Hello and welcome to this weeks Six on Saturday.
The weather seems to be getting better. Although the sunny days have been followed by frosty nights. I have been brave and only put some of my tender succulents under cover and leaving the rest to the elements and I am pleased to say I have no casualties.
This has to be one of the best times of the years with the nights drawing out. Spending an hour in the garden after work has to be one of the best ways to beat work related stress. I have also been on Slug patrol when I come home and I have been taken no prisoners. I have a couple of beer traps set up and these have dealt with a lot of baby slugs. I am giving them a good send of as at the moment I am using a South Korean red beer. I don’t like killing animals but the way see it we don’t put all this hard work in the garden just to feed slugs.
Here is my SOS.
1. Sempervivum Atlanticum
I got this Sempervivum free when I bought my 2019 Sempervivums from Sempervivums by Post and I am delighted to see all the babies it is producing. This variety of Sempervivum is from Morocco. It can stand cold temperatures of up to -32 degrees centigrade. It leaves can turn red if it gets a lot of sun. It will be interesting to see how many babies this produces.
2. Hardy Succulents grouped together.
I spent part of last Sunday grouping all my hardy succulents together on sleepers in the centre of the garden. I am starting to get quite a collection. Top left is the 2 new troughs I planted up earlier in the year. As you can see they are a bit white and bright so I have distressed them up with some dirt. Top right is the famous dry trough which I featured last week and in many other posts. I have put all my named Sempervivums in small pots just for ease of identifying them.
3. Hepatica Leaves
I bought 2 Hepaticas (Liver Wort) last year and they have not produced very many flowers. The flowers are pretty dainty and only last a day or so. I will have to make do with the leaves this year. I will report later on in the year and put some grit on the top of the pot so hopefully I can see the flowers better next year.
4. Anemonopsis Macrophylla
I bought this plant this time last year and unfortunately it struggled a bit. It is a woodland plant and I planted it too much sunshine. I have moved it into a more shadier place this year to see if it performs better. The leaves brighten up a shady corner. Each leave consists of 3 leaflets. Some times known as a false anemone. The flowers will sit on a rigid stem and will nod down. This plant comes from Japan and adds something different to the garden.
5. Ladybird
For some reason I don’t see very many ladybirds in my garden. I was surprised and pleased to see this one last week. This is by far the earliest ladybird I have seen and it is probably due to the warm weather we had in February.Hopefully this is a sign of things to come and all my hard work to make the garden nature friendly is paying off (apart from the slugs).
6. Aeoniums
I am going to be extra careful with my Aeoniums this year after many casualties last winter. I bough 8 new varieties in February and after hardening them off on Tereccottoa Pots with plenty of drainage I have begun to plant some of them direct into the mini gravel garden. I will be definitely lifting them up at the beginning of October this year and overwintering them back in the Terracotta Pots under cover. Above we have on the left A. Goblin and A. Emerald Flame. They should benefit from more moisture in the soil and the direct sunlight this part of the garden gets.
That is my SOS. I hope you enjoyed it. I am on call this weekend so gardening opportunities will probably be scarce with the run up to Easter. I will no doubt dabble in the garden briefly even if it is searching for slugs. I have just seen the weather forecast for next week and it is due to get much warmer which will be very much welcome.
As always to find out how six on Saturday works please follow the following link The Propagator. The don of Six on Saturday.
Until next week goodbye.
Sedums, Dahlias and Hayfever 
I lost half of my aeonium this winter and I hope they will recover soon with sunny days….
I didnāt know your anemonopsis…what will be the color of flowers and will they be interesting for eyes?
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White and Lilac. They are nice flowers but you need to pick them up to take a photo as they nod down on top of the long stem. They are something from the norm.
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I’ve not seen any ladybirds yet. I’ve been finding gardening in the evening after work a good way of unwinding too. Also been on slug patrols! Great collection of troughs and pots there.
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Thanks.
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Love the vibrant green of your Sempervivum Atlanticum and think your hardy succulent display is a great success – is the beer bottle part of the display? š
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Yes it is a lovely colour green. I was quality testing the beer for the slug beer traps
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Your succulent troughs are sooo lovely! I need to replant mine. My aeonium ‘Zwartkop’ were kept indoors over winter and two of them have been badly attacked by scale insects (I think), the leaves all mottled and many dropped. I have cut one plant up to see if I can grow new plants from it, but I suspect the scale has damaged it irretrievably. Luckily I have a couple more that seem OK.
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Oh no that is not good about the scale insects. Hopefully the ones you have cut will produce new growth.
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Not good at all. But we’ll see how it goes. I think I have been too hasty in planting the bits, should have left them exposed to the air to dry off.
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I used to think Sedums were boring! Yours are all stunning and I am very pleased with the ones in my garden and in my house! They are happy with or without attention. Lovely Six again.
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Sedums are never boring Granny just misunderstood.
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Maybe you don’t see many ladybirds because (lucky you) you aren’t providing the food they’re after. The momma bugs aren’t going to shepherd their nymphs to any garden that doesn’t supply a sufficient quantity of greenfly and the like to satisfy their voracious appetites. I seem to have acquired a following for my nightly slug patrols – I have more hedgehogs visiting than for many years. If I find a slug there’s always a hog nearby waiting for me to feed it to them. You may need to replan your beer trap though – dishes sunk into the soil are going to attract more than a bottle on the end of a bench! š
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I have hedgehogs in the surrounding area burnI have not seen any in my garden for ages. Next door neighbour picked one up thinking it was rubbish in the Twilight. Ah sill that wasnāt my beer trap that was quality control.
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Anemonopsisis a new one to me. I like the leaf shape. Still no ladybirds here, sadly. Iāve plenty of greenfly for them to feed on! Iāve just moved my Aeoniums permanently outside but Iām throwing some fleece over them for these cold nights.
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All those succulents together make a wonderful tapestry. I used beer traps in my garden too and discovered that they work with low alcohol beer- much cheaper!
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Thanks Jane. I am not sure how much non alcoholic beer is over here. I hardly drink itš
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Yes the leaf shape is a bonus isnāt it. Looks like a leaf from a tree or shrub. Very wise to put fleece over the Aeoniums you canāt be to careful.
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Yes the leaf shape is a bonus isnāt it. Looks like a leaf from a tree or shrub. Very wise to put fleece over the Aeoniums you canāt be to careful.
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I am sorry that I missed you Six on Saturday. I am days behind schedule. It is just bout time for the next. Your Anemonopsis macrophylla has the foliage of Campsis radicans. That is what I would guess it is. Well, I never heard of Anemonopsis macrophylla before anyway.
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No Tony Anemonopsis is from Japan. It is also know as false Anenome
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