A fifth Saturday in May, feels like we have a bonus spring #SixOnSaturday. Here are another set of beautiful spring blooms from my garden, plus a bonus Lepidoptera.

First, my gently honey smelling Lady of Shallot rose has started to bloom. She seems to have enjoyed the mild winter. She’s a ‘small climber’, perfect to grow up an arch I have into the main garden.

In the main border, the first iris Sibericum has begun to bloom. I’m particularly fond of the rich purple colour.

Into the boggy area beside the pond, and here is a ragged robin. I planted a couple of these from seed a few years ago, then they seemed to die off. They are back with a lovely shot of raggedy pink.

Also in the boggy bit, the native flag iris has started. we have to dig out up to a dozen of these every year, they are such thugs. For a short couple of weeks though, they will be very pleasing.

All over the place a variety of alliums are pooping up in the dry borders. This one has wonderful individual little sparkles of flowers.

Last but not least, a daisy-like plant I can never remember the name of, has big furry great leaves and these wonderful flowers. I managed to catch a green-veined white butterfly on this one. Until I looked it up, I’d never realised they were in my garden.

That’s my bonus late-spring #SixOnSaturday this week. I hope you have some wonderful sunshine to enjoy gardens and green spaces too. It finally did rain, we seem to now have a scattering of bright days with showers, the sort of weather we’d expected earlier in the month. 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, it’s 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

There is a garden full of flowers to choose from for this week’s #SixOnSaturday. I’m going for a pink six this week. Just a quickie as it’s too nice to stay inside. Still no rain!!

The most delicate pink in the garden must be this almost peach poppy, with huge plate-sized blooms.

Also pale and interesting is nigella, a shrub that has enjoyed the mild winter and dry spring here.

My first roses of the season are here. This one has a lovely honey scent.

Moving into the brighter pinks, the aquilegia are almost finished. This one fits the pink bill well.

Some ornamental thistles are also enjoying the dry sunny spell, and have a rich deep pink colour.

And who could end a pink-flower special without an actual ‘pink’. My first dianthus flower is out.

That’s my #SixOnSaturday this week. I hope you have some wonderful sunshine to enjoy gardens and green spaces too. But when will it rain? 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, it’s 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

Still no rain. It has been several weeks now. Scotland’s lush green is turning dry and dusty. We must get some soon! In the meantime, spring flowers are enjoying the sunshine. Here are some of this week’s including a couple of edibles for #SixOnSaturday.

Sweet woodruff is an unassuming little plant, yet provides great ground cover and delicate white flowers in shady corners.

In the veg bed, some of my broad beans are very much in full flower. We should get an early crop this year.

Another edible, just finishing its flower show is blueberry. I have been irrigating these a little as the plants do not like a dry soil.

My favourite spring bulb (after diffs, and of course tulip…..) is the allium. They love my garden, and have self-seeded all over the borders.

Phlox does well in a tall border — borders are very tall this year. I fear when we do get rain they will be smashed, but for now, they look fabulous.

Last night I spotted a blue-tit making it way around all the red-hot pokers. I don’t know if it is sampling nectar or taking insects. Didn’t catch a good photo, but here is the strange yet wonderful flower.

That’s my #SixOnSaturday this week. I hope you have some wonderful sunshine to enjoy gardens and green spaces too. But when will it rain? 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, it’s 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

Wall to wall sunshine has characterised this week, despite some cold easterly winds everything seems to grow many cm every day. There is now so much to see in the garden that I spot new blooms every time I look. This week, some wonderful spring pink things caught my eye for #SixOnSaturday

Call it a wildflower, or a weed, whichever it is, the form and colour of campion is beautiful.

My garden borders are a haven for aquilegia, which have popped up everywhere. Many are purple, but a few are the more interesting hybrid varieties, like this lovely pink-horned flower.

As regular readers of this bog will know, I’m a huge fan of hardy geranium. This one came from a cutting from a neighbour. Highly drought resistant, very very pink.

Spanish bluebells do magnificently in the dappled shape that a tree-filled garden allows. Some of them are not blue. This year, there’s a good scattering of very pale pink bells.

My almost favourite plant in the garden this week is the candelabra primula. I picked up a single plant from a local seller a few years ago. And I planted it in a VERY wet spot, in a boggy area at the edge of the pond. Now there are 5 little plants, each with its own stem. Wonderful.

In May, in a Scottish garden, the rhododendron cannot be beaten. This one is 3m talk, 3m wide and WOW….how could anything else be my favourite right now?

That’s my #SixOnSaturday this week. I hope you have some wonderful sunshine to enjoy gardens and green spaces too. After all those months of cold and dark, spring comes on SO FAST…give us a few more weeks, please! 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, it’s 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

Into May we go, and a long May Day weekend here looks wonderfully sunny. Though there have been some very sharp temperature changes this week. On Wednesday it hit 23 degC, but today we’ll reach only 13 and Monday it could even be 11 degC as a daytime high. Brgghhh, that northerly has just started coming in. I’m a little sad about that as, despite the sunshine, the breeze is blowing blossom away quickly. There’s so much going on the in garden, top plants of the season so far feature for this week’s #SixOnSaturday.

The most amazing display now we’re into mid-spring are from our apple trees. They are so loaded with blossom this year that you can barely see the leaves. Here’s one of the larger, older trees.

A more subtle tree also displaying right now is a quince. I love the delicate pink blooms. I often get plenty of flowers, but seldom get more than 2-3 fruits. the tree seems to grow well, but I wonder if the conditions are just too cool and dry to fully develop the fruit.

Almost all the narcissi have finished now, leaving me with the rather tedious job of dead heading a huge number of blooms. A favourite, always flowering very late, is the pheasant-eye. Here she is, only a few pop up each year yet they are worth waiting for.

A range of large rhododendrons are lowly rotating into bloom. This lovely pink-white variety is at it peak now. No discernible scent, but the bees love it and the flowers glow in the evening light.

Clematis Montana are in bloom. They grow up several parts of the garden wall, and the walls of the house. Most are now bobbing away in the breeze, like this white variant on the south-facing house wall.

Last this week, not all the wonder in the garden comes from flowers. I admire the shape of a freshly leafing hosta. This one next to the pond seems already to be suffering a little snail damage. Hopefully not too much more as blackbirds are now busy hunting for food.

That’s my #SixOnSaturday this week. I hope you have some wonderful sunshine to enjoy gardens and green spaces too. 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, it’s 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