Here we are again. Six On Saturday – a group of like minded people sharing six things from their gardens in the last week. We are led by Jim whose blog is here – go and check out his blog and read all the comments from SOS participants and have a look at their blogs too.
Another week of wind and rain here in the North West of England. It has been quite cold too so the garden feels more like March than June. The potatoes are the only things that seem to be ignoring the weather and just getting on with things. Everything else is sulking and not playing along.
This is one of my inherited hydrangeas. The flowers are coming in slowly but surely. When we moved in last year it hadn’t been dead headed by August and I wrongly assumed that the poor plant hadn’t been dead headed for years judging by how dense the old blooms were packed in. But looking at it now I think maybe it is just an incredibly abundant plant.
The first early potatoes have started to produce their flowers. I can’t wait to have a look and see what’s under the soil. This week was 10 weeks so I may give them a few more days. We’re off on holiday soon so I don’t want to miss those first delicious crops by leaving them in the ground.
I found this pot a few weeks ago hidden with all the random pots I’d dumped at the back of the garden and I immediately recognised the shoots as dahlia. The first buds are forming so I’m hoping for flowers in the next few weeks.
The strawberry harvest has been poor. We get one or two ripe ones every couple of days. This pot is hanging off the patio ballustrade, and seems not to have been noticed by the blackbirds, but the slugs have definitely found it. It hasn’t been warm enough for any length of time for a decent harvest and I think this year will be about getting runners for next year when I will hopefully have a greenhouse.
A favourite plant from our previous garden which is flourishing in its new home. I have a couple of campanula and they’re all cuttings from a gifted plant back in 2019 (ish). All still doing well.
At the risk of being accused of rosicide, floracide….. is there a word for killing a plant? Previous readers may remember my dislike of this (and all) roses. Well I went into the garden this week to find it almost completely flat to the floor with its roots up in the air. I swear I didn’t go anywhere near it LOL. So after a bit of googling and ChatGPT’ing (is that a verb now) I armed myself with several pairs of gloves and my secateurs and set about reducing the weight on the top of the plant. I removed about 50% of the flowers (the picture on the left is after I pruned it!!!). I wedged it up with a bucket of rocks and re-covered its roots with fresh compost. I need to buy a stake of some description for it because bamboo supports are just not going to cut it. It is soooo top heavy. I feel like I could go in and take another 50% of blooms off and it would still look dense. Any advice gratefully received. The leaves seem to be suffering since I put it back in place, but it’s very windy here right now – and it’s been quite cold too. I fear all my bad thoughts about this plant have been manifested and I feel quite guilty now.
So that’s my Six this week. Come and join us with Six On Saturday in your garden.
The Garrett Garden 