Six on Saturday (25 March 2023)

Back in early March I seem to remember wishing for rain. Not heavy almost-every-day rain accompanied by blustery winds. Just some nice gentle H20 at night and sun and blue skies during the day. Alas, there rarely seems to be a happy in between when it comes to the weather lately. Still, last weekend I finally managed to get some seeds sown (only the Sweet Peas so far) and attacked the rather large ‘dwarf’ Eucalyptus gunnii ‘France Bleu’ (it won’t be featuring in any photos until it looks a little more picturesque). There was also time to do a spot of bargain plant shopping, which leads us reasonably swiftly to my first Six on Saturday…

1. I thought my quest for the perfect orange Rose was over last year, but ‘Simply the Best’ turned out to be more yellow than orange. I spotted a bare rooted ‘Joro’ on Poundland’s website and decided to pop into the store in town on Saturday to see if I could save myself some postage. They had one left; surely a sign? As it was only £2 I won’t be too disgruntled if it doesn’t survive.

2. Walking past the Country Market shop a little later I spotted this little fellow: Narcissus ‘Tête Bouclé.’ Having made such a saving on a bargain orange Rose t’would have been madness not to purchase it. What was that? Is that ‘Jetfire’ behind it? Err, yes. Another purchase from the same shop a month earlier. They’ve just come into flower.

3. Behold, a tray of Violas purchased at Hestercombe Gardens on a surprisingly sunny, rain-free Sunday. Though the planting schemes at Hestercombe rarely change, the whereabouts of the shop and café tend to alter on a regular basis for some reason. This time they’d moved the plant stall, causing a brief moment of panic. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to plonk these in the ground this weekend, although it’s not looking very promising out there at the moment.

4. Right, that’s the new plant purchases out of the way. Next up we have Hyacinths. They’re doing rather well this year, although the stripy pink lot required some support after all the rain and the slightly spindly dark pink lot (supposedly ‘Woodstock’) could do with planting in the ground once they’ve finished flowering.

5. They look rather good reflected in this small garden mirror that’s creating the illusion of a view through the fence. I’m pondering painting the frame white to match a garden mirror that hangs on the other fence.

6. And finally… The Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’ has gone ka-bloom!

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.

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