Six on Saturday (26 March 2022)

I don’t know why, but I’ve not felt all that motivated gardening-wise this month. However, as more and more spring flowers open and young leaves continue to unfurl, my gardening mojo has begun to return. And that leads me swiftly to my first Six on Saturday…

1. Seed sowing. Last Saturday, after I’d finally sorted out my pots which lay scattered in toppled heaps near the mini greenhouse, on the patio and down the side of the shed, I mixed up some peat free compost with perlite (something I’ve not used before) and sowed the first batch of this and that, including several varieties of Cosmos. I think Cosmos might well be the speediest of seeds to germinate as they were up by Tuesday. Fingers crossed they fair better than last year’s batch which seemed to stall come mid summer.

2. These Narcissus ‘Lemon Sailboat’ were purchased as a pot of green leaves from the local Country Market shop in town around a month ago (along with a rather tasty coffee cake if I remember correctly). I wasn’t sure what to expect (apart from the lemony yellow) but I really liked the name. I’ve not been disappointed and an unexpected added bonus has been the fragrance. I hope these return next year.

3. And here’s another Narcissus. A dinky one. Whereas ‘Lemon Sailboat’ are still in their pot, complete with label, these are free range daffs growing in the borders, completely labelless. I spent a week trying to remember what they were but was stumped. And then it came to me at silly o’clock the other morning. ‘Toto,’ a name I can’t say without doing a Dorothy Gale impression. The yellow trumpets gradually fade as the flowers age.

4. Next up, some more yellow, this time in Hyacinth form. I do like yellow.

5. A mere snail’s throw away is the Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai.’ Bought as a half standard back in 2018, it was meant to help screen the view above the fence. And it probably will, one day, 20 years from now. Still, it’s growing faster than my Hibiscus and for a few short weeks it looks resplendent in its blooming blossominess.

6. And finally… The new seedling nursery… I mean swing seat. A few weeks ago the old rotting swing seat was dismantled and disposed of. It’s replacement arrived early Friday morning and was assembled in around 20 minutes by the delivery chap (I suspect it would have taken me several hours). I was slightly concerned it wouldn’t fit on what’s left of the patio but thankfully all was well. Here’s hoping it lasts as long as its predecessor, if not longer.

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.