Six on Saturday - 30 May 2026

 What a week of heat and sun, roses have moved forward at double quick time.  The following is going to be linked into Jim's post where other gardeners posting six things from their gardens link in.

1. It is as if three weeks have passed in five days the roses jumped from being just starting, and are already past their peak. Quelle domage! I'm not a hot weather fan. 

I am already dead heading Patio Rose 'Shine On', Rose Grace and Rose Munstead Wood in this conservatory border.  Along the back fence Rose 'Open Arms' and Rose 'Ghislaine de Feligonde' on the side fence are fully open, and Ghislaine is somewhat bleached.  

2. Tropaeolum tricolor is one of the unusual plants in the garden which I enjoy growing and follow its many stages with interest. This year it stayed outside all winter, and when it was placed just outside the conservatory, I enjoyed watching the early bees visiting. I had not noticed this previous years, but then we had a very mild spring here with lots of different bumble bees in the garden.  It is the first time that the plants which I had bought as tubers have set seed. In its native habitat it is fertilized by humming birds, which reminds me of the Hummingbird Hawkmoths which were feeding on the Salvia in the garden on Thursday.  

I took this picture a few weeks ago of  Tropaeolum tricolor and it shows the little green seeds on the fading bloom.

Tropaeolum tricolor setting seed

During the week, I placed the plant on a large piece of garden fleece to catch the seeds as they dropped.  It will be some time before sowing time and maybe you would like to gen up on how to do this, and then let me know.  I shall have other seed to offer later on, and aim to send out seed some time in September, but will start a list of takers in my garden book.  

Tropaeolum tricolor seed

3.  Have I mentioned before that I do like poppies.  I let seedlings  come up around the garden of all sorts of different plants, and weed out what I don't want.  This one was growing close to the apple tree, and I think this one must win the prize for the largest ever grown in the garden.  There will be enough seed for all the bread making this coming year, and what a shame it is not one of the prettiest.

4. It was the blackbirds, pigeons and the squirrels on the wall in the part of the garden often called 'Gooseberry Corner', that alerted me to check out Gooseberry Invicta.  There was definitely evidence of 'others' having picked fruit already.  I set to, wearing my thick cotton fisherman's smock and my best 'protective' gloves, and picked 5.75Kg of fruit from my one and only Invicta Gooseberry.

5. A plant doing very well, but not quite in the right place, is this Zantedeschia aethiopica or Arum Lily.  Because it is within the drop zone of the Holm Oak, given the winds, its lovely blooms got filled with the staining spent catkins as well as thick brown oak leaves.  This picture was taken just before the drop a couple of weeks ago.  Now I would cry just to look at them,

Zantedeschia aethiopica or Arum Lily

I think a major reshuffle of plants and editing of plants in the garden is due.  

6. The drop zone for the Oak due to the hot weather and strong winds from the east early this week spread the catkins much further and as far as the gravel garden.  Last year I placed some of the South African winter dormant Rhodohypoxis there, and despite the wet winter, they overwintered very successfully. A soft brush will be needed to remove these or else I shall pick these off by hand, and then rake the gravel with a small hand tool to clear all the leaves and catkins.

My work this coming week is just to get the garden back in order, deadhead and water....