Six on Saturday - End of August 2025

The hot dry weather has broken, and we have had a little rain, but nothing to penetrate the soil yet! Even when we have rain forecast it has something been no more than a sprinkling, then more sun but with some clouds. We are still taking every opportunity of being outside. Outside is the favourite place for gardeners except perhaps when they want to catch up with their fellows over at Jim's to share Six things on a Saturday. 

1. We were having coffee in the morning in the garden, when we spotted a number of pretty Small Copper Butterflies, yes that is the name of this butterfly,  with the favourite food source being the Asters. One with a large mound of flowers is Aster pyrenaeus 'Lutetia' and I wouldn't have time to count the number of bees and butterflies on it at any one time.

 

2.  I bought half a dozen of little Cosmos from the Bishop's Palace and planted them in a couple of different beds.  They have grown tall, well over a metre, and no flower!  Even in the sunniest beds they have behaved just like this one.  It does make quite a nice green bush, but I want flowers!  In fact it reminded me of the 'Burning Bush' Kochia scoparia which my in laws used to grow back in the seventies in their garden.  Such a blast from the past are those, and funnily I don't see them around these days. 

Tall Cosmos that refuses to flower

3. I sowed some Cosmos seed directly late, and transferred three seedlings to the same bed, and here is one of them feeling quite relieved that it is starting to rain. They were Dwarf Purple Picotee Cosmos from Thompson & Morgan.  

4. Just emerging through the Aster pyrenaeus 'Lutetia' is the Miscanthus nepalensis, or is it that the Aster has draped across  the Miscanthus's space?

 Miscanthus nepalensis

5. I have been battling the watering, and Mr S came up with something that will make it so much easier for me.  This is of course supplementary to the waterbutt when it has water in it and water collected as part of savings from indoors.  Firstly he fitter a small splitter to the outside tap so that I can keep the hose connected and am able to turn it on and off, without having to disconnect the timer and its various finer pipes that go to the larger outdoor pots.  I was finding rolling up the heavy hose a little too hard and now I have a new expanding snake hose. It is so much lighter and easy to coil up and hang.  The timer is now near the floor rather than coming out of the tap.  The whole thing will of course be put away for the winter.  

6. And why do you think I am showing my old but favourite pair of secateurs?  It is because after looking for them, they were lost for a whole 24 hours and then they were found. I felt full of thanks and rejoiced.  However this was not before I had emptied the shed, sorted out the tools, thrown out lots of old bits of string, and worn out gloves, etc, swept out and cleaned other tools, scoured the garden, and emptied the green bin.  I had resolved to allow a week to pass and then order or perhaps even visit the Kiwaki Show Room. This would be an excursion, what gardener doesn't love an excursion with perhaps a garden visit etc thrown in as well? 

 

It was not till I cycled into town, and locked up my bike, that I found the secateurs nestling right at the bottom of my panier.  It has been there for three or four days from when I had cycled out hunting for elberries to harvest from the hedgerows on the levels ready to make Elderberry Cordial. I don't normally phone home whilst I am out, but to save poor Mr S from continuing the hunt, I had to share my find and my joy.

In a Vase on Monday - 25 August 2025

Neither the garden nor this arrangement bears close scrutiny but it does give a colourful accent to the end of the mantlepiece. For more lovely vases of garden flowers the place to visit is 'Rambling in the Garden' by our leader Cathy.

Growing the nasturtium plants has been a bit of a challenge given the amount of watering they are needing.  The variety was unknown and have come out very varied, I guess that they were grown from home collected seed.  They have clubs up at the Bishop's Palace to teach children about growing and I surmise these were from such an activity.   The Dahlias were from plants bought recently whilst on a visit to East Lambrook Manor.  Some Aster Monch, a few twigs of a marjoram and Pseudodictamnus acetabulosus.

I've learnt a lot lessons from this year's gardening, and can now understand 'Fail to prepare, prepare to fail'! My orepartion this year also needs to be scrutinised, lessons learnt notes, and timely plans for sowing, growing, planting etc put into place. Visiting some splendid gardens last week whilst we were on holiday gave me several ideas to add to my plans as well.

Tagging on this post here are two books not yet completed...

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon,  I would recommend, though it is a little long. The suspense is good, and sometimes I have to put it down, then read on but not at bedtime!  I can't understand why the cover picture of a woman in red running along the river has someone in modern dress when the book is set in the late 18th Century! I read some of the reviews on Good Reads where I log my reading, when I remember, and came across a poor review.  I am not saying that the reasons the person did not like it are not valid for her,  but from what I gather the person has listened to the book rather than having a hard copy in her hand.  From the book, where there is a map of the various settlements at the front, and an authors explanations at the end, which I always read before starting the book, this would have helped understand the story and its origins.  There are a great many characters, and as usual I have some scraps of paper where I write down the name of the person, their relationships and the page they appear on, as I cannot hold all this in my head these days.  When I was working and had overview of more than one site as head of Personnel, I was forever designing and using organisation charts, so maybe that is a system that works for me.

The general discussion at our WI book club has often commented on the different ways of accessing a book, and the value and use of each type colours our understanding for example those listening to a book are often doing other tasks and miss things, just as those who skip or speed read. When we come together it is interesting to hear how some audio books cope with different accents which in their turn enhance understanding.  Some of our members have busy lives, and travel or drive for many hours, and wouldn't otherwise have time to sit down and read a hard copy. 

I am currently reading two books: one novel and a book about Creepy Crawlies, which is excellent though the turn of phrases a little dated, but given the age of the book not unreasonable. I picked this up in the NT second hand book shop at Barrington Court a couple of weeks ago.  Mr S picked up the book, only a couple of days ago, and read a little and praised the style, pictures etc.  

My books almost always have slips of paper at different pages, with notes for further reading, or re reading etc.  

Hauser & Wirth - First Visit

Hauser & Wirth towards the Radić Pavilion

Hauser & Wirth 

For our Friday 'day out'  just over a week ago, we headed out to visit the gardens at Hauser & Wirth near Bruton, which they call the 'Oudolf Field'.  I can't fathom why we haven't been before, as we have driven past them many times, and of course had a stroll round Bruton which is a lovely small Somerset village where we often stop off at 'At the Chapel': a lovely bakery cum café cum restaurant with their wood fired ovens. I can't believe I have not posted a blog about Bruton yet, as we visit quite regularly.

I suppose it may have been that I had wondered when the best time to visit would be, or maybe even whether it would be worth the admission fee if it wasn't quite the right time to visit.  I now would say that anytime would be worth visiting to see what appealed in the gardens and just to enjoy the location of the gardens. Also on arriving we found that access to the gardens and the gallery are free, and at ten in the morning we almost had the garden to ourselves.  Watering was taking place which explains how the gardens were looking in tip top condition, and luckily they have their own water reserves.

As we walked around the beds, our eyes were drawn upwards towards the Radić Pavilion, which is quite a size set on large blocks of stone.  It is a large space internally and very enjoyable to walk on its sloping deck.

Sitting in the cool out of the sun this is the long view over the surrounding countryside.

I took photographs just for my usual notes on plants etc., and it is far more interesting than what can be seen here.  We shall certainly be visiting again soon.

The spent flowers added interesting textures and forms.  Seeing planting in groups like this was a revelation and whereas a single specimen having gone over is probably best removed or cut down in my garden, blocks of plants offer the possibility of keeping the whole block to enjoy its development from flower through to seed and seeing its form in the winter.

I couldn't see names for all the blocks and have ordered the book about the planting of the gardens from our library to learn a little more.

I hadn't seen this plant growing before, and using the Google Lens found it to be Datisca cannabina.. It certainly had a wow factor.

Datisca cannabina

I could finally appreciate the value of growing plants in clumps, and with quite a good range in my garden I have the idea to follow this trend more so.

One bold clump of colour is probably even more effective than many close together, and the foil of green clumps or others with form and texture taught me much. I can understand that careful design and choice of plants is paramount to achieving this effect, and is a signature of the designer 

In places I think two or three different varieties of plants were used together, something that I hope to learn more about from the book.

The waterlilies were lovely as well as the floaters and marginals would be an inspiration for anyone wanting to create or improve on their pond.

I guess planting distance with the clumps of plants helps to get this pleasing cushiony and very pleasing effect.

At the end of our walk we enjoyed a delicious brunch in the courtyard of their Roth Bar. 

The sculptures from the Niki de Saint Phalle & Jean Tinguely looked vibrant in the sunshine and against the clear blue skies. 

There are lots of activities going on that I will be looking over these to perhaps time our next visit to the garden so as to be able to sample those, but then the gardens would probably not be as quiet!

Six on Saturday - 23 August 2025

I've left my usual weather observations and general feelings about the garden to the end of this post.  For other posts called 'Six on Saturday' and what this is all about head over to our weekly gathering headquarters on Jim's Blog and post. 

1. I very nearly had to arm wrestle my friend for this beautifully coloured Echinacea.  I loved its colour and the angle of the petals. It was in a small pot, and has been put up into a larger pot and the flowers cut off. I am pleased to report that it is 'bulking up' nicely.  Is that the term one uses to describe a plant when it is increasing the number of basal shoots?

2. The pot was moved closer to the house to make it easier to keep my eye on it, and one morning I noticed a bug on it, small and quite pretty that I had not seen before.  It reminded me of a shield bug, but I had seen one this colour, shape and pattern before.  I was on the right tract as it turns out. Looking through the NHBS guide to Shield Bugs, on line.  This is the first Bishop’s Mitre Shieldbug (Aelia acuminata) I have seen, and it is our garden. 

Bishop’s Mitre Shieldbug (Aelia acuminata)

3. The succulents continue to please.  They are all in pots and watering is easy.  From time to time plants do need thinning and repotting such as this one.  I first bought one little plant of . Haworthia venosa var. tessellata back in 2014, and have since replaced a half pan type of pot every few years with divisions. Last time this was done was 2020, and it is getting rather crowded now. I have found that it does poorly in direct sun, and I bring the pot back into the house during hot sunny periods, as it does of course during the winter, when it is quite happy in the conservatory.

Haworthia venosa var. tessellata

4. This year for the first time the foliage on the Acis autumnalis (Leucojum autumnale) died right down, but I am pleased to say that the little flowers have recently appeared.  I had my first little pot four years ago, and divided it to plant around the Gingko. 

5.  With the drought, a few areas are devoid of above ground activity such as this patch where the Scilla peruviana grow.  Usually there are lots of green leaves, again this is the first time that the foliage has died down completely.

Just a few new shoots are emerging, and I would really like to lift and divide them but the ground is just too hard. This is how the looked earlier on in the year. 

6. The two Dahlia 'Karma Sangria' plants are now in the ground and although they did have labels with that name, I think they had the wrong labels as they look a lot pinker than other pictures online. 

Still no rain, and I am holding back the tears, such is the condition of the plants in many areas of the garden.  One minute I despair then my eye catches something that with a little watering is struggling on.  I really do hope that next year will be kinder.  We have visited a number of inspiring gardens over the last ten days, and I have some projects, replanting, moving etc, but these will have to wait till it is cooler and we have had some rain.

One of the gardens we visited was The Oudolf Field at Hauser & Wirth, musings and pictures of our visit: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2025/08/hauser-wirth-first-visit.html

Interesting plants I would consider growing from other blogs this week:

A lovely rose called 'Tropica Rose'. 

Visiting Buckingham Palace - A Day out at the Start of August

 We have discovered a local coach company which both Mr S and I find very good. We have had several outings, holidays, days out that we have enjoyed and are also looking forward to more. We were delighted they were doing a trip to London to visit Buckingham Palace during August, we added that to our list.

We arrived in plenty of time for our scheduled tour starting at 2 p.m. and had decided in advance to put up a packed lunch and enjoy that in some nearby park. We are just 'Country Mice' and probably could have found a nearby restaurant, however with good weather forecast the promise of sitting in a park after a coach ride was certainly appealing.  We had been warned by the coach office, not to take any bags other than a normal sized handbag, as those had to be left at the start, and with the end of the tour exiting further along Grosvenor Place where the coach was to pick us up, that would entail too much time in our opinion. So on the coach we decanted our picnic from our cool bag into one of those bags that fold into a small thing which when we had eaten out lunch would be back in my handbag.

We had about two hours in St Jame's Park, and found it altogether delightful, except I had never seen such crowds of people.  There were also a large variety of water fowl on the lake including this attention grabbing Pelican.

Several other Pelicans were further along but you just could get near enough for the throng of people choosing to take selfies with them!

As you approached Horse Guard Parade the border and beds became more vibrant, and the long border of one's left was magnificent.

There were so many different plants behind the first rank of plants with many more to add interest for the weeks to come.

On the left hand side of the path, was an 'Exotic Jungle Garden'.  So many plants and so well arranged as if in a Victorian or Edwardian garden.

And they had a nice variety of Coleus including the one I am looking forward: Plectranthus scutellariodes Skeletal, common name: Coleus Skeletal.

As we were about to curve round the east end of the lake we could see what we recognised from televised ceremonial and military events and went a little further onto Horse Guards Parade, and marvelled at the architecture surround the large open space. It is amusing that whilst I am writing this I brought up an aerial view of the park and parade ground, and have just realised why there were police officers and officials around the southern end of the ground: this area is  the back of 10 and 11 Downing Street!

Mr S loves a cannon, and it is a very impressive commemoration...

 Back around the the southern shore and the Duck Island Cottage gardens.

We made our way then along the southern shore of the lake, and went up to await our tour which started at 2 o'clock.  Of course no photographs of the interior were permitted, and several of the rooms were being refurbished, but this left many more rooms and much art to take in and admire.  In fact we both agreed we went through far too fast.  After St James's Park, we had thought the gardens of Buckingham Palace would be equally magnificent from a planted bed perspective.  After the event I realise that part of the garden is not open to those with only a house tour ticket, so something for another time perhaps.

To pass the time, we enjoyed a royal cuppa and piece of cake on the south-west facing terrace  but sadly served in a paper cup and on a paper plate!  Afterwards an amble along a path which was well cordoned off with attendants along the line to ensure no one veered off the path.  From this path one got the impression of a delightful lake with many trees.

On our way out of the city I caught a glimpse of some very different styles of architecture, and I managed to catch a picture of the Sculpture at Princes Court, Brompton Road.

For a cost per head of £55 per person including coach travel and entry, this was a really lovely day out for Mr S and I.