Six on Saturday - The drought episode

 With no grass in the garden front or back, I don't have a bed of straw to show, for proof of what it would look like then Jon's our man. Jon is the chap who got this weekly Six on Saturday going and many of us join in most of the time.  Life is not a bed of roses here either, with blooms, should the poor roses make some, cut early in the morning to add to a vase.  I find this far better than waiting till the evening to dead head, at least we can enjoy two or three more days of their beauty inside.

Let's get on with the Six:

1. The succulents are coping, and a new kid has joined the gang. It needs  sunshine, and it is getting it! Repotted and labelled the same day too, after purchasing it from Graham at Wells Market.

Cotyledon orbiculata undulata

It is taking pride of place in the centre of the table.  We have all meals now outside except for lunch, when the dinning room is the coolest option.

I'm not surprised it has been given the name 'Silver Ruffles'.

2.  It comes to most of us in the end for certain, the time when certain jobs will get more and more difficult, or so difficult they can't be done.  We had our previous bench new around 25 years ago, and when we moved to our previous house I painted it blue.  It needs painting as does the table made out of pallet wood every couple of years.  This year it needed doing, I have a little paint left over, but would have had to buy another tin, and even if I could have managed to paint it this year, given my back problems, I couldn't envisage doing it again, or rather I would prefer to sit in my deckchair on the bench!  The new bench and table arrived this week . Made of recycled materials it is looking very smart and matches the shed very well too. No more painting..Mr S will be making me up some shelves to go on the shed with NO painting required when it gets cooler. The bench and remaining paint are going to a friend, and the table will become a potting table down the alley in place of the compost bin.

3. We haven't got a hosepipe ban yet, but I have been watering with a watering can, as to have our garden watered with a hosepipe would take far too much water, and we have brought in water saving measures in this household for several weeks now.  I have large gaps in the borders, and really hope that the plants will be dormant and recover in due course.  I am saving seed and taking cuttings, and as a gardener I wonder what next year will bring.  As you can gather we have had another week of high temperatures, strong sunshine and no rain whatsoever.

4.  In the shadiest corner I am training up a new twisted weeping willow which I hope will add an elegant and cooling note to the garden.  It is staying in its large pot and will not let out into the garden. I only bought it this year as a 30 cm rooted cutting for a couple of quid.  My friend had grown it from a cutting from hers and I ended buying it from the plant stall I was helping on a few weeks back. Jack and the beanstalk comes to mind.

Corkscrew willow: Salix matsudana 'Tortusa'

5. I'm making a note of the types of plant that seem to be riding the heat and drought and will either extend these or find similar plants for next year:

The eryngiums although loosing some of their bottom leaves are making a fine display despite not having had a single watering. Bees start early and to get a head start are often found asleep on them.

On the shady side of the garden, the low growing variegated and the dark leaved Ophiopogons show their resilience compared to the Saxifraga stolonifera.  I am trying not to look too hard at all the damage from scorching and drought and trying to focus on what is doing well or I would just cry. Beyond O. Little tabby is a glorious small Astilbe, whose leaves have crisped up and flower stalks too.

This is what it should look like.

The sedums shine out...both Autumn Joy and the others around the garden.

6. The first beetroot have been picked and cooked, and are delicious.  I picked up a pack of ready grown seedlings at Morrisons a few weeks back, and they followed on from the garlic crop.

Every bit of water is returned to the veggie area, so are being washed in a bowl rather than under a running tap. Almost all the grey water ends up there too.

They say it may rain next week, but with a 35% chance at the most, which means we may probably be missed altogether.  Dire times for all the farmers to be sure....