Pinch punch it’s the first of the month.
Only 24 more days to Christmas and 20 more days until the days get longer.
It has been a wet week and a mild week. So much so that the gorse is starting to flower on the verges of the A1 through Scotland. Although earlier flowering gorse is not uncommon it is still pretty strange to see at the end of a year. Gardening opportunities as always at this time of the year have been pretty few and far between this week.
Here is my SOS.
1. Orostachys Iwarenge
This is a fantastic plant. A monocarpic succulent from the far east. This plant ca stand low temperatures down to -30 degrees centigrade. However it is a bit of a Gremlin plant as it does not like to get wet. I have taken a few cuttings in the autumn and I am keeping them just underneath the hedge on my patio which seems to be the driest part of my garden. It will be interesting to see how big this grows next year. More photo’s to follow no doubt.
2. Saxifraga Fotunei Hi No Mai
I posted a picture of an Autumn flowering Saxifraga last week. This wa the scond one to flower. This Japanese plant has apple freen foliage a pink flowers that look like they are made of plastic. I bought these plants from Edrom Nurseries who specialise in Japanese Woodland Saxifraga. I may need to visit them again next year to add some more colour for next year.
3. Crocuses showing signs of life.
I walked past this pot of crocuses last weekend and I was delighted to see some popping their heads through. I think I might put and extra inch of compost on them today just to be on the safe side.
4. New mini conifers
Aargh so I went to buy some new small terracotta pots to plant up some string of pearls cuttings and I ended up spending a fortune. One of the purchases was 3 small dwarf conifers. They were 3 for £12. Above is 2 of them. I have planted them in the front garden in front of a low wall and will add some much needed interest in the winter.
5. Sedum Reflexum Cristatum
Sedum Reflexum Cristatum also known as Crested Stonecrop is a strange looking Sedum. As you can see it looks like a Cockscomb. The leaves take on a resdish colour when exposed to sun. It will be interesting to see how big this plants grows. This is planted in my small gravel garden. Also I have just noticed that some Sedum tjny Sedum Aureum shoots pointing their heads through. I had thought I had lost them in this part of the garden.
6. Aeonium Cyclops
This is an experimental plant as I have left this slightly tender Aeonium planted directly in the garden. It is starting to shoe signs of a little distress but at the moment I am confident this plant should survive over the winter.
That is my SOS for this week. I will be doing my best not to go to a garden centre this weekend especially for a small purchase! Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading.
As always to find out how six on Saturday works please follow the following link The Propagator. The don of six in Saturday
Sedums, Dahlias and Hayfever 
I really want to acquire some aeoniums next year and I like the look of your Cyclops. Pretty little flowers on your Saxifraga brightening up these dull days.
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Taxus ‘Standishii’ was one of my six this week. Excellent conifer. I would take issue with the Cryptomeria description though. It’ll stay low unless and until it produces a leader, then you’d better cut it out or it will grow big. The UK champion is 21m, at Crieff, Perth and Kinross. Love the Saxifrage.
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Yes Jim I read up about Cryptomeria it isn’t very Dwarfish is it.
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I wanted to answer Paul that you had talked about yours 5m tall… not really a small one….
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Like me, you have counted the days remaining at Christmas and the winter solstice … Pretty Saxifraga flowers and some sedums that we will see in the coming months when you show us their growth. I do like the 1st : I’m waiting to see a “tuft” formed
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Cryptomeria and Taxus! Taxus are rare and expensive. There is a big one at work. No one knows where it came from or why it is there. It is about half a century old. Taxus has not been popular for decades. There are more in the older gardens of the East, and a few more in San Francisco (The Eastern city of the West). Cryptomeria is more popular, but still uncommon. It happens to do well on the coast.
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Thanks Tony.
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I got to your second choice and then skimmed quickly. I’m awaiting delivery of the plants I ordered a week ago (and four weeks ago I was determined NEVER to purchase a succulent, unless you count sedum as a succulent). Meanwhile you nip in somewhere to get some pots to plant what you’ve got and come out with more stuff to plant (did you remember the extra pots you’d need?). There is some contagious condition spreading through this meme – the need to buy plants. There must be a medical name for it.
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Yes I remembered the pots. Got to the car and had to go back into buy them but I remembered them
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I am fascinated by the Orostachys Iwarenge so I did a little research. I would love to add this to my collection of succulents/cacti.
I have a couple of Aeoniums and wondered why they were not doing so good during the summer. AFter research I’ve just discovered that is their dormant period.
A good Six selection – enjoyed
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Thanks yes I can thoroughly recommend Orostachys.
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I left a comment (I thought) but it’s disappeared 😦 I hope i did not come off the page while the dubri was still going round so it is now lost in the bowels of cyber space.
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Ahh the dubri where would we be without a dubri!
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Cryptomeria and Taxus are new plants for me. I particularly like the Taxus as it has red berries (I discovered on Google). It is fatal to go to a nursery for one small thing! Even if they didn’t have what I wanted, I still come out with more plants. How do you stop that, I wonder? Give up gardening altogether?
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Thanks Jane. Apparently the Spiralis one is not a dwarf conifer and could be a monster.
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I have stared hard at my crocuses but still no sign of them. Hmmmph.
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Stare harder!
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My favourite? Orostachys. Love your succulents, always.
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Thanks Tim
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