The last weekend of august, wet and windy, is summer over? I hope not as half my dahlias have not been polite enough to flower yet. Having missed the local flower show by 2 weeks, at least my greenhouse tomatoes have decided to fruit, there are quite a few for my #SixOnSaturday. I’ll start with today’s harvest. This lot might get chomped tonight, or chopped for the first freezer bag of the season.

As you’ve seen above, I try to grow a few different varieties each year. Despite some advertising themselves as ‘early’ I’ve had nothing at all this year until mid-august. Aside from cherries in red and yellow, I’ve got a lovely new one this year, huge zagadka, a stripey beefsteak.

More solidly yellow, and fairly early, this yellow mid-sized offering is sweet and juicy.

Nowhere near ready yet, but my most radical attempt this year, has been blue fire. Currently a bit greeny-black and rock hard, there may be promise to come. Even the stems and parts of the leaves are dark on this one.

Another strange one, these are red-green striped, and a hint at being heart shaped. Audrey’s love! She’s quite tasty too.

Last but I’m hoping very much not least, Costoluto, not quite there yet, but these have fruited very well and becoming a very pleasing bright red when they ripen.

I hope you enjoyed my longed-for tomato harvest. And thanks to those leaving comments on the blog – sorry if I don’t always get back to you on time! The blog is going well, but it would be great if more folk on Mastodon, or other parts of the Fediverse got into tooting a Six! Go on, its a much kinder form of social media, not controlled by crazy billionaires. All you need to do is find 6 things in your garden to show us. Then post on social, or add a link at Jim’s blog below. For regulars, our organiser is Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot

Last weekend was our village Produce and Flower Show. No cups for me this year, but at least I got a 1st prize for raspberries, a second for a ‘dish of peas’ and a scattering of 3rds. AND I got a 3rd prize in a craft…new hobby is crochet as I’ve been laid up for months after hip surgery. I won for a crochet bag…yippee. And in the mean time my flowers have been busy blooming in celebration. Here they are for my #SixOnSaturday.

At the top of the bill, having flowered for what feels like weeks, these sweetly scented lilies are still stealing the show and attracting oodles of pollinators.

After what feels like months of waiting, dahlias are now doing their thing, mostly in garden pots. First up, the huge dinner-plate sized red and white one that reminds me of raspberry ripple. Always a joy, though some critter is beginning to nibble it.

A new dahlia this year is my next-up, much smaller, but with similarly striking colour and rather delicate pointy leaves, I think this one will offer a lot more flowers and I love it already.

So, far this simple peachy bloom could be my best pom-pom dahlia for years. Its fairly small (tennis ball sized), hard to show in one photo, but is showing a close-to-spherical fush of curved petals.

A final dahlia this week, this is ‘bishop’s children’, dark leaves, the quorms seem to last over winter if dried and stored, and the hover flies love them. This bloom features 3 feasting hovers.

And for something a little different to end on, the warmer days have brought out the agapanthus, looking lovely juxtaposed against my still-flowering herb fennel.

I hope you enjoyed my celebratory mid-summer flowers. And thanks to those leaving comments on the blog – sorry if I don’t always get back to you on time! The blog is going well, but it would be great if more folk on Mastodon, or other parts of the Fediverse got into tooting a Six! Go on, its a much kinder form of social media, not controlled by crazy billionaires. All you need to do is find 6 things in your garden to show us. Then post on social, or add a link at Jim’s blog below. For regulars, our organiser is Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot

A later #SixOnSaturday today, as the morning was consumed by preparation and submission of fruit, veg flowers (and even crafts) to the village annual flower show. I’m awaiting the results, which will appear later this afternoon.

In the meantime here are some cooling whites to keep us calm while we wait. for a change, I’ve managed to grow ammi from seed this year. The delicate form of the blooms makes a gorgeous contrast against the purple of a dahlia that is still waming up for its season.

Cosmos are doing well. I like the pure white one I’ve picked this year. They have grown very tall, and some have been smashed down by the wind, but at least a few are still standing.

I’m growing Sheltland Black potatoes again this year. They have a pleasing purple-green leaf and bright white flowers. Hoping for a good crop in 2-3 weeks time.

I think this daisy-like flower is related to a local native wildflower. They are certainly proving resistant to wild winds.

Snap-dragons are loving this year’s mix of cool, cloud and rain. They still look lovely and the bees are still loving them.

Last and very much not least, the huge blooms on some of my lilies attract a crowd of hoverflies, even in this insect-scarce summer. The scent is wonderful for humans too.

I hope you enjoyed my cool mid-summer flowers on a breezy afternoon. And thanks to those leaving comments on the blog – sorry if I don’t always get back to you on time! The blog is going well, but it would be great if more folk on Mastodon, or other parts of the Fediverse got into tooting a Six! Go on, its a much kinder form of social media, not controlled by crazy billionaires. All you need to do is find 6 things in your garden to show us. Then post on social, or add a link at Jim’s blog below. For regulars, our organiser is Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot

I was away in a properly hot and sunny south of England last weekend for a family wedding. It was fun, and great to bring at least a bit of that warmth back up north with me this week. To celebrate that we’ve had temperatures over 20 degC for 3 days running, here are some colourful, yet simple, daisy-like blooms. My #SixOSaturday.

First this week, here’s a sample from a swathe of tall white flowers that almost fill one of the long thin beds. Cheery, robust to winds, and stand up in a vase for absoutely ages.

Something a little harder to grow in our chilly conditions, cosmos have finally decided to grow and bloom. This is a new one for me this year, a rich wine colour, lovely in a mixed annual bed.

With cosmos on my mind, I also chose a pure white version this year. So far, they seem to be offering multiple blooms on each stem, very nice.

MUCH taller, at around 2m, these flowers grow tall and very strong, I think they are a native to north American prairie, are they a kind of helenium?

Another shot at white daisyness, I have a few stands of these. I call them ‘shredded daisies’ due to those tiny long thin petals. i think I like them, but they can get a bit battered.

My favourite this year, and finally a helenium that is robust enough to over-winter, just soak in the glorious red of this one. And the lovely yellow and black detail of the flower centre. Stunning.

I hope you enjoyed the first of my collection of bright mid-summer flowers. And thanks to those leaving comments on the blog – sorry if I don’t always get back to you on time! The blog is going well, but it would be great if more folk on Mastodon, or other parts of the Fediverse got into tooting a Six! Go on, its a much kinder form of social media, not controlled by crazy billionaires. All you need to do is find 6 things in your garden to show us. Then post on social, or add a link at Jim’s blog below. For regulars, our organiser is Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot