Apologies if the featured photo of Colin the crab spider alarmed anyone. He spent most of last week on the ‘Tropicana’ Rose with his colour matching go-faster stripes. He got quite cranky if you dared to approach his flower to appreciate its fruity fragrance, striking a spidery martial arts pose to warn you off. Colin appears to have moved on now but I’m sure he’ll pop up on another bloom soon. He has quite a few roses to choose from…
1-3. The classic rosy scented ‘Alec’s Red’ and the slightly blackberry scented ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent’ may prove to be a bit too red or pink for him though – he’d stand out rather. The Apricot patio rose on the other hand (a rose my wife and I received from our work colleagues as an engagement present back in 2006) may be more suitable.
4-6. It’s not all roses in today’s Six on Saturday. Here’s a double variety of Feverfew that has self-seeded under the garden arch (the original is still growing in a pot on the patio), an Astrantia and a bloody cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum). The latter began life at the former ancestral home up in North Wales and is now growing here, there and everywhere – providing great ground cover. Back in 2021 I ordered three bare rooted Astrantia – ‘Washfield,’ ‘Verona’ and ‘Venice.’ In the end I seem to have ended up with a pink variety (that has flowered each year), two white varieties (one of which I suspect may have come from the aforementioned former ancestral home) and this red variety – which might be ‘Verona’ or ‘Venice’… or may be something completely different – who knows?
They were my Six on Saturday, a meme originally started by The Propagator. For more Sixes on Saturday, from all around the world, head over to the blog of the current Six on Saturday host, Jim. Well done me – you never once mentioned the nights would be drawing in again now. Hang on, did I just type that out loud…?
One Man And His Garden Trowel 
Lovely roses. Yes, shh! about the nights drawing in, we have lots of lovely long days ahead before then.
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I’m not a fan of spiders of any kind, but I’ll keep my eyes closed as I scroll past Colin. 🕷️ Lovely roses – I know ‘Alec’s Red and ‘Princess Alexandra’. I don’t have either, but gifted them to friends years back. The apricot rose is another beauty. I haven’t heard of Astrantia ‘Washfield’ until now. I’ve googled and it looks a fabulous deep red so I’m making a note of that one. I’ve done a lot of grumbling this year about not-in-bloom plants, seedlings or bare roots turning out to be something other than what I ordered. It seems to be coming a more common occurrence. At least you have the lovely ‘Verona’…or ‘Venice’.
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Great roses! There is such a great variety of astrantia, I may be tempted again!
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I was going to say ‘lovely’, then I was going to say ‘great looking’ but others beat me to it! I DO LIKE your roses! And the spider!
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I have yet to find a crab spider in my garden, plenty of others including big black b***ers in the shed. You have some lovely roses, and not a sign of blackspot either. I’m afraid I am not good growing roses, but I do like them. Lovely feverfew too, my single variety has struggled this year to get going as borage plants overshadowed it. And yes, I too mentioned the longest day of the year has been and gone, I do hope we get some warm summer evenings soon!
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Nice picks! I always had feverfew in my gardens in Seattle. I love them, they would bloom all summer long and looked great with the blue nigella!
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I just love ‘Colins’ and have many of his cousins in the garden. Your roses are looking great, and the Feverfew is lovely to have in the garden.
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Gorgeous roses, but I particularly like the feverfew flower and the astrantia – whichever one it is! I shall pretend I didn’t see the comment about the nights drawing in . . . .
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My favourite rose is the pachy coloured patio rose. I’d be a sucker for roses if we lived elsewhere – it is far too windy here.
Colin the crab spider – you are brave. They nip LoL I had one attach itself to my hand when I was picking lettuce. The first I knew of his presence was a sharp burning sting. Looked down and there was a bright green spider between my thumb and forefinger.
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