will have their fill of the berries. But first, here are this week's six:
1) Day lily
My first attempt at growing Day lilies. I acquired several from one of the garden club members who I think was thinning her clump at the end of the last season. I started them off in pots until I thought they were substantial enough to survive the ground and the local slugs and snails. I'm very happy with the result so far.
2) Cerinthe
Another garden club find - this time from a seed swap session. No photograph of mine really does justice to this plant with its leaves tinged with blue, almost irridescently so, and the delicate purple flowers which are suspended from the under side of the plant. Most of the seeds came up and most of the plants have survived and there are practically no sign of nibblings. One clump has Geranium Rozeanne "Gerwat" - featured back in June - scrambling through it and they make a nice pair together. I'll be harvesting seeds and sowing them again next year, probably planting them slightly further apart than I did this year.
3) Bidens
This trailing bidens was an impulse buy at the very strategically placed Nunhead Gardener. Their first nursery sits under the arches of the former station entrance and after a hard day at the office, those of us exiting the newer entrance are treated to gentle jazz and gorgeous enticing scents and it is always worth popping in to see what is new. This trailing annual is just great for pots and baskets.
4) Crocosmia "Lucifer"
Lucifer is out and looking stunning with its deep red flowers dancing atop tall stems. I added supports this year which are working well which is good because the main clump had previously been rather unruly.
5) Clematis Princess Diana
This clematis is now in its second year and I have it growing up an obelisk in a part of the garden that faces east and is deeply shaded by towering sycamore trees just the other side of the fence. It is putting on a great show this year and appears not to have been as affected by greenfly as it was last year.
6) Spirea Japonica Goldflame
This was another impulse buy, this time at our local market. I was actually attracted by the golden/red young leaves which have now turned a lovely lime green and are topped with fluffy pink flowerheads. More to add to the "plants with year round interest" brigade.
That's all for this week. Check out the participant guide if you want to join in.
No comments:
Post a Comment