Six on Saturday (17 November 2018)

As the garden turns ever more sodden, I finally finished that to-do list. There are still a few small shrubs to move (it’s been almost 4 weeks since my last relapse https://onemanandhisgardentrowel.wordpress.com/2018/10/27/a-shrub-moving-six-on-saturday-27-october-2018) and a couple of perennials purchased in the summer to plant. I’ve also pondered the same question I ponder every Autumn: to mulch, or not to mulch? But I’m wondering whether I might leave all of these tasks until the Spring now, if only to avoid digging up or slicing the newly planted bulbs and creating a muddy mess. I think it may be time to hang up my garden trowel for the winter and spend the next 3 and a half months simply pottering, observing and planning for the Spring.

1. One of the last two things on my to-do list was to plant the Ranunculus bulbs that I bought in October. I don’t know why but I’d never heard of Ranunculus until I read Jane’s Six on Saturday last month (http://janesmudgeegarden.com/saturday-splendours-sos-oct-13). They only had a double variety at the local garden centre but they look rather cheerful. The bulbs are quite unusual, a bit spidery looking.

2. Looking at some of my past Six on Saturdays I realised I’d intended to plant the Sweet Williams way back at the end of September.

Last Sunday they were finally put in the ground. While I was planting them I was surprised to find that one of this year’s Sweet Williams is having a mini third flush of flowers.

3. I also spotted a self-sown Virginia stock flowering near the patio. These were first grown in a pot a few years ago, primarily for scent. They were a disappointment; leggy and decidedly fragrance free as far as my nose was concerned. However, now that they’ve begun to colonise the beds near the patio, I’ve come to appreciate their subtle colours and amiable nature.

4. There’s still a bit of colour in the font garden, mainly courtesy of the scabious/scabiosa (delete as appropriate), the Sedum and the ever reliable Verbena bonariensis, which has flowered for months now. The goldfinches enjoy the Verbena seeds during the winter and it’ll happily sow itself here there and everywhere in both the front and back gardens.

5. While I was attempting to take the photograph of the Verbena (always a struggle on a breezy day) I spotted this pink Achillea. We’ve had a few Achillea over the years. They always start off well enough but before long they become spindly and the flowers decidedly floppy. I thought I’d pulled them all up but this one seems to be as tenacious as the wild yarrow that’s taking over the front lawn.

6. And finally… When I was chopping back the Jasmine the other weekend I accidently chopped off the last of the flower buds of the Graham Thomas rose. I was a tad annoyed as it would have been nice to have enjoyed a few more of the lovely yellow flowers that have featured in several of my Six on Saturday posts (here’s a recycled photo from earier in the year…)

However, chopping back the Jasmine did reveal a few rose hips that I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed.

Hmm, does anybody else have an irrational compulsion to do something like this to the second rose hip photo…?

And they were my Six on Saturday. For more Sixes on Saturday, from all around the world, take a look at the site of the chap who started it all over at https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.