Six on Saturday - 30 May 2020

It is still hot and sunny, without any rain.  Hosepipes, watering cans and using grey water from the kitchen has kept many plants alive.  Having drafted the post almost in its entirety yesterday, this morning I am linking in with the Prop.  Do go and check what he and others throughout the day will be adding.  Like him I find it hard resisting the urge to add to the garden, and like him have an edge that is being encroached on.  No lawn left here and no lawnmower, and the sun lovers are thriving.

The geraniums seem to be thriving in the sunshine. 

(1) Geranium sanguinuem Elke is one I fell in love a long way back.    It is a low growing geranium with finely divided leaves.  Now growing over the area which had crocuses in the early spring, I feel a little dead heading gives me plenty of opportunity to admire its jolly pink flowers, with stronger pink veins, white centre and margins,  close up. 

(2) Another geranium which I have kept on dividing to make up several clumps in the front garden is Geranium x magnificum.  Initially it grew as a very small dried up piece in the middle of the Spanish bluebells, inherited form the previous owners.  A bit of tlc has yielded some great plants,   They won't be flowering for that long but Geranium x magnificum is  very useful this time of the year.and in a couple of years the plants will have bulked out and be almost 'gaudy' with its profusion of large rich purple flowers. After flowering, the clumps of large textured leaves, which remain neat,  turn a lovely colour, then die down completely.  It was thanks to joining the HPS Hardy Geranium Group and posting a picture and question son Facebook that I found out its name.

(3) Another magnificent blue note in the garden this week is from the Clematis Justa.   I now keep it in the lee of the conservatory as there is a little shade there.  Strong sun tends to bleach the petals.  I just love a clematis that only grows to this height.  Marcel Floyd sold this one to me a few years back.  Next time I meet him at a show, I'll be asking him if he has any other this size.

(4) There is something special about the first rose to emerge on a newly planted rose shrub.  The bloom has been cut now and gracing our coffee table.  The fragrance of Munstead Wood is rich and sumptuous, and now fully open so is the rose.

(5)  Two cuttings taken from the mother plant last summer are flowering their socks off, but still not a patch on 'mother Pelargonium Capricorn' growing in another tub.

(6) Absolutely thriving in the scorching sun are two small hardy succulents.  Since they are this wonderful, despite the drought, I intend using them as a ground cover over a much larger area in the front garden.  Delosperma Fire Spinner is certainly living up to its name with orange and fucshia in the same flower. These have now been in the garden all year round since they were two tiny snippets two seasons ago.

and a little more restrained as just one colour: Delosperma cooperi.

Sadly the weather outlook is hot and dry, therefore more time watering than I would have liked is on the cards next week.  I hope you are all enjoying your gardens or reading what a standard home gardener with small front and back gardens in the UK is finding works or in some cases doesn't.