Hello and welcome to this weeks Six on Saturday.
I’ll start this blog in an inevitable manner by mentioning the Coronavirus that seems to be gripping the World and the fact that some leaders and governments can’t seem to grasp that no matter where the virus has come from (believe me I have some wonderful conspiracy theories going around in my mind) the virus is here and needs dealt with. It was painful to watch that speech by Trump on Thursday morning. However has Boris got it right by going with the herd immunity theory? I haven’t made my mind up yet. People may say that virus has nothing to do with gardening but that couldn’t be further from the truth as during these uncertain times the garden can be a constant stress relief and give us a time to relax and not worry about what weird crap seems to be going on at the minute around the world.
The weather has been mixed this week with some sun, rain and even a touch of snow but thankfully the weather has not caused any dramas.
Here is my six.
1. Hepatica Pyrencia (Pyrenean Princess)
I bought 4 new Hepaticas a couple of weeks ago as I think the flowers are small, delicate, detailed and spectacularly pretty. I also like the fact they flower at the start of the year and give you a lift after a dark, cold wet winter. This one has tiny dainty white flowers and dainty yellow stamens. The leaves are marbles and in some ways just as pretty as the flowers. There seems to be many different Hybrids out there and the flowers can be different shapes and colours. However they are not cheap plants and indeed some of the Japonica Hybrids can cost eye watering amounts.
2. Pulsatilla Vulgaris
It looks like it is going to be an exceptional year for Pasque Flowers this year. These hopefully should flower soon and this one will be a lovely Crimson colour with a yellow centre. You get a double whammy with these plants as the seed heads are really pretty as well. Once these have flowered I am going to lift these and split these.
3. Saxifraga Whitehills.
I feature this plant a lot purely because it looks spectacular. As you can see it has tight clump forming rosettes which are silvery grey. In the picture it looks like it is covered in frost but this was taken when it was mild. In the flesh it looks like it has bee sprinkled with icing sugar and this has caused a wonderful patina. This will produce tall stalks of little white flowers in the summer.
4. Primula Carrigadale
This plant has brilliant vibrant white flowers. So brilliant I can’t take a decent photo of them. Again I have marked this one to be split once it has stopped flowering. Hopefully I should get 4 decent plants out of it.
5. Aeonium Goblin
I always post pictures of plants that look good but I thought for a change I would post a picture of a plant that is struggling. I don’t really know why it is struggling as it was protected over the winter in the same cold frame as the rest of my Aeoniums. I do however think this plant will bounce back but it might take some time.
6. Saxifraga Gregor Mendel
It’s always nice to see new flowers when you come home from work and these ones appeared on Tuesday. The primrose yellow flowers really do contrast wonderfully with the green leaves.
That is my six for this week.
If you want to write a SOS blog 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 
A nice choice, especially the Pulsatilla flower buds which are gorgeously fluffy. Stay safe up north !
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Couldn’t agree more about gardening as a stress reliever. Your Pulsatilla looks promising and your White Hills is a handsome beast indeed. Why is it that white flowers are so hard to photograph? I had the same problem with some cyclamen.
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Thanks 🥕😀
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I’ve always wanted to try hepatica, I suppose I just need to pass one for sale one day and it will be mine! Love those pulsatilla buds. 🙂
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Yes you should give them a try it is well worth it.
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It bothers me when folk say, stay in your lane, don’t comment. We’ll be very lucky indeed if no SoSer is affected by covid19. Saying that, you’ve left me w/pasque envy. I tried propagating them last year w/no luck. Can’t wait to see yours open. Whitehills does look like it’s covered in something & is worthy of several appearance here. You did well w/your white primula photo.
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Thanks. It seems to be impossible to take a decent picture of a white flower.
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You are so right, gardening is a great stress reliever – I have been feeling very lethargic by being kept indoors practically since September due to the weather being so horrid. I am amazed that your Pasque Flower is so far advanced compared to mine, given you are so far north, but perhaps yours is an established plant whilst mine were new small plants last year. And I think it is very useful for us to show things that are struggling in the garden as well as the successes: we all have times when things don’t go well and often someone will come up with good advice.
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Number 3 is so beautiful, it certainly looks as though it is “frosted”. I enjoyed today in the garden completing my fruit cages and keeping away from the news. Rain or shine, I will be out there tomorrow.
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Managed to finish work at 1 today and spent a good 2 hours in the garden news free.
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Unfortunately, it has been raining or pouring all day here. Too wet to garden, looking forward to a better forecast tomorrow. It’s not easy to avoid the news completely. I’m glad you had a chance to enjoy your garden.
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I love that yellow saxifraga. I’ve just realised I’ve not spotted my Pasque Flowers yet.
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Yes the flowers of the Saxifraga certainly stand out.
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Great to see your pretty hepatica. You’re so right that they bring some vital winter interest. I’m not yet feeling confident about what conditions to grow mine in. I’m very jealous of your pasque flower and do hope you’ll share a pic when in full bloom. Mine are not doing at all well in pots and will soon be liberated into the rockery where I’ll keep my fingers crossed for next year!
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Thanks Katharine. I do have to admit that it filled be with joys when I saw the Pasque Flower buds. Of course I will post pictures when they flower.
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That’s a really pretty and delicate selection of plants this week. (Except for the poorly aeonium which I wish a speedy recovery). Those delicate spring flowers look like they shouldn’t be able to survive the unpredictable spring weather although we know they can, which makes them even more precious I think.
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Yes it amazes me how delicate some of the flowers are in spring but I suppose they want to attract pollinators as quickly as possible in the spring so they have more chance to pollinate and seed that year.
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There is an aeonium in my downtown planter box that looks just like ‘Goblin’. Actually, there are many of them now. It sort of falls apart over winter, so the pieces get plugged back in where space allows. Even here where winter is quite mild, they look rather shabby until about now. They start to look shabby at the end of summer too, then fluff out a bit in autumn, and then look shabby again. The late summer deterioration makes sense, but I really can not explain what they dislike about winter. The others really like the cool and rainy weather. It only rains here in the winter.
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