I was asked this morning what I had planned for the weekend. Without a second thought my reply was “I’m going to learn how to do a rain dance”. We desperately need a good week of soaking rain. The soil is rock hard and the grass has gone brown. Whilst an evening drench with many cans of water is ok, there is nothing like good prolonged rainfall for the garden. There are still plants flowering regardless which is heartening.
Here are my Six on Saturday.
1. Sweet peas
I made the mistake of saying to fellow residents of our flats, “Help yourself, sweet peas need to be picked daily”. It was my plan this morning to choose six photos of my sweet peas, but someone had got there before me. Although there are a lot of buds, very few are open so that idea was shelved. I have grown several varieties and planted them all together so they are all intertwined:-
- Heirloom
- Ripple mix
- Beaujolais
2. Fuchsia ‘Delta Sarah’
This hardy fuchsia was a tiny .50p pot from Morrison’s last year and is now a splendid bush with lots of flowers. I particularly like this one because it is different to the usual pink ones.
3. Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’
Along with sweet peas, Cerinthe is one of my all time favorite plants. I have grown lots from seed this year for the gardens here and also planted some in a container on my patio. If you are lucky they will self-seed and come back following years. They are just about to flower, this is the first flower I could see.
4. Allium ‘oreophilum’ and Allium ‘moly’
The pinky/purple one is ‘oreophilum’ and the yellow one is ‘moly’. I seem to recall I bought a mixed bulb collection last year and planted them in a large barrel container, and then forgot all about them. They must have come with a similar variety in white which are now almost over. The pink and yellow are just flowering now.
5. Mallow
This is a rogue plant which has found a home on the edge of the driveway curb. Initially I thought it was a geranium but now I realize it’s a mallow. It is very pretty and although I know they can grow into large bushes, I think I’ll leave it there for the time being.
6. Salvia ‘Hot Lips’
The salvia is covered in flowers now and as I was taking a photo of it, this bee landed on one of the flowers. Most of the flowers are true to the plants name ‘Hot Lips’ red and white with a few all red flowers. It’s not the sharpest of photos but the bee was not hanging around for a second shot!
The weekly Six on Saturday is hosted by The Propagator’s Blog so please hop over and take a look at his Six and all the other contributors.