A very late #SixonSaturday this week as I’m just back from a trip to the west of Scotland. Feels like an immense privilege to have been on holiday for a few days. All over the Argyll coast, bluebells are in full flower. I’m not sure if it’s a good year, or if they always put on such a fabulous display, but every scrap of woodland seemed to be filled with their colour and scent. Argyll is also an amazing place for it’s coastal and woodland gardens. This week’s six is simply a set of photos from the An Cala Garden, covering just a couple of acres on Seil Island, near Oban. The weather was ‘mixed’, the midges were attending, but WOW. The primula, azelea and rhododendron were just mind blowing in their colour and vibrancy. As my partner commented, ‘one of the best gardens I have ever seen’. Nuff said.

That’s my Six for the week. If you like Six on Saturday, do join in, there are lots of contributors on Twitter, and more via the regular blog from #SixonSaturday initiator, the great Propagator himself.

I love the idea of no-mow May, but have always ended up mowing roughly to deliver a bit of order and tidiness. As it’s rained every day this May, the lawn remains unmown. To celebrate the lush foliage that is enjoying the deluge, I’ve gone for a mostly green #SixonSaturday this week.

A favourite spot for me this week has been the greenhouse, so let’s start there. I find that its only when one stop to take a pic sometimes that one notices the details. Look at the delicate hairs all over the flower stems: this is my first tomato in flower, Latah, from www.realseeds.co.uk. This is described as a ‘sprawling bush’ so let’s see how it fairs on the greenhouse bench.

I like to try something new every year. Thanks to obtaining some spare seed from a dear friend, I’m trying dahlia from seed for the first time this year. I’m rather excited by this one. Each leaf is tinged with red, I’m looking forward to see what emerges from this plant later in the year.

Emerging from the greenhouse and along to the courtyard. Despite the icy winter, the bay tree has made it, and seems to be loving cold wet and windy weather. It has burst into flower.

Not quite green yet, a fern is doing the unfurling thing. Nature in all its mathematical beauty. Not quite green, but very nearly. I suspect this is a self-seeded bracken.

Almost there, almost purple, but in reality, my first aquilegia isn’t quite into flower yet. Such promise (at least some have stayed almost upright despite friday’s 60 mph winds.

My last choice this week is the perfect plant for a cold rainy spring. Lush and luxurious hosta. Still almost perfect, thanks to a couple of families of thrush, busy tidying up the garden’s quota of slugs and snails. What could be a better plant to end this week?

That’s my Six for the week. If you like Six on Saturday, do join in, there are lots of contributors on Twitter, and more via the regular blog from #SixonSaturday initiator, the great Propagator himself.

Despite starting to sound like a broken record, it’s still cold. Lots of cloud, lots of rain, a little wind. Spring plants have bloomed for longer than usual, yet the early summer crew are catching up. This week, I’ll feature edibles and flowers, so much to choose from now. We’ll start with edibles. Thank goodness the frost has gone because my tatties are starting to poke up. These Shetland Black have a deep purple vein at the centre of the leaf. The potatoes themselves will be dark purple, with delicate white flesh and a purple ring a few mm from the skin. Delicious roasted.

Second this week I have wild garlic. In the garden, and the woods nearby, these plants have now come into full flower. The leaves and flowers are both nice and spicy when added to a salad, and very pretty too.

Much excitement over the last couple of days as the broad beans have begun to flower. These were sown in the greenhouse a couple of months ago and have been sulking in the veg plot for about a month. Finally, here they go.

Now to blooms. Last week, my bluebells had started. This week they are positively singing. Somewhat thugish, but so exhuberant.

The first of the hardy geranium are doing their thing. These are a joy, almost chocolate brown/purple, the plants seems to have grown from nowhere with flowers topping their 30cm stems.

And at last, clematis montana, here it comes. This variety cover many walls of the house, and the garden, these are the very first few flowers. I love spring.

That’s my Six for the week. If you like Six on Saturday, do join in, there are lots of contributors on Twitter, and more via the regular blog from #SixonSaturday initiator, the great Propagator himself.

The cold snap continues in Fife. We’ve had marble-sized hail this week, pouring rain, and a wee bit of snow. Luckily, my tatties are not up yet…but the greenhouse is bursting with little plants that I dare not plant out. Despite the cold, the garden continues to bloom and grow. This week, I can’t help but feature mostly blooms, but also an edible that’s doing very well. I’ll start with that. “Walking onions” or “Welsh onions”, I think these are called, they are perennial, and form new little plants off the flowers at the top of the plant. These work well as a substitute for spring onions.

Second, perhaps the last blast for the grape hyacinth, though this clump seems to be going very strong still, I suspect they like the cold weather.

Another plant that is coming to the end of it’s spring season is narcissus. This is a pheasant-eye, always the last to flower, delicate and really beautiful. I always forget about them, they always appear with the hostas. Gorgeous.

At the other end of spring, my second tranche of rhododendron are beginning to do their thing. This one is understated, white with just a hint of pink, lovely in the morning light.

Having grown up in the middle of England, I’d always associated ‘apple blossom time’ with April. here’s it is certainly May, especially this year. My first blossom is just coming out, so I’m hoping the frosts ease off around now, and hope for a big crop.

Last, I can’t help but head back to blue. Bluebells. These are the dreaded Spanish type, but with a high-walled garden, I enjoy them, rather than trying to get rid of them. The wild version are saved for the local woods.

That’s my Six for the week. If you like Six on Saturday, do join in, there are lots of contributors on Twitter, and more via the regular blog from #SixonSaturday initiator, the great Propagator himself.

The first day of May, wow, how did we get here so quickly, after the apparently endless cold winter? Despite working from home, I’m behind on my veg growing. Managed to plant most of my tatties this week, but I still have one set that’s waiting for the purple-sprouting broccoli to finish, we’ll see how they do. Talking of purple, I found myself drawn this week to the vibrant colours of the middle of spring, so we’ll start there, and end with the cool of the garden pond. First, the last week of full-on camelia. This huge shrub (2x3m) lives in almost complete shade, has been heavily frosted, and yet is heaving with blooms, still, even in May.

Last week, and this week too, I’ve admired tulips, around the garden, and in pots. This one featured last week, but now the flowers are in full bloom. I think this purple-red combo might have been an accident, but it’s a happy one.

Perennial cornflower are seriously well established here, and seem to pop up all over, from dry sunny borders, to shady corners. This is the very first bloom of the year. I love the detail of the almost-torn petals. This is a very good value plant. Starts to flower in May, once the blooms are faded it will weather a really ferocious prune and come back smiling a couple of weeks later, and again….and so on.

Back to shocking pink for another blousy bloom. Rhododendron in full flower are hard to beat for colour and they do last a few weeks. Also loved by insects, and strikingly cheerful to sit next too (shame it’s only 6 deg C in the garden). At least the colour is warming.

I wouldn’t want to forget the seasonal beauty of our garden wildlife pond. One can spend hours studying the light-footed insects that skate across it’s surface, and the tadpoles and newts in the depths below. The pond hosts just a few glorious plants, the first a butter-yellow ranunculus. A native species, it doesn’t last for long, but right now is delivering a real whack of vibrancy.

Last, but by no means least is a broader view of the pond with the first of the hostas beginning to come to life in the foreground. These last a long time, as the garden hosts several blackbird and thrush families, that have both learned to harvest slugs and snails straight from the pond. These leaves will hopefully stay whole for months to come.

That’s my Six for the week. If you like Six on Saturday, do join in, there are lots of contributors on Twitter, and more via the regular blog from #SixonSaturday initiator, the great Propagator himself.