Six on Saturday - 16 November 2024

The weeks wiz by , and now we arrived at mid November leaves me baffled.  Jim is our leader for sharing of six things in our gardens.  The guidelines for joining in and the place to anchor your post is on his blog Garden Ruminations. 

1. With sunshine came butterflies and bumble bees visiting the Chrysanthemums, and made the grey days of last week melt away. 

Another special moment came when a robin  made the most of the bird bath, and since then, I have been cleaning it and changing the water each day. As I did yesterday evening.  I worked in the garden till it almost dark enjoying the company of Robin even though he is still very shy. Digging out the sedum, planting the fern, and giving the Conservatory bed a good tidy and mulch in readiness for the spring bulbs to emerge.

2. The cyclamen coum are already starting to flower in that bed.

3. At the start of the week the nasturtium leaves were still vibrant and green, adding to the frisson of wondering just how much longer they will hold, and still today they are green. I may well go and pick some since next week is forecast to be much colder.

4. The grass Panicum virgatum 'Sangria' bought this year is lovely but has not developed the red or purple flushed leaves I had expected.  It have developed a pale golden colour which works nicely in that spot.

Panicum virgatum 'Sangria'

The height suits this space and hopefully next year when it is a little more mature it will be more handsome.  I had Japanese Blood Grass on my list, and when I popped into my local garden shop to get some grit, they had one by the entrance.  I shall wait till next year to plant it out in the garden.  If anyone would like to comment on the foolishness of this please do leave your views in the comments.  I don't want to release an invasive plant into the garden, so shared experiences would be useful.

5. I've made a start on gently mulching the conservatory border.  Around one of the Rosa Grace  was the Primula "Treborth Yellow", which I was quite bowled over by this spring. Not surprisingly I had split it after flowering  into three.  A few weeks ago I had taken one and split it into three good plants, that I moved so that it as backdrop the dark foliage of the Pittosporum Tom Thumb.  

Primula "Treborth Yellow" planted up

This week the remaining two got divided and planted up into one of my special pots, hoping that it makes a real eye catcher next spring. With  a good sized space round the poor struggling Rosa Grace and a good measure of manure, it had better show its gratitude next year, or else it is being removed.

6.  Yesterday afternoon as the sun set Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' was giving off what seemed like a glow, with the colours even more intense and rich than in the picture taken in the afternoon.

Strangely it is only now that it is starting to flower.

I really had thought I would not have had sufficient to choose six this week, it may be harder still next week, but hopefully I shall be able to go out, potter around and enjoy as pleasing a session as I had yesterday.