Six on Saturday - 23rd October 2021

Leaves, seeds and propagation

It's the time of year when I not only mow the lawn, but also the paths, effectively using the mower as a means of chopping up and hoovering up all the fallen leaves prior to adding them to the compost bin.

This week's #SixOnSaturday, inspired by The Propagator has a leafy theme.  

1) Teasel seedhead

I'm liking the rather striking seedheads and am looking forward to seeing them over winter, especially if we get a frost.  

2) Varietad Fatsia Japonica

With leaves bigger than most dinnerplates, this variegated fatsia provides year round interest. Here, it is poised to flower, providing some much needed food over winter for polinators.  

  

3) Propagation time

I've had mixed success with cuttings, but enough success that I still give it a go. I particularly concentrate on things that work in the garden, which aren't fodder for slugs and snails, and which are useful for filling gaps here and there, or for replacing plants that have gone leggy. This little group includes some Artemesia "Powis Castle", Erysimum (don't know variety name but it produces flowers that have orange through to purple tinges) and some Salvia. The Artemisia and Salvia both have deliciously fragrant leaves. 

4) Variegated Phormium

We got our first phormium in 1993. It grew and grew and grew, it "walked" from the back of the border to the front and in the end, we had it taken out. I reckon I got about fifty viable plants from the original and since then I have used them as architectual backdrops at the backs of borders or in pots. The best specimens are perfectly fan shaped. I now keep an eye out for further offspring and remove those and pot them up for passing on. The leaves on this one are fantastically stripey and look great in a gentle breeze as they dance about. 

5) Mahonia

This is another plant that provides year round leafy interest This variety is called "soft caress" and doesn't have the spiky leaves of the more common variety. As with the Fatsia, this is poised to flower. When it does it produces gorgeously scented flowers which are loved by the polinators, and then lovely black berries which are devoured by the birds.  

6) Virginia creeper

The virginia creeper is providing loads of colour this year and the birds are still feasting on the berries.

This weekend's jobs include dividing and potting up some houseplants, and perhaps some more cuttings. It also includes pulling out some brambles which I spotted as I was taking pics for this week's Six! Meanwhile, the cosmos flowerbuds are getting bigger and bigger and I'm hoping will burst onto the scene soon. 

That's all for this week. Check out the participant guide if you want to join in. 

Six on Saturday - 16th October 2021

Repeat flowering and seed saving

Well, it's a dreich old Saturday morning here in south east London. The rain is soft and gentle, the best sort for watering the garden but not so great for ticking off my long list of things to do out there. There's nothing for it than to get on with my thirteenth #SixOnSaturday post, six things going on in the garden this week and inspired by The Propagator. I'm doing so from a seat looking out onto the garden where the annual comedy act that is the pigeons attempting to wrestle the berries from the virginia creeper is playing out. 

1) Geranium sanguineum var. striatum

This dainty geranium has produced another flush of pretty pink flowers. I like its slighly more compact habit, and the dark, grey-tinged leaves.   

2) Rosa "climbing iceberg"

This is possibly the third flush of flowers from this rose. It has responded well to pruning and tying in horizontally so I'll be doing more of that next year in the hope that it will finally cover the trellis behind it, giving me a scented wall of creamy white flowers in the process.

3) Cosmos

I have this cosmos courtesy of a plant swap session at one of our local gardening club meetings earlier in the year. It has taken absolutely ages to come into its own and now has a profusion of tight buds, a few of which are finally starting to open up. I'm hoping they all bloom before the frost comes. In case you are wondering, no, that isn't a cosmos leaf in the background, it is that of a Japanese anenome which is in the same pot. 

4) Geranium Rozanne ("Gerwat")

This is my first year growing Rozanne and it has delivered brilliantly on the promised "long flowering" front and is still going strong having first burst onto the scene in May. I have one plant growing alongside and through a Euphorbia characias "silver edge", just visible in the LHS of the image. The two work really well together highlighting a common bluey-grey tinge.    

5) Cucumber

I think my cucumber growing days are probably over, certainly if I don't end up getting a greenhouse. I grew two types this year and with seven plants I have had precicely five cucumbers. The one pictured here was one of two from some seeds from my next door neighbour - he'd ordered a self-polinating variety having had little success the previous year. Despite masses of flowers, only two have turned into fruit. This one was picked last weekend.  

6) Morning glory - seeds for next year

I grew Morning Glory for the first time last year as a result of a seed swap amongst our local gardening club members. I was thrilled with the results and saved lots of seeds which I planted up this year. They've done wonderfully again, so I'm harvesting the seeds for next year, and for friends. This is where I think those little dessicant packages that come with lateral flow testing kits might come in useful as I'm hoping they'll capture any moisture in the seeds. As well as the saved seeds, they actually also grew well self-seeded.    

The rain is easing now and I'm hoping to get out to put some wood preserver on the the wood that has been cut for the next pallet project - another planter.

That's all for this week. Check out the participant guide if you want to join in.

Six on Saturday - 9th October 2021

Seeing Red

After a bit of a gap, and on a pretty foggy Saturday morning here in south east London, here's my twelfth #SixOnSaturday post, six things going on in the garden this week and inspired by The Propagator. There's a red theme this week

1) Chilli Peppers

I grew peppers for the first time this year. I have absolutely no idea what type they are as the packet they came in was simply marked "Chilli Pepper Seeds" and was part of a Mexican-themed party box from work to spice up our otherwise online Christmas Party. There were seven seeds from which I grew six viable plants. All have produced chillies whose size and shape suggests Padrom, Apache or Jalapeño.   

2) Salvia "Hot Lips"

Hot Lips has got her lips back having started the flowering season with pure white blooms.  She continues to flower vigorously. The plant is placed by a path and I love the scent that the leaves release when you brush by it.

3) The plant formerly known as Sedum

This year has been a good one for the sedums in my garden. The original plant has been much propogated through spring division and at this time of year give fantastic displays in shady and sunny borders alike, with the intensity of the red deepening over time. They are hugely prone to flopping and so next year I'm planning to grow some through Peony support cages. I've been surprised how good they are as cut flowers so at least the very flopped ones have had a second life in a vase. 

4) Tomatoes

I grew two kinds of tomato this year, Tigrella and Gardener's Delight. I had so many successful seedlings and many went to neighbours or appeared on local charity stalls. I tend to keep some in my little greenhouse and then grow the remainder outside. This year all the outside ones suffered from blight and had to be destroyed. Those in the greenhosue fared much better and all the fruit ripened nicely. Yesterday I picked the last ones and the plants have been chopped and added to the compost heap.    

5) Cotoneaster berries

This is the time of year when cotoneaster comes into its own, with the rich red fruit contrasting the small glossy green leaves of the plant. The birds love the berries. 

6) Cyclamen

With their perky flowers and distinctively marked leaves, cyclamen for me signal the onset of autumn. One plant has, this year, produced a large number of offspring which I'm now attempting to grow on.   

The fog is lifting and the forecasted sunny day looks like it will be delivered, so we are hoping to get the bikes out and gently trace the Thames Path.

That's all for this week. Check out the participant guide if you want to join in.