Six on Saturday – 4th May 2019

By Ronniejt28 @hurtledto60

One day it’s hot, one day it’s windy, one day is really cold with a night frost warning. Here on the Hampshire coast we’ve been promised rain but it doesn’t happen, so everything is dry as a bone. If we don’t know what to wear each day, t-shirt or fleece? How do our fledging seedlings and baby plants know what is happening?

1. Cottage garden

The cottage garden area on my allotment plot is taking shape and I’m in danger of planting too many plants forgetting what is there will fill out. My mini greenhouse on the allotment and patio at home are heaving with stuff waiting to go into a permanent home. This will be the cottage garden, daughter’s garden and my patio containers.

2. Aquilegia

My tulips are finished now and Aquilegia are taking over to give color to the garden. I bought 3 small Aquilegia ‘Biedermeier’ which really are a beautiful mix of blue, purple, pink and white. They are a low growing dwarf plant growing to about 18″ in flower, and have loads of flowers.

3. Verbascum

I was lucky that Sue, the previous allotment owner, already had a small garden area so I’m watching some lovely plants appear. One of which is this pretty Verbascum. There is an abundance of Verbena Bonariensis which will grow through all the other plants.

4. Cerinthe major Purpurascens

Cerinthe would be on my ‘All Time Favourites’ list and have grown them for years and wouldn’t have a garden without them. I have 8 small pots at home, grown from seed, for the cottage garden and was so delighted to see it already growing on the plot. It is only a small plant so when mine have grown a bit I will add them to what is already there.

5. Geum ‘Flames of Passion’

I bought this Geum solely because I liked its name. It is shorter than ‘Mrs J Bradshaw, by about 10″ and has a scarlet flower, which I think looks more delicate than a lot of other varieties.

6. Ragged Robin

I am sure we all have at least one plant that reminds us of our childhood. When I was little my mother used to insist on us going for a walk after supper and before bedtime. We lived on the Welsh coast where lots of wildflowers grew along the coastal path. She would point out all the various names and my knowledge, albeit limited, was learned from the age of 6. Ragged Robin is one that always reminds me of my mom and our evening walks. When I made my wildlife pond in the cottage garden, this was one plant I had to have in her memory.

There you go, this is my Six on Saturday hosted by The Propagator Blog. Please pay a visit and look at all the other Six on Saturdays showing what is happening in gardens this time of the year.