We are now fully into the swing of summer. Currently we’re a little less warm, and a little ore wet, than most of May. The garden loves it. To celebrate this crazy ‘don’t know what to pick’ for my Six season, I’ve chosen some lovely blooms and the first edibles of the season, to show you for this week’s #SixOnSaturday.

I’m very proud to present some super-early tomatoes. The variety is Galina. This plant is only about 0.3m high still, but just could not wait to start flowering and fruiting. Lots of wonderful tomato salad coming soon.

And to go with them, some wonderful lettuce, although these will have gone to seed long before the tomatoes are ripe. I’d better sow some more, fast.

And what would make a really lovely salad is to throw in a few broad beans. As you can see, these are a little way off yet. This is one was being pollinated this morning by, I think, a common carder bumble bee. Our family name for this is the ‘mink shawl bee’ as it seems to be wearing a little fur coat!

As for flowers, there are SO many! Some llovely lemony sage has burst into incredibly bright tall flower this year. What a gorgeous purple flush in the herb bed.

One of my favourite flowers of the year is astrantia. Wonderful form, fantastic details and lovely colours. I could look at this bloom for hours.

Finally this week, I planted a load of mixed dianthus in a slightly sorry-looking bed near the veg garden. Though it might be nice to coax in some insects. POW…..an amazing flush of colour, and they also smell lovely. I’m a complete convert to these plants now.

I hope you liked my #SixOnSaturday now we are fully into summer. I wonder what this summer will bring, hopefully a warm and stable weather pattern, but only time will tell. 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

How did summer come so quickly, and why do I feel it is so ‘rushed’ every year? The mysteries of time perception are fascinating! Summer has started with the end to the long dry warm spell, and some ‘April shower’ sort of weather. The new normal maybe? The garden loves it. I’ve been away for a week, in that time, spring flowers have finished (still lots of dead-heading to do) and the summer ones are coming. Here is a mixture for this week’s #SixOnSaturday

Water iris have been late-comers this year, almost a month late. But well work waiting for.

I grow this daisy-like plant in a pot, to offer a ‘pop’ of colour on the little bench by the greenhouse. There’s a good pop going here just now, with the most wonderful saturated red/pink.

I started growing dianthus just a couple of years ago. What a revelation. Lots of different colours, many scented, robust to winds, and the flowers are beautiful.

Despite the dry spring, several of my clematis are putting on a great show. This one is magnificent. I watched a tree bee slowly extracting nectar from the centre of this one.

Summer hardy geranium have popped out their first flowers, I hadn’t noticed until I walked round to the south-facing borders. This is such a great plant, with loads of ground cover and wonderful flowers. The detail of the flower centre is worth a close inspection, and the array of many blooms looks stunning from a distance.

Last this week, another iris. The colour and intricacy of the form of the flower make one stop and contemplate these blooms. One of the most interesting blooms that appears in my garden.

I hope you liked my first #SixOnSaturday of the summer. I wonder what this summer will bring, hopefully a warm and stable weather pattern, but only time will tell. 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

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

Spring flows along, going faster and faster…can’t keep up with all the garden happenings. there’s so much to look at, I’ve gone for a colour themed six this week; purples and blues for #SixOnSaturday

First the wonderful bluebell. These are the Spanish, not native, they are thugs, but lovely thugs. here’s an example popped up against a very dry west facing wall.

My favourite species of ground cover plant is on its way. Hardy geranium. This variety has deep purple flowers on tall stems, always starts early. As it has this year.

In the lawn, tiny clusters of viola are showing. Perhaps the are easier to see this year as my partner hurt his back last week, hence there’s been no mowing for a while.

Pulmonaria have been flowering since January, and still going strong, providing nectar for garden bees.

In a pot, lurking in a dry corner, I’ve spotted a rosemary just coming into flower.

Last up this week, perennial cornflower. Somehow these grew to 1/2m high and got themselves into full flower without me noticing. Happened really quickly!

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

A very quick #SixOnSaturday for this holiday weekend as I have friends staying. We finally do seem to be in the midst of proper spring now, with lots of lovely blooms and leaves opening. Here’s what I found in the garden this week.

The biggest leaves in the garden have started their annual journey. Gunnera by the pond always delivers.

I scattered some honesty seeds in late autumn, and it seems to have worked. A huge plant has appeared from nowhere and is in full flower.

A handful of small(ish) horse chestnut trees have a bid to grow in a shady corner every year. Here’s one showing off some lovely red-brown new leaves.

Rhododendron seasoon has arrived. This is the first one in the succession of bushes I have, a wonderful rousing pink.

More leaf and flower opening, the rowan trees are setting out their flower buds.

Last this week is the start of tulip season. I didn’t plant as many this year as usual, but the few pots I have are doing nicely. I love the form and colour of this one.

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

There hs been sunny dry weather in place, all over the UK, for the whole of April so far! Wow. Looks lovely, but here in the east, with cold winds from the sea, the temperature has seldom reached above 12 degC. Until the last couple of days, and now we have a mini-summer (18-19 degC). The response of the garden has been swift. So many new things are in flower that it was hard to choose my #SixOnSaturday. No theme this week, just what has brought me joy as I’ve looked around.

First this week, azaleas are go. This one sits near the step to the driveway. it isn’t a colour I would have chosen, but is pretty in the sunshine.

I thought green alkanes was a native wildflower, but have just read via the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) website, that it was introduced to the Uk 200 years ago or more. It grows like crazy in my garden. It is a bit of a thug, but has lovely blue flowers that insects love, and I just discovered are edible. Am thinking some pretty ice-cubes might be coming on in my freezer later.

My garden hosts a very old pear tree, growing up against the house wall. I’ve always suspected it is as old as the house — so over 200 years. This year the blossom is REALLY prolific.

I do love a few pots on a little table near the bench and table. Just now, there are so many pretty little plants there. My second favourite this week is a wonderful tiny primula. there is fantastic details in the petals.

In a corner of the garden where I don’t look much, I just found a huge clump of wallflowers. Wow, a punch of bright yellow joy.

My last wonderful bit of garden joy this week is my favourite pot-plant of the moment. A fabulous pasqueflower, doing its thing at just the right time of year. Amazing, rich purple flowers, splendid.

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