Six on Saturday - 11 July 2026

It's been a very hot week again.  Morning or late evening after dinner are the only times it is bearable to get outside, and many plants are just about hanging in, and I am afraid I have had to resort to using the garden hose to rescue certain plants from certain death, and to clean out the bird baths, once saved water has been used up. There are many Six on Saturday posts to enjoy over on Jim's blog.  

Six 'ruminations' from my garden: with many thanks to Jim for this in many ways, and all the other contributors and people who post comments, who keep up my enthusiasm even during this hot weather for things plants and gardening.

1.

Tagetes Cinnabar 

For seeds for Tagetes Cinnabar I have to thank Cathy. I had a good few strong plants from these , but due to the marauding slugs and snails I have just two plants left, but they are orange and vibrant, a sure pleasure to have. I was surprised that slugs and snails like them as they are so pungent. They are tall beautiful green plants topped with beautifully shaped and coloured petals around the central boss.

Tagetes Cinnabar

2. Some of the annuals I sowed this year are bearing up well.  I think the Cosmos was free with a magazine and may have included cupcake.  Some of the cosmos I grew on in 10cm pots, but some when they were just a few cms high, were planted in groups of  three or so seedlings direct in the garden to take their chance, the surplus which would have otherwise been thrown away.  These have done better in my opinion, and the slugs haven't touched them. There is a mixture of pale pink and white.  I shall certainly try these again next year planting  small seedlings in the garden, rather than potting them up individually.

Cosmos

I've mostly been the sort of gardener that likes to propagate through division and cuttings, but over the last couple of years thanks to some seed sharing with mainly IAVOM friends I am starting to appreciate the joy of growing annuals from seed. I too like to share my seed, so will be posting a later this year.

3. The gravel garden is probably the most resilient of areas.  It could well be because there drought tolerant plants are being grown plus the mulch would help too. This little plant which I first saw in Beth Chatto's garden is  the little Limonium bellidifolium. I was attracted to the little dome of leaves, and it has since proved easy to divide and now I have a number of little plants.  Early in the morning the light was just right to catch the colour of the tiny flowers. 

Limonium bellidifolium

The plant cluster at 10 o'clock is starting to get buried by soil brought up by ants.  We have lots of ants in the garden and early during the week whilst we were sitting in the shade having coffee, we witnessed a nuptial flight as winged ants emerged first crawling up stems before flying up in a cloud. That was on Monday 6th July.

Whilst looking up Limonium and entering into the spirit of growing more flowers from seed next year I came across Limonium suworowii which seems quite showy and maybe right for adding colour and may tolerate the drier weather.  Any thoughts? 

4. We have to time our morning drink to catch the shade cast by the large oak trees on the other side of the wall, and as I had my phone with me, decided to try and catch the dewdrops on the Echeveria Elegans succulent bowl on the table. 

Dewdrops on the Echeveria Elegans

5. Looking at it as we chatted, it really looked over congested. An easy not strenuous job to do when it was a little less stifling during the evening, was to turn it out of its pot, and replant some of the best rosettes, having first removed all the dried leaves and some of the leaves near the bottom of the stem which where it will throw out new roots. 

This time one of the shallow bonsai trays was used to take a display which will remain in there for two or three years.  I couldn't bear to throw away too many and found some antique terracotta pots in the pot store and for now for ease of moving around the garden and also watering, they are sitting in one of the garden tubtrugs, though they will have to be moved out of there when rain is expected. 

 6. I took the opportunity of repotting some other succulents which needed larger pots, and now I am quite out of potting compost.  I still have plenty of grit, sand and the other things I mix in with bought potting compost.  It is such a strange situation and gives a funny feeling.  I shall be rectifying this soon.  For now most pot plants have been moved to a shady spot, but the square table where we sit outside for all our meals, lunch is later to catch the shade as well as the shed shelf are only fit for succulents which have been acclimatised to the outdoors for a few months, and a few of the rocks and stones I collect on my walks.

Last week on Cathy's anchoring post for In a Vase on Monday, she paid homage to her mother and one of the memories that stayed with me, was that she advised of  the value of introducing regular habits into our routines.  Sometimes I vacillate about continuing with Six on Saturday, given that I feel that I must have said all I can say about a small garden, and that I may be boring due to repetition.  However for myself it has encouraged me to appreciate maybe the small things and take the problems on the chin or even try and think of solutions and not being too despondent on the problems. It also helps me to look up and relearn names of plants and also often learn more about their habits.