Enough of the wet and wind already! The photos for this Six on Saturday were mainly taken early Thursday evening during a brief respite from the rain. Plant supports/sparrow perches were then hastily deployed in readiness for the strong winds that were expected on Friday. As I write this (Friday evening, soon after eating a melted cheese on savoury hot cross bun toasted in the oven) things seem to have calmed down a little and thankfully most plants are still standing. Despite the gloom, the sweet peas that were sown a few weekends ago have begun to come up. I must sow some more seeds soon. And then there’s the front garden to tidy, the new fence to paint, the swing seat to uncover and possibly oil, and the overwintered dahlia tubers to inspect and re-pot. Hopefully the lighter evenings will provide more of an opportunity to get things done… if the weather improves. Anyway, let’s get on with it.
1. We start with Tulips, possibly ‘Apricona,’ which have returned for a second spring.

2. Continuing the Tulip theme is Tulipa sylvestris, the wild native tulip. This has returned for a third spring and has become a favourite with it’s curving stems and vibrant yellow flowers. These are poised, ready to open. I planted another bag of them back in November.

3. Growing in front of the Tulipa sylvestris are the Grape Hyacinths. I have some mixed varieties out in the front garden, one of which is pretty hideous, but the traditional variety are my personal faves.

4. Next up, Loropetalum chinense ‘Black Pearl.’ I suspect this will be featuring again in a week or so. These flowers are lurking around the side of the half standard shrub of dubious hardiness. It has made it through its first winter (down to -6 and wrapped with fleece when I remembered). I can’t get close enough to these to check whether they’re fragrant or not. It’s the dark ‘dry’ leaves though that I like the most. It’s made me think I need to add some more dark foliage somewhere.

5. Hang on a minute. I already have. Two Ranunculus ficaria ‘Brazen Hussey’ were acquired back in the spring of 2022 after seeing it featured in one of the Propagator’s Six on Saturdays. I moved this one several weeks ago when I was redoing the path. Where the second plant is I have no idea. I hope it turns up.

6. And finally… Narcissi. Working clockwise from the top left… ‘Part of that free Narcissi mix from J. Parker’s,’ ‘Charming Lady’ (which has returned for a second year and is described by Sarah Raven as having a “delicious stephanotis perfume”… one must assume she was stood next to an actual Stephanotis plant at the time as it has zero fragrance as far as I can tell), diminutive ‘Minnow’ and ‘Jetfire’ which has now developed its whooshy petals.

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.