Hello and welcome to this week six on Saturday.

I have started writing this blog on Wednesday as I have a week off and I am having a long weekend on Cambridgeshire. I have spent the week getting together with old mates, starting to walk for longer distances (I damaged my Ankle earlier in the summer), drinking beer, reading and taking stock of the garden. One thing I have noticed in the gardens is the sheer amount of succulents have got! From a fad it has turned into a bit of a obsession, but as I say to my family and friends it is better being obsess with succulents than gambling or drinking. At this time of year and the succulents take on some wonderful autumnal colours because they get stressed because of the lack of sunlight.

Here is my six.

1. Robin surveying his territory.

As I said I have taken up walking longish distances again. We are blessed in Berwick to have some wonderful coast line so I took a walk up to the beach at Greenses Harbour where in the distant pass fishermen used to land there catch. When I was there the weather was glorious and a robin was chirping away surveying his territory on a bush near the top of the cliff. What has this got to do with gardening I hear you ask. Well when I was there I was amazed at the amount of butterflies I saw. It really has been a bumper year for butterflies 🦋 which is good to see. Unfortunately we don’t see very many varieties up here, mostly the notorious Cabbage White, Red Admiral and sometimes Tortoise Shell and Peacock if we are lucky . However this year I have seen a few painted ladies. Perhaps not as much as other areas of the country but there has been many.

2. Echinopsis and Lavender

During one of the walks I walked past this garden facing the sea and had to take a photo of the clumps of Echinopsis and Lavender. It has to be one of the most classic combinations of plants for a dry hot garden. The flowers on both plants were going through the last throes of flowering for this year and were turning silvery grey. I wonder how many bees paid these plant a visit this year.

3. Sedum Palmeri

One of the plants I checked this week is Sedum Palmeri and the blue green leaves we’re looking healthy with some of the lower leaves turning red. This will grow over autumn then become dormant to a point over winter the. Start growing the end of winter and it will start flowing a again the end of winter and start flowering as early as the end of February. The flowers fo a yellow cross on a ate

4. Sempervivum Globiforum Toska

As I said at this time of year most succulents take on autumn colours. This includes sempervivums. The one above is putting on one of the best shows. Sempervivums should be entering a dormant period at the moment but this one is displaying the most autumnal paler at the moment.

5. Sedum Ewersii Rose Carpet

I have been trying to grow Sedum Ewersii in controlled conditions at the back of the house for a couple of years now with poor results. Imagine my surprise that the Sedum Rose carpet that I planted in the front of the garden and has been performing really well this year is actually Sedum Ewersii. It flowers profusely and the flowers last along time. The other plants you can see in the above photo is a Sempervivum Tectorum that is performing really well planted directly into the garden Hebe Buchiani Minor which is turning into a good specimen as well.

6. Dahlia Silver City

This is my best performing Dahlia this year. The flowers are large and white with a subtle cream centre. Don’t get me wrong the slugs and snails have done there upmost to destroy this plant but it has bounced back during the drier warmer weather we have had over the last 6 weeks. I have another Dahlia beside it but it has not flowered yet. I am still living in hope but time is running out. I have written earlier this year about my love hate relation with Dahlias but when you see flowers like this it is worth it and I have already put some of the failed Dahlia tubers into Winter storage and orders another batch for next year.

That is my SOS.

I finish this blog writing this morning (Saturday) in a Premier Inn in Huntingdon. The glamour! I visited Bletchley Park yesterday which has always been on my to do list and this afternoon I am going to spend a couple of hours in the Gardens at Burghley House which I am looking forward to.

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.