2025

Temperatures are remaining around 20°C which rather suits me. I am writing this on Friday and we are expecting heavy rain later which is much needed. The garden has really filled out now and I can hardly move for plants. Which is making it difficult to get to any weeds without treading on things I’d rather not. A mixed bag this week of plants I can name, and those I can’t.

Update 6.00am Saturday. As always, it seems, the promised heavy rain went north of us. When I looked out this morning everywhere was dry! More heavy rain forecast for early morning tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

This little campanula is from a packet of seed labeled large white flowered. The flowers are white and also large for the plant, which is typical of campanulas. The plant itself however, is less than a foot tall. It reminds me very much of Symphyandra hoffmannii which I used to grow.

I am not a great fan of grasses but I find Anemanthele lessoniana, the pheasant tail grass outstanding. Unfortunately the picture doesn’t capture the effect of it glinting in the sunlight as it does. It will carry on throughout the year with the leaves taking on yellow, orange and red streaks towards winter.

This white, self-seeded verbascum has improved year on year. I know the wild plant is somewhat looked down on as a weed but I find them rather attractive. A big plus is that they are constantly visited by numerous bees. Both the white one, and the smaller yellow one, in the foreground, originated from a packet of mixed verbascum seed, but these plants have seeded themselves, into the paving, from elsewhere in the garden.

Primula x bulleesiana showing fasciation. This is one of the few botanical “coveralls” that I can relate to. x bulleesiana is obviously the combination of bulleyana and beesiana. Fasciation is quite common in primulas, particularly the candelabra types. There seems to be a myriad of things that can cause it from genetic mutation to viral or insect damage, which means, I think, that nobody is really certain.

Another plant that has seeded itself into the garden. This rather neat astrantia has been with me for several years now, and I have just left it alone to do its thing.

The first lily flower this year from a pot I have had for years, so, naturally I have lost the label! At a guess, I think it could be Lilium ‘African Queen’ a Lilium longiflorum hybrid. But please don’t take my word for it!

This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.

Six on Saturday 7/6/2025

We have had a very wet week, with very little sun. In between showers I have discovered a couple of pests causing damage to foliage. The mullein moth caterpillar has been feasting on a clump of verbascums making large holes in the leaves. I have found that the easiest way of combating them is to simply pick them off and dispose of them. It’s the first time I have come across these, even though I have been growing verbascums for years. Another first is the geranium sawfly. I have always thought of geraniums as being pest-free and I have found no reference to the sawfly in earlier textbooks. The larvae make fairly neat, small, round holes in the leaves, which detract more from the appearance, than the actual health of the plant. Besides an odd one, the culprits had disappeared, although it’s possible to get another attack later in the year. The odd thing is that they attacked one geranium but a different species growing right next to it was left alone. The good news is no lily beetle yet!

Rather magnificent veining of Geranium x magnificum ‘Blue Blood‘ which is a variant of the original cross: G. ibericum x G. platypetalum.

Another of my favourite candelabra primulas. Although this plant was grown from seed last year, overwintered in a container, and only planted out a a month ago it has still produced a reasonably sturdy flower stem. If it had only made a weak attempt to flower I would have removed the stem to allow it to bulk up more.

I have mixed feelings about this rambler. It opens from a really nice tight, typical rosebud. When half- open it till maintains its form. When fully open it becomes a bit of a mess! It might be that the form I have is not as good as it might be, but even though it is also only lightly scented, I am reluctant to part with it.

I can’t resist the colour and texture of herb borage, I even have a photograph on my wall. This plant is flowering from a cold sowing at the end of January.

I have cheated a bit here in order to show the various stages of Viburnum plicatum ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’. It opens with the petals suffused quite a dark pink, goes to almost pure white, and then fades to a softer pink as it ages. This is a young plant but the flowers lasted quite well. The flowers of Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Mariesii’, which flowered earlier, were over very quickly. I think it could have been the long dry spell that caused this to happen.

Geranium × oxonianum f. thurstonianum ‘Southcombe Double’ to give it its full title, is one of a massive group of geraniums which are variants of crosses between G. endressii and G. versicolor, that contain many of my favourites. I think that this is a rather pretty little thing.

This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.

Six on Saturday 17/05/2025

Weather-wise we have had a couple of light frosts at the beginning of the month and haven’t had any appreciable rainfall for weeks. We have had no rain in May, only 18mm in the whole of April, and the dry weather is set to continue for at least another week. It has been fascinating watching the weather radar, any rain clouds that did appear always veered away from our location! At least, now I have a small garden, it does make watering less of a task.

Inherited paeony of unknown origins. For some reason it thrives in a shaded dry spot but produces many flowers every year. Technically the photo’ is not good but I like the “silvering” and shade contrast.

**Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Mariesii’**

I am very appreciative of viburnums, I know they can have a problem with viburnum beetle which can badly affect the evergreen species, but, in my opinion, if this one was evergreen it would be perfect.

Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) can be a rampant spreader but having been offered a clump from a friend, and having several “difficult” areas in the garden I thought “why not”! It is relatively well contained although it has manged to appear in the joints of the adjacent flags. I do tend to go for many native and tough plants as much of my garden is on an old railway yard which I originally planted out with a pick and trenching tool which in fact I have used today!

The candelabra primulas are coming into flower at my favourite time of the year. My first specialisation as an amateur gardener was alpines, but after visits to Ness Botanical Gardens, Fletcher Moss University Gardens and Harlow Carr I graduated to the larger end of the alpine spectrum. I first started to grow primulas rapidly joined by meconopsis and, luckily, I have a small area in the current garden where they will grow and I can still enjoy them.

This seedling appears to be true to its adjacent parent Geranium var. pratense. f. albiflorum. ‘Galactic’. It is so nice to have a white one pop-up as most self seedlings are usually from the blue plants.

A couple of aquilegias to finish off. A.fragrans is from seed and seems to be wilting a bit unfortunately. It looks as if my policy of removing the seed heads from all standard deep blue A.vulgaris and leaving anything that was more interesting has paid off as I think that’s a rather nice seedling.

This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.

Six on Saturday 29/03/2025

We have had a warm, mainly dry, spell with temperatures quite high for this time of the year so far, but have been dogged by a persistent cold wind which we get here. The garden is wakening up and the magnolias and early blossoms are in evidence not far from here but I am still vary wary of any late frosts which may occur.

I haven’t any A. nemorosa now unfortunately but I am always pleased to see these lovely spring flowers emerge.

The Bleeding Heart is one of the earliest herbaceous perennials to flower, and is always welcome. I think the emerging flower stems have a rather surreal quality about them. Dicentra was a lot easier to remember!

All lysimachias tend to be garden thugs, but I have never been able to resist the little yellow flowers contrasted against the deep purple of the leaves of ‘Fire Cracker’

The beautiful clusters of flowers of osmanthus have been out for the last week or so which means I have managed to enjoy their wonderful scent in the warm weather we have been having. All too often the whole of the flowering season is under grey skies. Apologies for the out of focus bit!

The buds on this acer are just opening, fingers crossed there is no severe frost now. The winter damaged tip has been taken off.

First of the tall primulas to emerge for me. Primula denticulata used to be a common site a few years ago, but not so much now. Shame really I find the powder blue flowers and farinose leaves and flower stems quite attractive and very welcome at this time of the year..

This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.

Six on Saturday 12/10/2024

We have had a “proper” frost on Thursday night, as opposed to a couple of air frosts about three weeks ago, which is only about 10 days earlier than last year. It caused little damage even on the north side of the house but tells me that I have probably run out of options for a while for Six on Saturday.

I found a clump of clematis flowers hiding in amongst the honeysuckle and rambling rose that cover a boundary fence.

I have a few baskets on the north facing front of my house where at one time I would have used impatiens but find begonias an excellent substitute. Mia culpa, I no longer have the facilities to raise bedding so have to buy in plugs. The one I have always used is Begonia ‘Illumination’ Strain, Apricot Shades although I must admit they haven’t done as well this year which I put down to a very slow start.

Young primula plants which should be planted out by now but I have nowhere to put them. I always have this problem, even when I had a much bigger plot, I always over-produced. I get the most satisfaction from raising plants from seed, particularly the more difficult ones. Every year I would be inundated with seedlings as a consequence of taking advantage of various plant society’s surplus seed offers such as those from the Scottish Rock Garden Club. I will be ordering again this year, but no lucky dips!

Always had a place for a few hydrangeas but I inherited this one. Two out of three I brought with me were decimated by frost in their first winter and didn’t flower the following year so rather than risk a repeat I discarded them. It sounds a bit harsh but space is at a premium.

Mahonia buds waiting to come into flower. I like mahonias but can never tell when they will flower, I have had the same plant come into flower in October and even March in the past, this one came into flower last year whilst the bedding was still going strong but I doubt it will happen this time.

Despite the popularity of many salvia cultivars, I grow them myself but only have one that comes through the winter every year, the common or garden sage still looks good with its grey young leaves at this time of the year. This one is growing through a crack in the paving and I get the scent when I deliberately knock it in passing.

This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.