New blooms are all around as spring accelerates at the end of May. Here are a few of my favourites for this week’s #SixOnSaturday. I’ll start with a stonking dinner-plate sized flower, filling this corner of the garden as my white clematis blooms.

Much more delicate are the first tiny flowers on a diminutive little hardy geranium, each the size of a 10p piece. Wonderful detail in the darker pink veins on each petal.

A classic May bloom comes from the clematis montana that grace the stone walls of my old house.

Roses grow slowly here. this small flower in the first of the year, on a shrub that will produce a flush of tiny blooms soon (sadly not fragrant).

One of the last trees to blossom, quince is just coming out, and will enjoy the 2 days of endless rain we’ve just experienced (about 2cm per day!). I think this tree like to have damp feet, so here’s hoping for a few more fruit this year.

This year, I tried plonking a few camassia blubs in the very boggy, constantly wet, region next to the pond. They didn’t rot in the mud, they have instead delivered gorgeous flowers. The delicate lilac is set of by the what and yellow of the stamens and pollen. A complex and very beautiful flower.

I hope you enjoyed my colourful spring garden for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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

POW….the garden explodes. And as always happens in May, the whole garden seems to be filled with aquilegia (I’m not good at weeding them out). It therefore seems fitting to go for an aquilegia special for this week’s #SixOnSaturday. First up, is the basic purple. This must be close to th wild-type as about 70% of the plants have colour like this one.

Some of the flowers that come are doubles. This one, a double pink tone, has a wonderful form.

In stark contrast, perhaps the most surprising is a coupel of plants that offer an almost chocolate brown, with simple spikey flower shapes.

Pale pink appears often, I like the horns on the back of each petal on this one, each ending in a purple point.

A few plants offer the simplest pure white flowers.

This year, there seem to be a wider range of darker pinks too, perhaps I did manage to weed out some of those purples last year.

Just a small sample of the huge numbers of these glorious flowers that bring such a joy to mid spring. I hope you enjoyed my colourful spring garden for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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

Thank goodness I have a lovely garden to enjoy the peak of springtime. I’m 3 months on from hip surgery and my consultant this week ‘is very happy with progress’. Wish I was, still nowhere near walking straight nor onto my bike. But I am able to hobble round the garden: the slow pace does make for some long detailed looking. This week, I’ve been looking at bright colours and crisp forms for #SixOnSaturday, barely a theme, but I love all these flowers.

A wildflower that I have let spread, looks cool and crisp, and is edible too. Wild garlic flowers are great in a salad.

Another wildflower dots itself around the garden in drifts of yellow and orange. The Welsh poppy. This ones comes with a passenger, my first sighting of an orange-tip butterfly this year. I am impressed by how similar the colour of flower and butterfly are.

A soon-to-be edible is my third choice. Apple blossom is late this year, though as full of promie as ever. No late frosts to get to the harvest, so far!

Its not my fault that my garden hosts Spanish, rather than the native, British bluebells. They are thugs, but hard not to love them.

The second of my huge rhododendrons is in bloom. A crisp white, with clusters of little gold flecks acting as a pollen guide for bees.

Last, I picked up a gorgeous candelabera primula a couple of years ago. It really loves the very boggy area next to the pond. Seems to be growing and spreading. A fabulous colour, set off wonderfully against the blue-grey furry stems and the greens of the soon-to-flower water iris.

I hope you enjoyed my colourful spring garden for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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

With so much lush growth around the garden, I’d thought of a leafy green special for this week’s #SixOnSaturday. Yet the tulips called out to me. This year, I’ve experimented with both species-type, small delicate, lovely, though I’ve yet to get them into the borders proper as they are rather small. And I thought I’d try a few ‘mixed’ bags of bulbs this year. I’m glad I did, very cheerful for a spring when I’m fairly sedentary in the garden much more than usual. So here, we go. To start, some bright red species tulips that open wide and look almost like a field poppy.

Next, a slightly shocking burst of bright yellow. This is possibly a ‘double’, but surely is more of a treble? It appearsto be absolutely stuffed with petals.

from the same blub bundles, a red version that’s so bright that I have to photograph in the shade to have any chance of picking out the detail. Certainly eye-catching.

One big bag of bulbs contained a mix of striped tulips. I’m never been sure of these, yet in fact they are rather elegant, and seem to last for ages. Here’s a pink and white-tipped version.

And here a red-cream feathery effect is rather facinating. It was for the bees too. Before this flower was fully open I was dran to it by an constant gentle buzzing. A bumble bee had got stuck inside and could neither fly or walk out. A little tip of the flower helped her on her way.

Last, another gorgeous little pot of species tulip. This is ‘persian beauty’, and they really do glow in the sunshine.

I hope you enjoyed my tulip special for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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

Brghhhh, just back from a chilly trip to the Western Isles of Scotland, and returned to my chilly central Scotland garden to discover there have been frosts and really cold winds here too. Makes me feel a bit better about not planting my tatties yet. Am trying to keep warm by looking for cheering garden colour. Keep warm with me, by viewing my pinky-purply selection for this week’s #SixOnSaturday.

Periwinkle (vinca) are having a great spring, they seem to be impervious to the cold. A pretty flower on a plant that can become a huge thug, even grows through a cobbled path.

Camelia really are at their very best now, enjoying the cold, but not so much the frost. Either way, my huge old shrubs have flowered very well this season.

Previous garden custodians planted a range of azelea, which does very well here. I’m not sure I’d have chosen this shade, though the colours fit very well with the rest in today’s little collection.

Not much to say about primrose, other than it brings a little cheer, for a long while, and spread very nicely around the borders.

A delicate single tulip has appeared in the front border. Wonderful shape and form, but I can’t remember where it’s buddies went…mouse winter fodder? Even on its own, this one is a wonderful sight.

Last, POW…this year the honesty is going bonkers. Each plant is 1m high, this one is also 60cm wide. I wonder what I did right?

Thanks for viewing my pinky-purply picks for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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

As spring wears on, the cool weather means that the tulips are JUST coming into their own, and hopefully they will last a good while. A couple of light splashes, and tulips, therefore seem fitting for this week’s #SinOnSaturday.

First this week, my favourite Thalia daffodil is a late bloomer, but here’s a huddle of simple pure white blooms.

To get tuplipy, I’ve managed to establish just a few tulips in the garden, mostly red ones. Somehow, they seem to have sneaked away from hungry mice.

For years I stuck to the red tulips that I love, but I’ve been becoming a little more adventurous. This one has a strangely faschinating orange-pink colouration.

This one seems to have found its way into my pot from someone elses collection. Amidst the pale red blooms a red-white striped one has arrived. Rather nice. I do like the slightly ruffled edges to each petal.

I’m not sure I like these, not quite the ‘purple’ I was promised. They may grow on me.

To set this all off, THIS is the week when my Japanese cherry is doing it’s thing. Always, just WOW. A mass of white blooms, and a mass of bees feeding.

Thanks for viewing my picks for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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

As the garden comes into bloom, I have had time to wander round and select from a range of garden delights. For my first colour theme of the year, here are a selection of spring pinks for this week’s #SixOnSaturday.

Starting with a splash, the pink camellia is now in full bloom. Lots of huge pink flowers to enjoy, quickly, before the high winds blow them off.

Pear blossom isn’t pink, but the pear blossom buds are. I’m not quite sure why.

There is nothing in my garden that has the exquisite tiny detail of the flowers on the snake’s head fritillary.

My garden hosts a number of large old cherry trees. Most are rather sparse to blossom, possibly due to a family of bull finch who feat on the buds. Yet there are always a few flowers that sneak through. I don’t think the bull finches could get purchase on these flowers, which seem to be blooming straight out of the bark.

A favourite flower of mine is that from the magnolia stellata. this little shrub, about 2m high, took years to get going, but now has 20 or so blooms that hold their own against the wind, looking especially lovely around dusk.

Last, I’ll end with another splash. The first of several huge rhododendron bushes (this one 3m tall by 4m wide) has begun it’s spring time dance. Wow, what wonderful colour to cheer up a gloomy Scottish spring day.

Thanks for viewing my picks for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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

It may be spring, yet we have apparently endless rain again. It’s cold enough to keep the daffs blooming, but you saw those last week. For this wee’s #SixOnSaturday I offer the promise of a few clusters of buds.

Clematis montana grows all over the house stone walls. This year it looks a little thiner than it used to (after a major thinning), but buds are already coming.

In my pot area, it seem I don’t have quite as many tulips as last year, not sure what went wrong there, but there are some, and they will be blooming soon.

One of the oldest trees in the garden (I presume) is an old pear tree growing along the south side of the house. The house is 200 years old, so I suspect the pear is too. The lovely contorted old thing is about to burst into bloom.

A ‘volunteer’ tree at the other end of the garden has popped up, this looks like it might be horse chestnut. I love the way the leaves frame the flower buds, somehow like angels wings.

A favourite tree of mine is the elegant quince. Not sure if it’s too dry where it lives, but this one always is full of flower, then very few fruit appear. Should a garden have 2 quince for better fertilisation? I don’t know.

OK, so my last isn’t really a bud, more of an actual camellia flower, but it is the first, from a huge bush living on the darker north-facing part of the garden. Lovely.

Thanks for viewing my picks for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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

Simplicity to celebrate the end of March, almost time for clocks to go forward (an extra hour of evening gardening folks), and Easter for those who celebrate. Simple daffodils for my #SixOnSaturday.

First, here’s one of severl lovely little tubs of mini-daffs that are brightneing up my courtyard this year.

When one has many varieties, the subtle differences between daffodils can really stand out. This one has a sort of droopy look, also a little gentle elegance. The twist to the outer petals adds another interesting variation.

A simliar colour range, and a squatter body on this one, with pale yellow flowers and a more solid yellow centre.

Other varieties go for an even plaer, whitish set of outer petals. This one has a pleasing ruffled centre.

I also appreciate a brighter colour palette, here a fairly small orange centre is flanked by broad bold yellow.

When it comes down to it though, there really is nothing better than a mass of the most simple golden daffodils, bright, bold, trumpety. I’ll go wander lonely on a cloud now….

Thanks for viewing my end of March picks for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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

New flowers, new life, it’s all happening in the garden for this week’s #SixOnSaturday. Now that we are past the equinox I’m going to have to work hard somehow (still not 100% leg-wise) to keep up with all the new growth.

First this week must be narcissus. I don’t know what variety this little doffodil is, but she look’s like she’s in a hurry.

We have a pond located fairly near the bathroom window. The last couple of weeks, the bathroom has been filled with a symphony of frogs all night. And the result is a huge clump of frog-spawn. I hope it doesn’t get too damaged in the frosts predicted for this weekend.

As promised a few week’s ago, species tulip ‘Turkmenistan’ is now in full flower. Tiny little flower fully open up to show what is very a much a wildflower.

Primroses offer a lovely little burst of brightness in spring, always coming just a couple of week’s later than I expect. This one is far from the wild-type pale colour, but I love the bold brightness.

I am never sure if I like forsythia. Bright, cheerful, yes, but rather gaudy. Each flower though, if looked at carefully, has an intricate form.

I’ll finish up today with a tub of drumstick primula at their absolute peak. How lovely.

Thanks for viewing my spring picks for #SixOnSaturday this week. 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