Six on Saturday 18 June 2022

It was hotter than Hawaii, and almost wall to wall sunshine here yesterday.  Some of the small seedlings in the veggie area are covered with fleece to reduce scorching, and I am watering the cucumber several times a day.  Linking in with The Propagator and no doubt there will be a bit of a weather report on some of the post linking in, but we are here for the Six on Saturday from the garden, so lets begin! 

1. In its sixth year, top spot this week in the garden goes to the Dianthus chinensis.

I love early mornings in the garden, getting some  watering done, checking and dead heading roses, and feeling the freshness of the cooler air. Very early morning there was the slightest of dews...

2. I am not sure that either the garden or I are made for the summer: we are spring time delicates!  I am apt to get impetuous and sometimes the garden is on the receiving end.  Could it be that because of all my spring bulbs I do not plant for a true 'summer' or autumn garden.  I shall ponder that and in the meantime appreciate what is good in the garden.  My double camomile which looked lovely earlier on in its tight green lawn phase, was peeking up to be in full flower and the poor little rose Shine On, was being cast into the dark, with leaves sadly stressed and flowers struggling.   I took it upon myself to remove it all.  This is the after picture. The patch looks a little bleak at present but I am sure within a few weeks it will be looking great.  Mr S worries as again I have more visitors in a couple of weeks time.  However now I am in the phase of having recruited other members to show their garden, I shall henceforth be gardening purely for my own joy, and not worrying whether to leave patches alone or progress with my savage gardening.  At least it makes me appreciate more than ever all the efforts people go to to get their gardens in a 'show' condition.  But then I know all about the process from my times as chair of Kenilworth in Bloom.

The colour is bleached out as I can't get the colour right first thing.  You may notice some pieces of chamomile replanted, that is because someone who came to visit the garden rather liked the camomile, but I thought they would do better in the cooler ground being watered there than in individual small plastic pots.  I have another patch coming into flower across the other side of the garden.

3. Early morning dew on Rose Shine On looking a little colour faded in the early morning light.

I find myself looking at more roses and whilst searching for the rose tonic mentioned last week, came across a nice selection of smaller roses at Cants of Colchester.  Has anyone bought from them? I would love to have your feedback.

4. Collecting Tulip Seeds...This time is is Tulipa turkestanica.  I may well keep the empty seed pods for a dried flower arrangement.

5.  The Rhodohypoxis 'Pintando' came through the winter and was repotted whilst still dormant in a slightly wider pot with fresh compost. I found a good article about these plants written by Chris and Lorraine Birchall.

Rhodohypoxis 'Pintado'

6.  Last year I planted the cyclamen hederifolium seed as soon as it was harvested, and it was already nicely germinated by November as shown in the picture below.  I kept them growing all through the winter in these half pans. 

Cyclamen hederifolium seedlings
 

This spring I gave one of half pans to one of my local snowdrop suppliers Tryffid Nursery, and planted the second pan selecting leaves that showed some promise. of looking interesting.  The true form and patterning often become evident only in the third year.  

They continued in leaf all through and now they look like this.  They have been tucked up underneath the Pittosporum and I may have been a little negligent with the watering, but the main corms are in their dormant phase, and I am sure they will soon be in leaf again. 

If the ripening seed is not collected from the mother plant, small corms develop in the centre. Shortly I shall be inspecting the areas and harvesting the small corms, before the flowers  on the main corm emerge, the leaves on hederifolium appear later. This what you get left with after the large corm has flowered and the leaves start to grow if you do not remove the corms. If you have ants as I do, little corms can form wherever the ants leave the seeds, the phenomenon  is called myrmecochory. The ants are attracted to the part of seed called the elaisomes which are full of nutrients which benefit the ants and are not required at all by the seeds for germination to take place.

Sometimes I dig up the whole clump, select some medium sized corms and discard the old one, having 'improved' the soil underneath with a little more humous, sometimes I even relocate the growing corm.  The last one I dug up was about 15cm across!  This is just something I do in this small garden not something I have picked up from any experts.  

Of course, this is the time to repot cyclamen grown in pots, choosing a pot a little larger with added growing room, and new compost.  I do this every two to three years, and there is no need to water for the present. 

May the cooler summer days return, and a few good showers during the night would be added bonus.