It’s early April, so peak daffodil season in my garden. I’m working away this weekend, so my #SixonSaturday is brief, but beautiful. I don’t know the names of all these narcissi varieties, but I love them all. Here they are.
That’s my #SixonSaturday for this week. Stay safe, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to t
Last week I managed a sneaky trip to the English Lakes, and took in the spring joy of the Wordsworth Daffodil Garden, in the village where he lived (though a little busier these days). So here are some sights from that weekend where my Six only appeared on twitter (@julie3dharris).
This week, I’ve been enjoying the unusually settled weather and occasional warm sunshine. A wonderful way to bring on the blossom, so much so that it is now becoming tough to choose which flowers and buds to show off as my #SixonSaturday. It’s become so salient that my spring garden is dominated by yellow and blue, so to keep world events in mind (again), I’ve gone for mostly yellow and blue scenes this week.
First, yellow hazel catkins picked out against the bright blue sky, almost the end of their season, but still glowing.
My garden is always filled with daffodils of all varieties, here are a couple. First, your ‘basic’ as I think of them, big fat trumpets and a solid look.
Now for something much more delicate, a frilly pale lemon centre and almost cream surrounding petals.
Muscari are well into full flower now, and smelling sweet in the warm spring sunshine.
This has been an unusually good year for hellebore. the season started slowly yet there have been more flowers, on stronger, longer, stems. Here elegantly bobbing above a sea of scilla.
Finally, daffs also look fabulous with other flowers, here providing a lovely blue-yellow contrast with pulmonaria.
That’s my #SixonSaturday for this week. Stay safe, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.
Thank goodness spring is coming. It’s where I’m getting my hope from right now, there seems little else in the world that’s going well. Let’s focus on the flowers, starting with what’s becoming a grim tradition of blue and yellow. First up is an early spring favourite, just out, and not quite fragrant are a few grape hyacinth.
The second fragrant flower of the week is mahonia. I’m never sure about mahonia, a bulky shrub with wide spiky leaves and alarming yellow flesh. In March it smells divine and draws dozens of my neighbour’s honey bees (not evident here on a chilly grey morning).
Another shrub fills the border in an inoffensive way all summer, looking, well, green. At this time of year pieris hosts a mass of tiny white bells on red stalks. Very pretty.
And now down to the ground for early spring joy. Most of last year’s wallflowers got leggy and horrible, but not all. This stunner reminds us that summer will come.
I’ll finish with hellebores that are perfect right now, and seem to be particularly floriferous this year. I love the delicate veins on an almost white flower.
The dark colour of my favourite hellebore is rich and sumptuous, this morning it came with a bonus bumble bee, the first I’ve seen this year.
That’s my #SixonSaturday for this week. Stay safe, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.
The first Saturday in meteorological spring, the second Saturday of a horrific war in Europe. It seems frivolous to look at and think about the garden. But I did, and it brought some joy. Hope it brings you some too. It’s all about flowers.
First, the yellows of late winter witch hazel, early spring primula and the very first spring daffodil.
Now the late winter blue of iris, and the spring colours of scilla and periwinkle.
That’s my #SixonSaturday for this week. Stay safe, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.
In a week when the world has gone mad, again, I really need to garden to give me some balance. This week’s #SixonSaturday represents the hope I have for the near future, at least for the gardening season.
First up are crocus. Despite hiding under 3 inches of snow on Thursday, and weathering 3 named storms in the last week, they are now fully flowering again, smiling in the sunshine. And I noticed I grow them in blue and yellow, so here they are first to remind us all to send thoughts to our friends in Ukraine, suffering a Dystopian nightmare….could be any of us.
In the veg patch, Welsh onions have survived the winter, started to grow, and will soon be used as a spring-onion alternative.
With food on my mind, I’ve wandered into the greenhouse for the next couple of pics. I have planted seeds early, and thus have a nice tub of fresh looking pak choi, soon to prick out.
A second type of pak choi, with a hint of red, are already nestling in their own pots and romping away. Should be stir frying in under a month.
Back to the garden now, with hazel catkins in full flower, the tiny red female flowers have finally started (top right).
Will this be the last of the snowdrops as we stretch towards the end of February? They still look fantastic.
That’s my #SixonSaturday for this week. Stay safe, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.
Another week of storms left us battered by the winds of Dudley, then shivering in the snow brought by Eunice. I nipped out to get some pics from the garden on Friday afternoon before the snow turned to slush. So here’s my snowy #SixonSaturday.
First is footprints in the snow. There’s been a pheasant about, but next to him must the hare-prints. I saw a shadow flick past the bedroom window this morning, I think it must have been the hare.
After biding its time, my favourite hellebore is doing the biz, standing out proud against a slightly slushy background.
After a veg growing exchange on twitter, I was persuaded to move a few pak choi from the greenhouse, to a sheltered corner, to encourage them not to bolt. I was promised that they are frost-hardy. We shall see.
Nearby I spotted a sulking primula. I’m hoping this little beauty will make it through the cold and wind too.
The garden path robin has turned into ‘its a hold-up-robin’. Each time I venture onto the path it leaps out in front of me and demands goodies. I’d like to think this one ‘has character’….certainly keeps my mood up.
As we’re still bang in the middle of snowdrop season, I’ll end this week with snowdrops in the snow.
That’s my chilly #SixonSaturday for this week. We’ve weathered 5 storms now this winter, and have been incredibly lucky to lose just a few plants, whilst keeping the house intact. I hope others can stay the same. Stay safe, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.
As we approach mid-February, there are hints of new life everywhere. Not least in the fact that, as of this week, the sun has started to rise before 8am. I’ll celebrate that with a sunrise.
And the coming of the light, invites me to start looking for some colours-of-love for this almost-Valentine #SixonSaturday.
My first this week is all about love, the love of the tiny little iris that do their thing at this time of year. here’s a close-up of my current favourite, heart-lifting on even the grim days. How could anyone not love this stunning beauty.
We’ll head to red now for a bit of seasonal wildlife. The robins are red-breasted, cute and sing so sweetly. In my garden there are 5 currently attempting to literally tear each other’s heart’s out to bag the best territory between the bird feeder and the pond. Here’s one of the little innocents.
I’ve tried hard to find pinks and reds amidst the newly emerging greens and here are a couple of veggy reds. This doesn’t look like a veg….in fact it’s a root, oca (also called New Zealand yam), I plant I’ve grown for a few years. These are a form of oxalis, producing fresh green leaves all summer (tangy in a salad), then one the foliage had died, the roots are dug for eating in winter. They taste like a lemony Jerusalem artichoke and are a luscious pink.
Having gone through the rain, wind, dark and (finally) hard frost is radicchio, a wonderfully hardy salad veg. This variety get redder as they get more frosted and taste grate wilted into a meat lasagne.
An even deeper red is displayed by my favourite hellibore, still not quite flowering, sitting in a shady windy corner. I’m a little suspicious that some critter is nibbling the new flowers.
I’ll end this week with the only appropriate flower for Valentine’s Day. This year, bush roses have never stopped flowering. I love that.
That’s my #SixonSaturday this week. Stay safe and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.
Early February is still very much winter, and I’ve been feeling the cold, and a bit glum. But it’s seldom been properly cold this winter, often 9-12 degC. I think that’s why the garden is apparently stirring. So here, goes, lots of winter colour and light for my #SixonSaturday this week. Time to get out and let the light and colour blow away all the bad news days.
I planted up a couple of window box planters with little winter/spring plants. So far, they been enjoying the full south-facing sunny terrace. Now they’ve made their move to deliver their garden joy, they will be placed into my cold and shady courtyard: flowers will last longer, and greet the postie as they bring us the mail.
I’ve never had too much success with crocus. A couple of clumps have started to naturalise in a rather satisfying way this year. Here’s one.
It is hard not to spend hours of fun photographing the hazel tree on a sunny day. The catkins are now doing their stuff, magnificent, though have not seen the tiny red female flowers yet.
Back down on the ground, the first tubs of tulips are giving it a go. Not too much mouse damage this year, I guess because we’ve only had one night of snow.
I have a good few beds to smooth over and deliver the ‘no-dig’ cardboard and compost treatment. I keep thinking ‘plenty of time yet’. Already though, there’s action in the perennial corner. I can’t help feeling it really IS much too early for rhubarb to be appearing.
Last but not least, back to the spring bulb table. I was busy trying to be artful with shots of the iris, when this little chap (or chapess) photobombed the scene. Are they enjoying the iris too, or hoping I’ll crack on with the photos and then get to the bird feeders?
That’s my #SixonSaturday this week. Stay safe and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.
As the end of January nears, life seems to have stalled. Winter is mild yet grey, and feels endless, our country is now in an unrecognisable mess. Urgghhh. Some cheer is called for. I got outside before the storm hit and focused on flowers for this week’s #SixonSaturday.
As in most winters, snowdrops are lovely and fairly short-flowering, so they will probably feature each week now as the winter rolls on. Mine are just coming into proper bloom.
Viburnum is a winter stalwart, doing its thing quietly. When you close in and look the tiny flowers form a forest of blooms.
Now for some colour, I started by sneaking into the greenhouse, where a couple of spells of sunshine have spurred geranium on to get the flowers pumping out. This intense saturated pink did cheer me up.
Back outside, I’m never sure whether to keep wallflowers, or replace them regularly as they do tend to get leggy. This one wants to stay.
With the #BigGardenBirdwatch this weekend, it will soon be time to start looking for those early pollinating insects too. With that in mind, I was thrilled to see the first bloom has arrived on pulmonaria. No bumble bees yet, but when they come, nectar will be waiting.
This is the week that witch hazel burst into bloom too, so this intricate, gorgeous little scented delight, forms my finale this week. What a lovely, LOVELY plant to bring winter joy, whatever the climatic or political weather.
That’s my #SixonSaturday this week. In times where trust is short, you can trust that nature will absorb and engage. Don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself. And join in this weekend, get on and do some citizen science with the #BigGardenBirdwatch here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/
In January, bulbs start to poke up their noses and trees bud, signs of promise for the new season. Yet most of the gardening involves spreading mulch and shifting organic matter around the veg beds, not hugely photogenic. Before starting that, this week, I’ve taken the macro outside to zoom in on the little things that are going on. Here’s my #SixonSaturday
Although this has appeared recently, and it’s hard to miss with it’s pungent heavy sweet scent, the details of a sarcococcas are worthy of inspection.
In the greenhouse this season, I’m hoping to grow a fast crop of pak choi, before the slugs get going outdoors. After germination in the house on a warm windowsill, they are beginning to grow strongly in my unheated greenhouse.
It has been tricky to get those classic winter photos when there’s barely frost, but there was just enough gathered on tiny new phlomis leaves for a close-up, notice the geometric form on each particle of frost.
Most leaves in the garden now are old and rapidly turning into leaf mould for the new season. One or two are being carried away and upwards by new growth appearing.
One plant that plods ever on is evergreen ivy. Sometimes this plant is hard to love, every time I turn around it has grown through another flowerbed and into another tree. The greens it gives at this time of year are heartening though, here’s a miniture new leaf.
Snowdrops, they are still on their way, yet there are probably still only a dozen or so in flower. Trying to get close up and personal with them involves lying flat on the ground, but is worth it. Water droplets on these flowers reveal whole little worlds of interest.
That’s my #SixonSaturday this week. In times where trust is short, you can trust that nature will absorb and engage. Don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.