Six on Saturday (12 January 2019)

I don’t know about anyone else but January seems to be racing by; we’re almost half way through the month already. Last weekend I tackled the bittercress and some of the forget-me-nots that were growing happily away in the garden, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it’s supposed to be winter. And after reading through the comments of the very knowledgable and helpful SoSers last Saturday, I removed the ivy that I’d spotted in the bed near the bird table. Weeding is one of those satisfying jobs where you can instantly see the results of your labours. True, it can sometimes result in accidental tramplage of newly emerging daffodils (and a bit of cursing) or a slight twinge in your left knee when crouching down to tackle a dandelion, but it can often lead to the odd discovery, something you may not have otherwise noticed from up high. And that leads me to my first Six on Saturday…

1. I found this yellow primrose when I was tackling some weeds near the conservatory. There are a variety of Primula in the garden but I think the native primrose is my favourite. The slimy plant assassins of the night have obviously been out and about though judging from the leaves.

This Primula (dug up from my mum’s garden last summer) seems particularly popular with the local slugs and snails.

2. A Christmas present next – Seedball Bee Mix. They look almost chocolatey but contain a mixture of wildflowers: birdsfoot trefoil, wild marjoram, viper’s bugloss, red clover and foxglove. Each ball contains 100 seeds apparently. I’m not sure where I’m going to plant them come the spring. Perhaps some could go in the lawn and some in pots?

3. Another Christmas present. I’m looking forward to reading Monty Don’s book which is crammed full of gardening tips and advice.

4. The garlic is continuing to grow, in both the troughs…

… and in the ground. I may need to relocate the troughs further away from the bird table as some of the garlic has suffered a bit of damage from the Chinook helicopteresque wood pigeons that seem to insist on using the troughs as landing pads.

5. I received an email last Friday to say the new mini greenhouse I’d ordered soon after Christmas was out for delivery. On Sunday I spent some time making sure the paving stones that are going to form the base for the greenhouse were more or less level, even deploying a spirit level! This was no mean feat and quite how you go about making sure a whole patio is level, let alone three measly paving stones, I have no idea.

6. And finally… The mini greenhouse arrived Monday morning. A note from the delivery company said it had been left by the ‘white shed’ (which was a bit of a cheek as the shed is obviously Natural Stone with Jasmine trimmings!) I’ll be spending Saturday afternoon, and possibly Sunday (depending on the weather and how inept I am) putting it up. I just hope the instructions are lurking amongst one of the packets…

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.