Hello and welcome to this weeks SOS.
As you are probably aware it has been a tad wet this week and it actually rained for a whole 24 hours on Wednesday which was very much welcome as the gardens really needed but by heck it has been cold for May. Thankfully it looks like it will be getting warmer in the next few days.
I have had an extremely busy couple of weeks at work and have driven over 2000 miles. One of the advantages of this is that I make sure if I am in a different area to visit a garden centre for my lunch. This week I had to drive down to Preston so coming back I popped into the garden centre at Barton on the A6 North of Preston and by heck it was big. I did buy a couple of hanging basket terracotta pots which is going to be a welcome addition to the garden. No doubt these will be featured in future posts.
With all the driving I spend a lot of time looking a verges. I am becoming increasingly wound up with the plastic wrap that the landscape gardeners that are being put around new bushes and trees around the country. I realise they are there to stop deers and rabbits gnawing at them but why does nobody remove them when the plant is established. The country is littered with them! It is driving me insane! Anyways back to my garden!
I have just started a weeks holiday and J am spending it at home. I will be spending most of it on the garden. I am also going to pay a visit to Branklyn Gardens in Perth to have a look at the their Rhododendrons and Mecanopsis, both of which are vast.
Here is my SOS.
1. Sempervivum Alladin
This plant is in the mini gravel garden and is starting to fill in nicely. All my Sempervivums are sprouting babies from the rosettes that are probably going to flower. The flowers of Sempervivums are some times know as death blooms as when they finish flowering the rosette will die and the chicks/babies will take over.
2. Sedum Clavatum in Flower
One of my Tender succulents has started to flower despite the weather this week. Sedum Clavatum is from a small area in Mexico. I had this plant last year but the main plant died. I took some offsets and they are still alive but not growing very fast. I bought this particular plant this year. Like most sedums the flowers are small and dainty and as you can see there are still many flowers to come.
3. Pasqueflower seed heads
One of the most prettiest seed heads out there, these always add an extra dimension to the plant and extend it’s interest.
4. Camellia Eugenia de Montijo
Bought this year this plant has started to flower. The flowers as you can see are fantastic and the size of a small saucer. This is planted in my new border which has been enriched with some Eraceious Compost. It has not grown very much hence why the flower is hiding. When I bought it it said on the label that it was Eugenia de Monjito but I am not sure it is as it does not match any photo’s on the internet but that is just a minor issue if all the flowers are going to be like this.
5. Allium Summer Drummer
A late flower this Allium will grow to 1.5m to 2.5m. You can see why it is called Summer Drummer because the stem and flower bug look a bit like a drumstick. In the back ground you can see my potting bench which needs an good tidy which will be one of my holiday jobs this week.
6. Orostachys
I have 3 varieties of Orostachys at the moment. Above we have Iwarenge and Spinosa. The Spinosa has changed phase again and it looks like it is definitely going to flower this year (a death bloom). Luckily it is monicarpic and you can see a little baby poking out on the left. I have managed to get many offsets all in different stages. Fingers crossed I could have 8 or 9 at this stage next year. The other variety I have got is Orostachys Japonica.
That is my SOS.
Poking my head out the front door this morning it really looks like the weather has turned for the positive so it looks like I will be spending most of the week in the garden.
That is my SOS. If you want to write one it is not that difficult. 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 
Don’t you already see a second baby of your Orostachys spinosa? (or maybe is it the same?) I’m looking forward to seeing its bloom. How tall should the flower spike be?
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Yes I believe there is…
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Fred I think the flower spike is going to be about 30cm’s. Looks pretty spectacular.
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Great. We had some rain here too. Just retreated indoors from a heavy shower in fact. Love your seed heads.
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2000 miles? I’d had enough after 220 on the trip to Wales! The pinwheel seedheads are just as impressive as any flowers.
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Your Sedum looks lovely in flower and I like the rust red of Sempervivum Alladin – all of your succulents always look so healthy! Have a good week off in your garden.
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Thank you…I will make the most of the week off in the garden..
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Are the seedheads from nigella? When I image search, I get all sorts of answers. Love those summer drummers enough to image search them as well. My goodness, they’re gorgeous. Will have to get some for next year. Now I’m going out to tell my sempervivum it can have all the chicks it wants, but no blooming. Not on my watch.
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I sort of named that wrong it is from a Pasqueflower Pulsatis Vulgaris . Genuine mistake sorry.
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Your name was much better.
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https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/352764/Pulsatilla-vulgaris-Pinwheel-Blue-Violet-Shades-(Pinwheel-Series)/Details
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That’s better! Your Sedums are as lovely as always! I have a sneaking suspicion that one of my Sedums is going to flower. I will keep an eye on it and report later. Is it my imagination or does the colour of the “foliage” improve in the summer? Mine all seem brighter. Also, can I plant my miniature Sedums, which have outgrown my terrarium, outside? I need to reorganise it soon.
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Yes they do get better over the summer. Colours change all the time. They will go dormant over the winter. It depends what Sedum and Sempervivums you have in the terrarium.
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I may give it a try in the warm weather but in a container that can be brought indoors. Thank you.
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You should give Jim (Garden Ruminations) a shout out about your Camellia as he knows his Camellia onions (has a second web site devoted to them). I now water my Camellias once a week with Vitax Ericaceous Feed. Since I started using that they have really taken off. So far, I’m resisting more succulents tho my original six are already producing little babies. Must work out the right way to separate them from mummy.
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Gosh yes you are so right about our camellias!
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Sedum flowers are so pretty. Mine are all common kinds, but they have all colors of blooms. So far I have yellow ones just starting to show color. I really need to pay them the attention they are due, not just look at them as extras and only fit to fill spaces. Most were here when I moved in.
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You’ve got some great succulents there and it’s great to see the flowers, small as they are. I share your annoyance at the plastic deer and rabbit deterrents. There’s so much plastic on our verges as it is. It makes me so sad.
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Thanks Katharine
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Your Sedums are looking great. I agree about the plastic wrap -what IS that about! Have a great week.
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Thank you.
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I see black plastic caught up in the hedges that has blown around from the farms in the area. I do wish someone would clear it up – I can’t reach as most is caught high up in the brambles. Most annoying. Have a great week in the garden!
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I am not against tree guards as I realise why they are being used but I am against them not being removed in an orderly manner.
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The sedum clavatum looks like burro’s tail. As far as I know, there are only two species of burro’s tail, and the more coarsely textured one of the two is not the one I remember being popular when I was a kid. I sort of miss it (the finer textured one) now that it is not so popular. They took years to grow into a big specimen, and once they were big, they were difficult to move without damaging them.
I am getting to like the sempervivums because they look like something that can be plugged into stone walls. We have a few here now, but I do not know what they are.
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There are literally 1000’s if varieties of Sempervivum Tony. Very difficult to name because the leaves change colours over the year.
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Ours were not purchased with labels, but arrived in pots of mixed succulents that people who live here dropped off. I always hate to waste them, so they need to go into part of the landscapes where they will not get overwhelmed by other plants. We sometimes put them at the edges of the low stone retaining walls. They look good with the stone, and some spill over the edges. The Sempervivums just sort of stay put and add a bit of color as the weather changes.
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