Six on Saturday - 30 October 2021

 At Six this Saturday morning, I was woken by thunder and lighting, so that was the clarion to sort out some of the pictures I took in the garden this week, and compose my post.  It has been amazingly mild but also with some strong gusty winds. Today the heavy rains have set in.

1. Seeing the vegetation sway around was the reminder that roses ought to be tied more securely against the fence and shrubs pruned back to prevent swaying.  I know that the general rules are that one ought to prune roses in the spring.  However I got carried away and in general had a fairly good trim back of damaged, crosses or diseased wood, and the roses look almost ready for Summer.  We shall see:  I will probably have some corrections to make in the spring when they get their first dose of feed.  I really did not think there were many roses left, but there were sufficient for me to make a little posy, which I shall show for my In a Vase on Monday.

2. A couple of weeks back I was asked about the 'shrub in the back-ground'.  It is the lollipop Bay Tree which originally was much smaller and it had a twisted stem.  It was given to me as a 'thank you' for assisting someone in an emergency.  It seems to be adopted as a home to ants wherever it is located, and thus all sort of plants sprout from seeds which the ants carry there.  There are violets and the bronze leaved Carex Comans Bronze Form which I used to have growing in my previous garden.  This year the early year trim was forgotten, and the growth is showing flower buds, so I shall postpone its pruning till next spring.

3. Clematis orientalis Bill MacKenzie has romped away in its second year and is providing a cloud a shining seed heads as it catches the low autumn light.

4. The Dwarf Forsythia which I have had for nearly ten years, has been moved again.  It arrived here in its pot, and then about three years ago it got transferred to the bed in which I grow snowdrops and other early spring beauties.  It liked it there so much, and grew so well that it was starting to outstay its welcome.  As the rose bushes were getting pruned, something got hold of me, and I got hold of a big spade, and before I could stop myself, it found a new home on the opposite side of the garden.  Of course something had to be removed first and that was the Japanese Anemone September. It just languished in the heat, and the soil was far too dry for it.  I did have to give it a good hosing down three or four times during the dry weather, but it did not rock my boat, and now it is gone. The Forsythia is behaving as if it had been there for ever and now hopefully with a good drenching of a few buckets of water, and the rain this weekend, it will settle in nicely.

5. There is still a little flower in the garden...

6. Some of the better leaved forms of Cyclamen Hederifolium are gracing the shed shelf.

With rain set in for the weekend, you would think that puts the breaks on gardening activity.  Well it may well do as far as hands on plants is concerned.  However, if I have time to spare, I shall be going over some of my notes from the Iris Ney's talk last night called "Galanthus in Good Company" as there may be some little plants that I want to learn more about and possibly source for delivery next spring. 

I am joining in with Jon The Propagator, as do a number of other keen gardeners who love to share Six Items from their Gardens on a Saturday.