Six on Saturday (8 February 2020)

Alas, the next few weekends aren’t going to provide any opportunity for gardening what with one thing and another. So last Sunday, keen to get sowing a few seeds, I cleaned the glass of the mini greenhouse (briefly regretting my decision to remove the slidey panes of glass on the roof as I couldn’t remember how to reinsert them afterwards) and, for the first time ever, washed a few plant pots and trays. Once these chores were done I was ready for business. The sowing of seeds could commence and that leads me to my first Six on Saturday…

1. Tomato seeds have been sown in the modules on the right; a cherry tomato called ‘Apero’ which I’ve not tried before and, for the third year running, Yellow Tumbling Tom. I usually grow them in pots outdoors come the summer but I’m pondering whether to plant one or two in the south facing front garden. We now have Neighbourhood Watch on our estate so surely nobody would dare help themselves, would they?

With the exception of tomatoes, most of my seed sowing is done in March and April. However, last weekend I sowed some Lupin Lilac Javalin, a long flowering scented hardy annual that I’m hoping is less needy than the perennial lot. I’ve also done a second sowing of a variety of Candelabra primula seeds that were kindly supplied by Jim last year and the blue Meconopsis x sheldonii, ‘Lingholm.’ Apparently the odds of successfully growing the Himalayan Poppy are slim and only one tiny seedling has survived from the batch sown in the Autumn. All of these early sowings are being started off on a window sill.

2. Joshua featured this white Bleeding Heart in his Six on Saturday last week and showing no willpower whatsoever I nipped into Wilko and purchased one too. I may have also purchased a few packets of summer flowering bulbs as well.

3. Ah, snowdrops. I wanted drifts of these and I planted quite a few bulbs a number of years ago, thinking they would go forth and multiply. This is the only one that appears to have survived. It comes up every year.

Over the past few weekends I’ve purchased the odd pot of snowdrops in the green from our County Market shop. I doubt I’ll end up with drifts of the little white beauties any time soon but a clump or two would be nice.

4. Next up, crocus. Last February they did really well and I’d assumed most of them would come up again this year. However, so far a grand total of three have appeared and one of those flopped over almost as soon as the bud formed. I suspect some of them went AWOL when I dug up the old tree last autumn but I’m not sure what’s happened to the others. Perhaps they’re simply biding their time. We shall see. A lack of sun and a full time job has meant I’ve yet to capture these in all their unfurled glory.

5. Tulips! After a successful attempt at growing tulips in a pot last year I’ve upped their number for 2020 and even risked planting a few in the ground.

6. And finally… The stars of the garden at the moment are the Iris reticulata. Remember the severely nibbled one last week? Well, some have escaped the attentions of the slimy ones. I’m not sure what variety this is. Possibly ‘Joyce.’

But it’s ‘Alida’ that has wowed me the most with its light blue feather like petals. They were planted at the end of December and I was afraid I’d left it too late. I needn’t have worried. I just hope they don’t all get flattened by Storm Ciara. More will be added next year.

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.