Six on Saturday - Triumphs and Expectations

 Just when you think the garden is as wet as it can get, and expecting the weather to improve, it has continued to rain.  When the sun does break through it is a relief to feel its warmth, and we have even donned coats to sit and have our morning coffee in the garden. I expect that during rainier moments, more gardening thrill, notes of interest etc, can be enjoyed via Jim's post to which I and other gardeners link in our Six on Saturday Posts.

When some of my gardening friends and I were touring Broadleigh Gardens last week, they were impressed by the species tulips growing in the beds and along the long alpine/grit gardens.  Most of them had only grown the large tulips which on the whole were discarded after flowering.  On a visit a few years ago,  after having seen the Parrot Tulips at Yeo Valley Gardens, many of us grew them in pots. This week I am delighted to say that the species Tulips in their own little way are triumphs in the front 'Mediterranean Garden' chez moi! 

1. Tulipa Whittalii Major

The Major has to be my favourite tulip and this year where there was one bulb planted you can see several smaller flowering ones. This is their fourth year in flower and though slower to increase than I expected, I am delighted both with the situation, form and colour.  I had thought in my usual way to lift and divide, but I would rather this clump continue to grow from strength to strength, and simply add a few more to the garden.

2. Tulip Clusiana Chrysantha

I would say T. Chrysantha is a worthy runner up, again a few more of these species tulips would be a great addition.

3. Tulip Clusiana 'Lady Jane' has probably been the tulip to fare better in terms of increase in numbers, however in the poor light we have been having it appears to have been drawn out and is not as neat and strong as the former two. 

To give its due it has been in flower for a couple of weeks or more, and in its early stages its outer pink petals were far more obvious.  This clump may get moved to the back garden, to make room for more of the new tulips with a more yellow or orange aspect. 

4. Scilla Peruviana arrived as a purchase from the members' table at my local HPS and was divided into four and this is the second season in flower in the Mediterranean Garden. These are large flowers and unlike its smaller cousins which had been planted in many different areas, and not survived, it looks ready to be divided again this year.  I shall have to look perhaps at the planting depth for this species.  It hasn't faired that well with its blooms being lashed by wind or rain, and I expect next year, its nose will be put out of joint by the newly acquired Scilla hughii, bought at Broadleigh Gardens, which is now repotted, and receiving a balmy beginning in the Conservatory.  When I read up about Scilla hughii it rad that it should be potted with its nose just above soil level. When I replant these S, Peruviana, I shall try different depths and see which suits it best.

5. Just when I thought the garden was full, I succumbed again! The excitement of unpacking new plants is a mark of my expectation of things to come.  One has already been planted out in the Mediterranean garden: Cistus 'Thrive', 

Cistus Thrive just unpacked

and the  Ribes Gordonianum,  which has been planted up in a larger pot to await planting out into the garden when I have worked through the arrangement or rather rearrangement of a section of the garden. I first say this again at Broadleigh Gardens. also known as ‘Gordon’s Currant’ or ‘Beatonii’, it is a deciduous shrub that is a hybrid between Ribes Odoratum and Ribes Sanguineum. I now wonder whether I would have been better buying a larger plant, at the same time realising that often smaller plants settle and grow away better in this garden.

Ribes Sanguineum

6. Phlox bifida Ralph Hayward a cutting of which I planted up in a pot, is now taking centre stage on the garden table.  I think I ought to have cut it back hard earlier in the year, but now it has started into flower it seems a shame to do so.

This is its second year in flower in this pot, and I am just wondering how best to treat it: should I repot it after flowering?  I expect a few cuttings will be taken.  Meanwhile the older plant is doing well in the gravel garden.