Six on Saturday - 3rd July 2021

The end of the week was tinged with sadness - we discovered a juvenile goldfinch dead on the patio on Friday morning. We think that it had flown into the patio windows - something the pigeons do not infrequently. This is the first year that we've had goldfinches in the garden and we've had as many as five adults at once on the feeder. I'm hoping that others from this year's broods are alive and well as I've planted some teasels especially to attract them. Here are this week's #SixOnSaturday.

1) Alstromeria

I've nicknamed this Alstromeria "the survivor". Friends gave it to us as a potted plant when they came to lunch back in June 2019.  I potted it on in a teracotta pot on the patio and it survived into 2020 at which point we and our friends rued the pandemic and looked back on a lovely lunch, hoping it wouldn't be too long before we could reconvene. This year, during the extraordinarily cold weather we had in the spring, I was convinced it was a gonner. It froze, then melted, and then the slimy leaves were washed away in the rain leaving only the slate mulch visible. After a long wait, it has recovered to give us another exotic display. 

2) Sorbaria sorbifolia

I've gone for a lot of leaf variety in the garden. Different sizes, shapes, colours. This is my first year with sorbaria. I acquired it primarily for its leaves which are tinged with pink in the spring. It is shown here poised to flower but even now, the leaves give lots of interest in the lemon through to lime spectrum. 

3) Cana

This Cana has been overwintered in the greenhouse for two winters. Last year it didn't flower and so I've sited the pot in what I hope is the sunniest part of the garden and it now sits close to the sorbaria (above). I'm keeping it well watered and fed and am hoping for a display this year. Even without the flowers, the large chocolate leaves are stunning against paler green surrounding leaves.  

4) Calla lily

I sent a pot of Calla lilies as a present to mark the retirement of a friend and colleague. The next day, at our local garden centre, I found some corms which I potted up. They appeared to do nothing for ages, then, gradually, the leaves emerged and over the last ten days up have popped multiple blooms. It is a stunner and unlike the Cana (above) appears not to be tasty fodder for the slugs and snails. The pot will earn its place in the greenhouse overwinter if it produces this display every year!

5) Campanula

This provides great ground cover and a beautiful display of flowers. I have it dotted along the north-east facing fence where it scrabbles in and around the base of other taller plants giving masses of flowers that are, judging by the intense buzzing, very tasty to bees. Here it is scrabbling through a phormium. The great thing is that after the first flush of flowers are spent, you can remove the flower stalks which will then be replaced by a second flowering later in the summer. It seeds in and around cracks in the paving providing a softening to the hard landscaping. 

6) Artemesia Powis Castle 

Another plant that I have simply for its leaves. In this case they are delicate silver feathery aromatic leaves which look well set against more solid glossy leaves, e.g. vinca. This was one of the earliest plants that I attempted to propogate and there are now many clones dotted around the garden. They are a little prone to blackfly and can, over time, get very leggy. Happily, they seem to grow back well following a hard cutting back, throwing out more delicate leaves from the woody stems.