Just leaving flowers here for my Queen. She is flying free.
SixOnSaturday. A floral tribute.
Category: the Propagator
SixOnSaturday September 3rd. One of a kind.
25 years ago I received the gift of an olive tree. It was about the size of a pencil, ordered online. The tree has grown, and this year flowered. And there is an olive. Just one.
This the season for New England asters. I love asters. So do rabbits. Here is my one stem that they’ve somehow missed.
I’m sure I’ve complained before about my recalcitrant apple orchard. Several trees, some dwarf, some standard. Here’s the harvest. You guessed…one apple.
My crabapple. Flowers and fruit on one branch only. One.
One bumblebee on every flower. Sleeping.
1 hawk. A juvenile Cooper’s hawk. As it happens, there are several. A successful season for these predators. Despite the heat and drought the raptors are thriving.
Head over to the comment section of the host http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com for more garden related observations. Have a good week.
SixOnSaturday August 20th
Summer is winding down and still no rain. Even the weeds are looking a bit peaked. All 4 of my 55 gallon rain barrels are empty. My lawn resembles cornflakes. Still, as it is Saturday there must be Six.
The tomato glut has started. The yellow heirloom ‘Goldie’, reputed to be more than 150 years old, weighs well over 2 lbs. Strangely, my peppers and chillies are having problems this year, the searing heat making fruit setting difficult. The
The varmints have started on the cabbages. I rescued this red one for making slaw. They had all my corn by stealth, taking the ears and leaving the husks and silk on the stalks. I suspect raccoon bandits……
Late summer is a good time to see wildlife. Here is a very well camouflaged praying mantis and a swallowtail caterpillar, soon to become a gorgeous black butterfly.
Who wouldn’t want to grow the lovely little wrinkled ‘Frigga’ savoy cabbage, named for Freya, Norse goddess of beauty, fertility and wisdom. Planted out in Spring, harvested small. I also have some seedlings that ‘might’ make it through if we have a mild winter.
Dazzling Blue Kale, a new variety to me, is apparently impervious to heat, drought, pests and varmints and is quite beautiful with it. I just wish Kale was a little more appetizing!
So that’s it for me. You know where to find the others. http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com
Stay hydrated!
SixOnSaturday August 13th. Musings and Meanderings
It has been quite a summer! After 5 weeks of blazing heat in which no gardening was possible, 2 tiny thunderstorms happened, the heat dropped out and it feels like Autumn has arrived. The rain barrels are full again. The last of the blueberries will be picked today, with any remnants left for the birds to clean up. The tomato glut is on….
Potatoes. The plants did not do well at all with drought conditions. As soon as the weather cooled a bit I dug most of them while I could still see the shrivelled haulms. Pleasantly surprised with a nice, clean harvest.
Cornels are ripening very early. I hope to salvage enough of them to make jam or even ferment them in honey.
China Asters are new to me, their clean fresh flowers welcome in this slump of humidity and dust. I like the pincushion left behind after the flower is done.
Huckleberries also new to me. They produce a good amount of berries and are also very attractive to flea beetles. I’m not sure I like the taste, but they are a great diversion for the beetles and birds.
Hazelnuts. The current generation of squirrels seems to have no interest in stealing these this year.
The purple, gold and orange of Autumn have arrived too early, although my very tall sunflowers have yet to flower. There’s one tiny pumpkin turning orange already, the kale and red cabbage are dusky and the ‘Really Red Deer Tongue’ lettuce (which I grow mainly for its wonderful name) is setting seed and will be left to sow itself for an early spring treat!
Today was my father’s birthday. He’s been gone a long time but he was my inspiration in so many ways. Hence this is week 1 in my annual plan. I started my Autumn garden with sowings of peas, arugula, onions and radishes. Spinach, lettuce and pak choi to follow. Packing up gathered seed for next year. Onward and upward….Do visit the comments section of the host blog for more garden meanderings.
SixOnSaturday July 30th. Feast or Famine
Onions and shallots were harvested this week due to scorching temperatures and my fear of losing them to sunburn. They are mostly quite large but a little tougher than usual due to lack of rain. Weve had no measurable rain since early May.
My blueberries are having the best year ever. The freezer is stocked, we are eating our fill and the d****d catbird has to be rescued and released from the tent every single morning.
The lily beetle did not visit this year.
The squash beetle may have. Or perhaps the squash plants are just slowly dying of heat stroke.
My clematis jackmanii did not appear last year but in this year of no rain is spectacular.
Cosmos Rosetta is usually diminutive, but appears to be loving the heat and looks great with the clematis and a funny ginger gaillardia that I grew from seed. I would never have bought this plant, and it doesn’t look at all like the picture on the seed packet, but it’s the definition of drought tolerance and has been flowering for months.
Six, in closing is a photo of my drought stricken ‘lawn’. I’ve only been able to mow twice this year. Even the crab grass is withering. My rabbits look very lean. The flower and vegetable gardens surprise me and don’t look bad at all considering. There’s a lot to be said for compost mulch which is applied generously on the beds and borders. The grass will grow back if it ever rains.
Stop by the propagator’s comment section for more garden sixes. Have a wonderful week.
SixOnSaturday June 11th. Drama.
This ingenue red peony is making her debut performance having been discovered in the shady wings and moved to centre stage. I think she has a very bright future.
In a starring role again, Rosa alba Cuisse de Nymph emuie, stage name ‘Blushing backside of a maiden’. I’m not saying more on that subject.
Abraham Darby, a former brass founder, discovered that coal from Coalbrookdale could be used to smelt iron. This enabled the economically viable mass production of cast iron. Kickstarting the Industrial Revolution, the foundry was producing large quantities of cast iron goods within a couple of years. Rosa Abraham Darby, a David Austin English rose was introduced 1985 to celebrate his ingenuity. What a show!
Another David Austin English shrub rose, Tamora stays around 3 ft tall, is disease resistant, repeat flowering and fragrant. I definitely recommend her for the restraint and beauty of her performance. She is surrounded by a scarlet knockout rose that really highlights the apricot.
Clematis ‘Niobe’, shown here draped through Rosa ‘Mme Plantier ‘ was introduced in 1975 and is named after a rather unpleasant Greek goddess who was turned into a rock for her bragging. Drama!
For this week’s finale Clematis integrifolia ‘durandii’, a non climbing type introduced in 1870 by Durand Freres. A real class act.
That’s the show for this week. Visit the comments section of the host website http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com for more showstopping Sixes.
SixOnSaturday June 4th. Peonies and Roses
SixOnSaturday time again. We’ve finally had some rain so everything is a little soggy. It always rains when the peonies open up. But open they have, just means I’ll have to cut more for the house.
First is ‘Moonstone’. Gorgeous on the plant and ethereal in a vase.
‘Bowl of Beauty’ a very old classic given to me by a neighbor when I moved in many years ago.
‘Sarah Bernhardt’ another classic beauty.
Raindrops on roses. Zephirine Drouhin in the background is an old bourbon rose. Tall, and with almost thornless stems this fragrant lovely is a good cutting rose. The clear strong pink looks good with most flowers in a bouquet, although I’m not big on mixing these days.
The apricot rose is a David Austin rose, Leander. Described as a tea rose it is very vigorous and laughs at the idea of pests and diseases!
- fruity: raspberry notes intertwined with the traditional aroma of tea roses
- Features – capable of “throwing” branches over 3 – 4 m
It flowers all summer long, has impressive orange hips in autumn and is really good value for the very large area it occupies.
Rosa Mme Plantier is a hybrid alba (crossed with a noisette). It is a sprawler, and flowers very early. Highly fragrant.
The buds are pink, opening to double white old fashioned blooms. Especially beautiful when the dark crimson Niobe clematis pops.
There are peonies and roses aplenty to come but those are your Six from me for this week. Visit the comments section of the host website for more, and enjoy the perfect days of June.
SixOnSaturday May 28th. They’re taking over.
On my personal garden calendar, which does not necessarily follow any actual calendar, this weekend marks the end of ‘early spring ‘. It’s Memorial Day on Monday, New Englanders’ traditional weekend for safely putting the garden and the boat in. For me it marks the transition from cool sunny weather to humidity and mosquitoes. And it is time to take rabbit exclusion measures.
One of my first harvests is chamomile. These lovely little plants seed themselves in the most exquisite nooks and crannies. I harvest and dry the flowers for tea.
My blueberries are packed with flowers. They will need to be netted as soon as the flowers drop or we won’t get a single berry. The birds don’t wait for perfectly ripe.
Bayberry is native to this area. It was used for candle making in colonial times. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed the flowers before.
Self sown cilantro has taken over! I need to do something about it before it bolts. Any ideas?
Last year’s brassica gang is also seeding itself around. Turnips, collards, kale and cabbages are making merry.
Same with my spring onions. The ones we will eat this summer are the progeny of some I planted 30 years ago. I think those are volunteer parsnips behind them.
Last but not least the mother of them all. Motherwort arrived last summer. A lovely plant, I did my usual ‘wait and see’ routine. I’m now the proud mother of a million little mothers. Too bad it is not a food crop! Time to do some research and/or weeding!
That’s all from me. Please visit the host’s comment section for more sixes and stuff. http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com
SixOnSaturday March 5th – Soft and Spikey
First this week is Witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) ‘Pallida’. This rather large fan shaped shrub has been flowering for a few weeks in ice, snow and arctic temperatures. On sunny days it is mobbed by bees. Softly fragrant buzzing while leaves rattle sharply.
Second is Pussy Willow. I don’t remember the variety. The catkins emerge silvery soft before taking on a tint of rose, changing to lime and finally erupting a halo of pollen studded stamens.
Third a very spikey seedhead from a motherwort plant. Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) moved into the rose garden last summer. In cutting back the debris it pained me to notice that every single seed cavity is empty and presumably happily germinating away in some corner where I don’t want it.
At four, this little wood sorrel must have sneaked indoors on an Amaryllis bulb. For some reason I’m enjoying the opening and closing of these sweet little leaves contrasted against the floppy fading straps of the bulb.
Five, snowdrop spears.
Last but not least, a crocus. Just one for now, but lots of promising spikes piercing the leaf litter.
As this is a gardening blog I’ve tried to avoid direct comment on ugly invasive world events and focus instead on the softness of springtime, with a chance of snow. Visit the comments section of the host website: http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com
Be safe and be kind.
February Features: 2/19/2022
It’s been a cold, cold February. One storm after the next, temperatures well below freezing. No snowdrops or early daffs here. Just boots and hats and icicles.
For more appealing sixes pop over to the host’s comment section http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com where there will most likely be warm and sunny observations from other parts of the world.
Snow, sunshine and shadows
Sharp shards of ice
Skinning sprouting garlic for the freezer
Starlings on sumac
Starting seedlings
Soft
Stay warm!
PrunePlantSow 