Somehow, in the last week, we have switched from scary hot summer to ‘back to normal’. It’s warmish in the day, windy, with temperatures dropped below 10 deg C on some nights. We finally had 3 days with some rain this week, and a lot of it…it took us to about 50% of a historical rainfall total for July, the only 3 days of rain this month — a lot better than most parts of Northern Europe. I think it’s therefore time to show you some of my lovely summer veggies before the cool nights start to make them sulk.

Here’s a fruit and vegetable special for my #SixOnSaturday this week.

I will start with the promise of things to come. In the greenhouse the grape vine is producing a huge amount of fruit this year. I’m having to tie up some of the branches to stop them breaking. These will be large sweet and purple in about a month.

On the back wall of the greenhouse (south-facing), I have tried a squash that usually doesn’t make it outdoors. Trombocino — what a ridiculous plant….this fruit is about 40cm long. Perhaps time to harvest soon in the hope it’s smaller siblings may grow too.

While we are in the greenhouse, tomatoes are late this year. I may manage a tomato-special soon, but for now, here is the wonderful ‘blue fire’ ripening to blue — it will go purple later as the red pigment comes. Yummy!

In the garden. Runner beans often do well here in eastern Scotland. They are large, early and very succulent this year. It is already hard to keep on top of the harvest, picking before they become woody.

I am very proud of my outdoor courgettes this year. They may well feature again in future weeks. For now, this is a classic fruit, actually as big and strong as the supermarket delivers. but I swear these are fully organic, sweeter, tastier, and there are no food miles…..20m from plant to frying pan.

Last, a delicious pea, can’t remember the variety. The pods are a wonderful purple, but the pea just regular green. I tried a few early as mange tout, but nope, horrible and stringy. So peas do need to be podded. Ah well, at least they are easy to find.

I’ve really enjoyed growing veg this year, despite the need for very regular watering. I hope you enjoyed the view too.

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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

And still the hot weather goes on. I’m only watering veg beds and pots. There’s not much left of the lawn and even big shrubs are withering a little. As the apparently endless sunshine continues, plants keep giving. I’ve gone for cool white for my #SixOnSaturday this week.

Lots of lillies, despite a major lily battle attack this year. These one are white with a touch of pink, smell Devine, and draw in dozens of hover flies. Magical.

Nigella is a newish annual for me. Some years I have tried but this year they have really taken off. I love the detail, the feathery yet well-organised leafy bits, the simple flower, the blowing beautifully in the breeze.

Another lily, this time Calla. I keep these in pots, then pull the pots into the greenhouse and keep dry for the winter. The strategy seems to have worked well over a good few years. The flowers don’t last long, but when they do, they stand proud and tall, great structure.

This year’s favourite, a dahlia that’s mostly white, but with a hint of pink as the flowers come fully out.

In contrast, ammi is doing it’s very floaty thing in the long borders, seemingly resistant to the hot sunny conditions.

Last, a cluster of really really white lillies. They look gorgeous, yet not as fragrant as the one I opened this post with. They are strutting their stuff beautifully, loving the pot that restricts their roots.

I hope some of the pure white colour has cooled you down….this year reminds me of the summer of ’76, when I was a wee young girl. I remember those endless summer days in the sunshine. When will it break?

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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

We have been so lucky here as yet another heat dome covers north-west Europe. A couple of days over 25 deg, the rest well below that with a little fog at times (known as ‘haar’ in these parts). No rain though, wildfires are breaking out in local woodlands and moors, but luckily nothing too close. As the apparently endless sunshine continues, plants that give their all in late summer are already at play. This week therefore I give you my first Dhalia-special for my #SixOnSaturday.

A new one for the garden this year, I love the form and simple colour of this pure white variety with spiked leaves.

In dramatic contrast, how about dark, rich red? And a free little golden-shouldered bee.

This next one has been in flower for a while, and you’ve seen it in earlier weeks. Just keeps delivering lots of lovely varied flowers with petals running from red into a yellow centre.

Now pink seems to be the new red in my dahlia collection for 2026. First, a very pale flower, set on deep red stems and foliage.

Just one flower has appeared on another new variety, this one with what looks like a random variation of petals, either pink or white. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next few flowers deliver.

Last, a wonderful pink-purple variety with classic ‘cactus’ petals. Rich and wonderful.

There’s summer for you! I love the sunshine, but we really could do with a few drops of rain soon — seems to be none in the forecast for the next week or so.

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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

Finally it feels like summer has properly reached eastern Scotland. Since the heat of last week it has stayed warm, crucially, at least for the courgette plants (!) temperatures have stayed above 12 deg C at night, and are a comfy 20-ish most days now. Combined with our very long hours of daylight at this time of year, with the sun up from 4.30am to 10pm, there is SO MUCH growth! This week, I’m going to bring you lovely yellows for my #SixOnSaturday this week, to celebrate the start of July.

A frothy border filler, which is honestly a bit of a brute and spreads wildly, alchemical does look floaty and fresh as it comes into flower.

A very tall favourite in the centre of a long border, this giant scabies can stand a good 3m tall. Each flower is a complex combination of tiny flowerlets.

Another wonder tall middle-of-border plant, thalictrum has been a little wind-battered and needs some gathering and staking this year.

This lovely shrub/bush/tree has followed me through 3 gardens, now loving sitting in a very dry bed against the south-facing stone house wall. A California native that always survives a grotty wet winter, here is the almost rubbery fremontodendron.

Another border-thug, this time about 1m tall, lysmachia is at it’s very best just now, holding out well against high winds so far this summer.

Last for this sunny summery week, hypericum is a self-seeder all over the garden. I’m not sure I love the foliage, yet the flowers and berries are gorgeous.

There you have a lot of yellow illustrating the lushness of the garden now we are in full summer. So much to see, do look at, summer is already flying by.

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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

WOW! Some of that heat even reached eastern Scotland. Though not as nasty as elsewhere. We had a high of 27 deg C on Wednesday — that IS 12 deg C above the historical norm for the end of June. I have stuck to my usual rule: only water the veg patch, everything else will have to learn to live (or not) with the variations due to climate change. Thing are doing OK as it’s not been too hot. This week, I’m going to bring you some of the big stunning blooms that characterise late June in my Scottish garden, peonies and roses for my #SixOnSaturday this week.

I do love peonies, and had never rally noticed them until moving to this garden, which boasts several varieties. First up, a full-on multi-petalled and bright pink offering: gorgeous.

To complement the richness of these crazy flowers, here’s a white one on a similarly petaliferous theme.

And to finish off my threesome of perfect peonies, here’s one for the pollinators: a much simpler ‘single’ type that the bees can get right into. Delicious.

Now for some roses. the cold dry print, then wet May seems to have been perfect for roses, they are looking wonderful. Here’s a peach-coloured one, with a spicy scent that I wish I could share.

In the centre o the garden, there’s a big post holding up a HUGE ramblers. it is at its best now, covered in fairly small pink-white blooms — the whole garden is filled with scent in the unusual warmth.

And last — POW — here is the stunning Gertrude Jekyll from David Austin Roses (whose nursery is just 2 miles from where I grew up near Wolverhampton). What a fabulous tribute to a world-beating gardener.

That’s my high-summer six. Let’s hope the heat-dome sitting over north-west Europe eases off soon. Frightening times: climate change is happening in front of us.

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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

June! Still supposed to be Summer! We are still having wind, rain, thunder storms and cool weather….but it’s set to warm up next week. This week, again, to bring us all summer joy, I have chosen the most summery pink and redlooms. Here is my #SixOnSaturday for this week.

Red again, and yet more shades of dianthus. First a really dark one. Yet look closely and the stamens are a pale whitish colour, lovely details.

Second another form of dianthus, these ones have a delicate stripe of white along the very edge of each petal, really showing off the frilliness of the flower. Plus a clear white centre. These flowers are so pretty and make great cut flowers. I’m so glad a bought that one packet of seeds 3 years ago!

Bright, beautiful and a little plumper than in some years (maybe all the May rain?), here are red hot pokers.

The next flower I spotted this week is a stunning flower, but so fiddly that I don’t think it’s a plant I would choose to grow. It is barely hardy enough for the location, but somehow comes back year after year to present its unlikely, complicated and intricate flowers. It is, of course, fuchsia .

Into the pinks now. This is a tiny ground-hugging hardy geranium. Sometimes overlooked but with huge numbers of flowers, each one almost perfect, with tiny stripes of darker pink along the petal length.

To finish….what could be more wonderful in early summer than a peony. WOW.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s SIX. I enjoyed collecting them. Maybe in the coming week it will even be warm enough to dine in the garden. We shall see.

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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

June! Supposed to be Summer! We are now having wind, rain, thunder storms and cool weather….what we usually get in early May. Yet every week there’s so much to see, more flowers, lush jungly growth. The garden is loving all this rain. This week, to bring cheer against the rain, I bring you pink and red blooms. Here is my #SixOnSaturday for this week.

Starting with pink, always a joy to behold in early summer, this is an example of the HUGE poppies that appear every year. Almost dinner plate sized.

I’ve gone potty with potted dahlia again this year, it is becoming an obsession. I could not resist some bargain patio-dahlias, and they have already delivered. the first to open, these small pink flowers are looking good on the garden bench.

Dianthus are still coming. Here is a different colour from the one I showed a couple of weeks ago. This one has a small pink centre, then wonderful rich red outer petals. joyful, and will make great flowers for the vase.

Pure red, and always on my courtyard summer windowsill, here are the summer geraniums.

A newish plant, still in a pot. This is a type of chrysanthemum I think. Wonderful rich colour, and a lovely contrasting yellow centre. The bees and hoverflies like that too.

To finish……WOW…..the first lily out this year is a rich red one. I’m still battling lily beetle, but there are fewer this year so flowers look better.

Hope you enjoyed my summery six as much as I enjoyed finding them. Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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

June! Summer! The warm days have gone and we are having something like April showers. But the days grow lighter and lighter and the garden just explodes with growth at this time of year. There’s so much to see, I don’t know where to turn, slowly I just took a slow breath and contemplated the pond. Therefore here is my #SixOnSaturday for this week, some flowers, all from the pond or near it.

This week, iris have begun to bloom, with a good dozen a=or more all at once. this one is the native flag iris. These just spread and spread, seeming to manage in really quite deep water. we do have to pull out many evert autumn — for now, they look lovely.

This next flower found it’s own way to the pond margins. Water avens is it’s wildflower name. they are the native form of geum and grow in ditches and verges around here. This shot shows a deliate little flower and a sparkly spiky seedhead.

Back for one last time, candelabra primula have had the most wonderful season this year, and still show a few flowers at the very top of the flower stalk.

We were given one little spring of monkey flower for the pond many years ago. Some years the pond margin is bursting with them, this year less so, but they have started. Always a bright and cheerful friend to people, and those runway lights for bees.

I don’t think I ever planted forget-me-not in the pond margin. I think this is a variety that favours boggy ground. It provides a gentle blue to contrast with the bright yellows.

Last for this week, the Japanese iris. What a fabulous mix of colour and form. Almost perfect.

I hope you enjoyed my water six this week. A good 19 years ago we dug a big pond, and have loved it ever since. great for birds to bath, small mammals to drink, and wonderful plants to make their home. What’s not to love?

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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

All the lushness of late spring is still here, despite the heat bomb over most of Western Eurpoe, it made it just to about 25 degC here last week. I missed it as I was away up in the far northwest corner of Scotland for an anniversary. The day it hit 33 degC in England it was 13 degC in little Scourie. But it did hit 20 degC for one day only, and I got some sunburn from forgetting to cream my les before a bike ride!

Luckily, a friend back at home checked the garden watering, so my veggies survived despite a rabbit attack (bye bye broccoli). To celebrate th weekend that we move from spring into summer, I have some lovely reds-to-purples to show off this week for #SixOnSaturday

At the red end, a small perennial always atches my eye, a red thiste, called cirsium rivulare. Wonderful colour, and it flowers weeks before the native purple ones.

Into the pink with my first rose of the year. It has just appeared, perhaps egged on by the wram spell last week. Fragrant and beautiful.

Pinker still, dianthus have really dried out in a pot in the courtyard, which seems to have triggered them to deliver flowers. One of my new summer faviourites, all over the garden now, and all from a single seed packet a couple of summers ago.

Pushing out towards purply-pink, these wonderful alliums have burst open. I hope they will last a while, they are stunning.

And proper purple is represented by aquilegia, rapant as always at this time of year, and as usual dominated by the basic purple variety, in swathes of rich colour.

My last this week shows off the end of the lilac season. This one is a fully lilac coloured lilac, delicate, but with a rich spicy scent. i must cut some for a vase.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s roam through a colour pallate. There will be more colours coming soon as we head into summer. I hoped you enjoyed sharing my spring #SixOnSaturday. Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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

All the lushness of late spring is here, and we’re due to finally have some warm weather this weekend yeh!!!!. Here are some of the amazing shapes made by plants in my garden for #SixOnSaturday

Green lushness of a perfect host (not yet attacked by slugs or snails, thank you to garden thrushes). What a wonderful plant to walk by, this once loves living on the edge of the pond.

A very odd plant, but one with so much interest in leaves and stem, is euphorbia. The colours and complexities here, when one looks close, is fabulous.

Back to some leafiness: ferns have been slow to develop in this year’s cold spring, but slowly they unfurl. This is my favourite time to view them.

The bluebells are doing their final mass show of the year before they seed everywhere and I race to dispose of the seeds before they take over completely. They do have such wonderful colour in the evening.

Also a wonderful woodland plant, cow parsley featured on Gardener’s World a week or too back, now it’s popping up of its own accord as spring progresses in eastern Scotland.

And last, always coming into full flower at the end of May, and this time showing off in the evening light, next to the westerly view (with just a peak at the ripe rapeseed field beyond. WOW, my most spectacular rhododendron.

A wonderful mix of satisfying colour and form this week, hope you enjoyed it. I love May, and I hope I have managed to spread some of the love through my photos this week. I hoped you enjoyed sharing my spring #SixOnSaturday. Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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