Hello and welcome tho this weeks late edition of SOS.
I went to see Lewis Capaldi in Scarborough last night and stayed overnight and visited Whitby on the way home this morning. Gardening opportunities have increased this week and I have spent most of the week inspecting my Succulents after a wetter than usual summer and I have featured some of the results below.
After a busy August it has been nice just spending a few minutes in the garden having a cup of tea and taking stock of things. AhG needs moved, what needs split and what needs pruned, by how much and when.
Here is this weeks Six
1. Actae Simplex
I featured the buds a couple of weeks ago and they have now opened. They are one of my favourite flowers. Small and white with hints of pink they will flower through most of the Autumn and add interest and colour along with the lush brown foliage.
2. Fuschia Annabelle
Another of the the Fuchsias I bought for a £1 I bought at Morrisons and it is growing at pace. The flowers while pretty seem to always have a slight blemish on them. Hopefully the 2 Fuchsias that I have bought will survive the winter. They are not planted in the garden they are planted in a planter with a trellis so I should be able to protect them easier than on the border over winter.
3. Gaillardia and friend
I think this is Gaillardia African Sunset but I don’t know what the insect is? Carpenter bee?Entomology has never been a strong point one thing for sure is it loves the sun.
4. Sedum Red Cauli
This is actually a cutting. The main plant has been ravaged by slugs and snail. All my Hypotele…thingys….sorry Sedums have take a bartering with wet this summer. It’s been a tough year for them.
5. Echeveria Cameo
As I said I the introduction I inspected some of my Succulents this week and I am pleased to say that only a couple of the. Seems to have any serious damage. This one E. Cameo has been damaged by some grubs eating the stem. They might have been vine weevils. This plant was planted in a richer soil mixture than normal and in hindsight I should have added more grit. I have cut the damaged portion of the stem off and replanted it and it should survive and as you can see it is producing babies.
6. Aeonium Sunburst
I arrived home from work on Tuesday to find that the plant had snapped. I am not sure if it was because of bugs or the fact the stem has really been very thin and never thickened. As you can see from this mini disaster has come opportunity and I now have 4 plants.
Well that was my Six. I have actually surprised myself. I though I was going to struggle with a six but saw loads of new stuff when walking around the garden this afternoon.
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 
I didn’t think slugs and snails liked Sedums etc. Anyway, pleased to see that 4 new plants came from the damaged original. Some lovely colours, flowers and plants, as usual.
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That first one (Actae Simplex) has very intricate flowers. I’ll have to look it up later. Morrisons seems to be the place to go for bargain plants.
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Vine weevils are a really difficult problem in succulents we have found. They often burrow up into the stems above the compost level so neither chemicals or nematodes will affect them, and nematodes need moist compost to work, which isn’t what you want with succulents in September. A loan based compost and letting the plants get really dry between watering should make life impossible for the hatchling grubs but some seem to survive.
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After your description it definitely sounds like vine weevils. I checked the plant last night and couldn’t see any more grubs. I will keep an eye on it.
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Yes it definitely sounds like Bine Weevil. I checked the plant last night and all seems well. I will keep an eye on it.
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I can see why Actae simplex is a favourite of yours. I had to look it up, of course and it seems very desirable to me…a lovely structural plant. Isn’t it annoying that Sedums have changed their name to something that is almost unpronounceable and needs to be checked every time it’s written? I suppose we’ll have to get used to it. I’m glad you were able to turn disasters into wins.
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Yes blast the Botanists for changing names of the Sedums. They will still be Sedums to me
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great SoS….good luck with the fuchsias 🙂 Cath@Home
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Thank you for the kind comments.
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Actaea simplex, so lovely. In my garden it’s one of the few well behaved perennials. I Wish it flowered a bit earlier though
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You were late to write and I was late to read. As we said earlier, you will need to protect your 2 fuchsias as they are not hardy but half-hardy. Keeping them in pots is the solution.
Your “bee” on the gardenia is a hoverfly. Look at its eyes , you can see they look like those of a fly.
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I’m another one of the gardeners who had to look up the Actea simplex! The flowers are lovely! Aren’t succulents such a blessing! Even losing a single leaf means a new plant!! Thank you for an interesting post.
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Sunburst aeonium is one of the more popular here, and one that I would like to get a copy of. I have rules about such things though. I will only grow it if I can get it from a friend or other significant source. I will not purchase it.
Actae simples looks like prune blossoms initially.
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Vine weevils seem to be particularly fond of Aeoniums in my experience. They feasted on some mine two years following despite a good gravel mulch. I use the nematodes now and try to get the balance of damp enough for them and not too wet for the plant. I go on a SnS hunt most days around the Sedums and often find huge snails lurking on the under side of the leaves. They are swiftly despatched.
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