Things continue to entertain me in the garden for instance a late hummingbird hawkmoth on the abundant Rosemary flowers, squirrels getting territorial, and birds flitting in and out of plants. We have had rain and high winds too, and a day of clear warm sunshine. I am joining the gang under Jim's careful eye in six things from our garden we may wish to share this week.
1. Chrysanthemum Hillside Apricot is the second Chrysanthemum to come into flower. This year I have two hardy herbaceous border Chrysanthemum. It is very healthy looking, and has clear open single flowers with petals neatly arranged, looking like a pink marguerite. There are many buds coming up along the stem. For now, I am unsure of how good a vase flower this will make because of the way the younger buds are arranged down the stem, we shall see.
I am delighted to have this and the Chrysanthemum Picasso adding late season flowers to the garden. I have noticed how they turn their head to face the sun, and having observed that will change their placement in the garden. I can feel that there will one or two new cultivars of herbaceous hardy Chrysanthemums joining our patch next year. If you grow any and can recommend good forms, why not post them on your Six on Saturday or add a recommendation in the comments section.
I have it growing in three places, and it does make a great garden plant late in the season.
For arranging, I have removed the flowers lower down the stem to arrange in a short posy, leaving the longer stems with a few bloom at the top to use in a taller arrangement. The stems are so plentiful that on both the Chrysanthemum there are plenty to give away whilst keeping a good show in the garden.
2 The first flower on Cyclamen graecum subsp. candicum is looking exquisite, growing up from the gravel where I planted it out a couple of seasons ago. I am delighting in the leaf patterning, but also in the flower a little different from the coum and others I have grown to date.
In gardening there are often ups and downs.
3. Ups: Crocus creocreticus just emerging from seed first received from the Alpine Gardening Society in 2020 and sown straight away. Small things just three small shoots but the elation lasted hours. I was warned this afternoon to check for slugs which love the young emerging leaves.
4. Downs: going to water a succulent but finding it falling apart. That horrid little grub stage of the Vine weevils having devoured the roots, were eating right up the stems. It is there right in the middle surrounded by its frass. Each and hopefully everyone was crushed, and the majority of the plant binned.
With very gritty fresh compost and a deep dressing of grit, a cleaned out bowl was replanted with cuttings. That will teach me this outside on the ground for their outside period!
Maybe the up was such an up as it came after the down!
5. The daylight hours are shortening, and temperatures are dropping. Soon the pelargoniums will have to be moved inside. Yesterday they looked lovely in the sunshine. I had trimmed them back a few weeks ago, and they have bounced back are in flower again.
6. Why does a little snail choose to climb almost to the very top of a Japanese Umbrella Pine Sciadopitys Verticillata? I chose to bring it down!
I've looked up its name and the easy one is white lipped snail aka Cepea hortensis (RIP). I'll keep my eyes open for other snails now and see how many different ones I can find whilst I am out in the garden. Hope I don't find too many!
It is amazing how high snails will climb. I wanted to say that I have spotted tiny cyclamen growing this week from your seeds. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't so high, it is a very slow growing plant but I can't think what a snail would find here. Delighted about your little seedling cyclamen. Grown yourself from seed is extra special in my opinion.
DeleteThat snails climb anywhere: why not....but why on a pine? It's not his favourite food. The pelargoniums are very pretty in your photo, you did well to give them a new pruning.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree with you, why a confiner? I pruned the pelargoniums, and you will probably have guessed that I also took cuttings at the same time too.
DeleteI don't have any Chrysanthemum recomendations I'm afraid. I've not tried growing them, but I should give it a try as I like the ones you have shown.
ReplyDeleteI have always been put off on how they look in the pots when they are on sale, but in the garden they are quite a different thing. You should have seen them when they first arrived, but I think the secret in growing good ones, is the divide the clumps regularly. I am even thinking dig them up and put in pots, then divide and put small pieces in where you want a display after the bulbs have finished.
DeleteA lovely glimpse of your garden with the pelargoniums basking in the sunshine. 'orrible things, vine weevils. I sometimes find them in the Dahlia pots in the spring.
ReplyDeleteTo think these are a relatively recent pest, at least I was not troubled with them until relatively recently.
DeleteAnother attractive chrysanthemum Noelle. It's amazing just how snails can climb considering the size of some of them. I've not discovered a vine weevil so far this year but they must be lurking about somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI really hope you don't have these pests Anna, maybe they are less numerous or are more prevalent in these mild areas.
DeleteI think your chrysanthemums are very pretty and a wonderful spot of colour in the late autumn garden. It’s funny how an ‘up’ can last for such a long time, something to be thought about later and inspected daily after that!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jane, I am going to look for a couple more types for next year. I think gardening and being outside can give us so many if we are open to them, for example just watching a large bumble bee have a late season foray before the winter sets in.
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