Hello and welcome to this weeks Six on Saturday.
Well this week has been a tad moist to say the least. We escaped the deluge the South has on Monday and Tuesday and TBH we had a couple of good sunny days. However we made up for it on Wednesday and Thursday and the garden is soaking. I guess this will be good for the plants in the long run. Plant wise I escaped any serious damage compared to some of the reports I have seen on Twitter.
I have forced myself to have a bit of rest from buying new plants this month. I am glad to say it is going well and have only bought 12 new plants this week! Whoops. All of them are Alpines and to me they don’t count as plants. Plants are trees, shrubs and large perennials right?
My garden is a bit of a mess at the minute as we have been doing some decorating and as we have a small flat most of the rubbish has found itself into the garden. I am off in a weeks time and it looks like my first job will be a few trips up to the tip.
Here is my SOS
1. Rain
That is enough now for this summer. Thank you.
1a. Dianthus Devon Wizard.
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I have a few carnations in the garden this year. A few are struggling because I keep moving them but they will come next year. This one is the star of the show this year. A strong grower with long stalks and a prolific flowerer this is the star of the show in the front garden border this year.
2. Primula Vialli
I planted this in early spring. A lot of people grow this and TBH I was a bit non fussed about it. Now I have seen it flowering in my garden I realise why many people grow it. It has a fantastic flower spike with Palmer violet and raspberry colours and it brightens up any border. Wish I had grown this sooner.
3. Digitalis Suttons Apricot
As I mentioned in an earlier blog these are one of the first plants I have grown from seed. I have planted them in 3 parts of the garden and these are the tallest by far. I guess it is because these are planted in the new border which was mostly filled with multi purpose compost and at North facing so they have to grow a bit more to get the light. As with all digitalis the bees love them and they are always a “hive” of activity. I only lost one stalk during the bad weather but I have to put canes in beside all the tall stalks now to keep them going.
4. Rose Tottering by Gently
This David Austin bred rose is a really show stopper. Named after a cartoon from the Country Life magazine (never read it) I was drawn to the description on the label. It produces masses of simple yellow roses. A shrub rose it is going great guns. It was battered a bit by the rain and wind this week but a day of sun yesterday has meant that this has bounced back. This is going to be a focal point for the garden for years to come.
5. Dry trough
Planted a 18 months ago this has filled in with aplomb. It has mostly for Sedums and Sempervivums in but it also has a couple of Saxifraga and I have just planted it’s second Thymus plants called Russerings. The flowering sedums are Carpe Blanco in the front and Purperum in the back. This sits at knee level on sleepers just in front of the previous mentioned Rose and makes a good contrast.
6. Aeonium Firecracker
By far my most mature Aeonium this has benefited hugely from this weeks rain. It has masses of offshoots and all have more than double this week. I have already taken 4 offshoots off and I potted these on. By the looks of it there will be more to come.
Well that is my SOS. I will try and be on my best behaviour and buy any more plants this week……I am on call this weekend so gardening opportunities might be limited. I hope it is drier for everyone this weekend.
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 
Beautiful dianthus.
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Lovely selection – am envious of your foxgloves and that great little dianthus.
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Oh it isn’t a little Dianthus believe me quite big. Yes the foxgloves have been good this year.
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You say that your primula vialli is grown a lot near
 your home but not much in France. I think I’d be among the first ones in my corner if I plant them. Your Cape Blanco sedums are as flowery as mine last week. Nice color flash in this alpine trough.
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Yes Fred the Sedums make a lovely splash of colour.
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That rose is lovely and apricot foxgloves have been added to my list!
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Thanks. Yes I must admit I am really pleased with the rose.
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Doesn’t Jon have the same foxglove? His is huge, too, so perhaps it’s location but also that particular foxglove. That dry trough is gorgeous. If I had only one section of my garden looking that good, I’d retire & call myself a professional. How big is Devon’s wizard? I’d assumed it was the normal size until you mentioned its size.
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I believe he does face the same one. The flower stems are over a foot high and it is about 2ft by 2ft wide. It is a big plant. The dry trough is my personal favourite in the garden.
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I was getting a bit panicky until photo 6 appeared! Lovely Six again.
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Yup I definitely made sure there was some kind of succulent in my post today!
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You certainly have some different primula over there. The few that we have are not my favorite. There were some prettier primula in the 1980s that were not so garish as what is available now, but I do not see them about anymore. How ironic that something was actually ‘less’ garish in the 1980s.
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Cheers Tony. It certainly is a bit bright.
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Oh, yours is quite elegant. I meant that those that are available here are obnoxiously brightly colored, like they were cut out of a comic strip.
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Love that firecracker!
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Thank you….
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I love that thought!
I have had a great idea on what to plant on a south-facing wall which has very little soil in it – Sempervivums and Sedums! A project for next year. Do you leave your troughs outside all year round?
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Yes I leave the troughs out over winter. All plants are hardy. Sometimes they are like a block of ice.
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Good to know 🙂
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Found a photo from February if I have time this week I will write a quick blog.
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I have published that small blog.
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Will have a look now 🙂
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Great looking aeonium….I completely agree with you…any amount of alpines are permitted…after all they are small, and can be planted in small gaps.
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Exactly. Might start a movement.
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The trough looks great, so much texture and colour. Great Six
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Those foxgloves are gorgeous! I like your rationale on the plant buying front!
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Well done on your seed grown foxgloves, they look great. Have you sown any for next year?
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Yup down and even planted in the garden to grow on fo next year. They are Polka Dot Pippa and Camelot Cream. Just sown Digitalis Stewartii but probably sown them too early.
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Yup just planted out next years plants into the garden to grow on. . Polka Dot Pippa and Camelot Cream. Just sown Stewartii but that might be a little too early.
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