Hello and welcome to this weeks Six on Saturday or is it Friday or Sunday whatever day it is.
First of all Happy Easter to all the readers of this blog and you family and loved ones. We are living in extraordinary times and this is going to be the weirdest Easter we have ever had.
The days seem to be moulding into one during the Lockdown but at least I have got the garden to keep me occupied. The good thing is that the weather has been at times been great this week with sun and warmth at times. My garden never have had as much attention as it is having now and I am starting to struggle a bit as my local garden centre is closed and I need a couple of things. To it’s credit they are doing a online delivery service so I will probably have a look at it and see if I can get what I need. The main thing I need is some grit and sand to plant my succulents in. They have got perlite on the web shop but I am a little bit of a skin flint when it comes to what I use for drainage.
Hang on here’s me worrying about my garden when the county is going through one of it’s biggest crises since the 2nd world war. I’ll give myself a shake.
Here’s my six.
1. Hellebore Double Specked White
The Hellebores have been great this year and this one is still putting on a display. I say they have been great this is one that I bought this year. Hopefully this will flower again next year. I have got a couple of older plants that simply do not flower. Both do produce plenty of leaves but that’s about it. You never know next year might be my loving year.
2. Tulip Danceline
These tulip did not flower last year but by the looks of it they will flower this year. As you can see they have got a wonderful look of Raspberry Ripple Ice cream. Is will post a photo once they open. All my Tulips pots were looking dry on Thursday so I gave them one last soak before the warm weather this weekend. By the looks of it most of my Tulips should flower in the next 10 days.
3. Narcissus?
I wrote a few blogs ago that I bought some narcissus/daffodil bulbs from Farmer Gracy. The first ones I featured were supposed to be a Mount Hood but turned out to be another hybrid. Well it seems to have happened again. This is supposed to be Narcissus Trepolo. But when I checked the pictures on the internet orb looks completely different. As you can see Trepolo is an strange looking daffodil like you have never seen before. Thinking I had mixed it up with the only narcissus variety that is left to flower Night Cap I checked pictures of that one and it does not match. Having said that though the flowers do look fantastic with it’s yolk yellow centre it makes you want to dip soldiers in the centre of it – for the non British readers toasted bread fingers.
4. Echeveria Red Gilva
I have many Echeverias in my collection and this one is the one that stands out the most at the moment. The mottled orangey brown tones it had at the start of the year have turned into intense red colours thanks to the increased sun. This is my oldest intact Echeveria I have in my collection and it just goes from strength to strength. I have already taken 3 offsets off of it so if anything does happen to it I will still have one in my collection.
5. Primula Denticula
This plant has caught the eye this week. I love the way the sphere of flowers open up at the say time and it just goes to show what wonderful shapes there is in nature be it some of them assisted by man at times. Another one to be split at the beginning of Autumn.
6. Geums Everywhere
I moved a couple of my Geums last Autumn and took a lot of cuttings from them and planted them in a pot with some tulip bulbs in the other half. I removed the 8 Geum cuttings this week and all have done well. Normally I would have gave most them away or even disposed of them but there is plenty of empty spaces in my main bed and the fact garden centres are closed I have used all of them in the garden. Just as well Geums are my favourite flower! I have also planted a lot of Aquilegia Alchemist gold which I have grown from seed but they won’t flower until next year.
That’s my six for this week.
The weather looks good this week to good for the lockdown. At least I have got my garden to spend it in.
f 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 and stay safe.
Sedums, Dahlias and Hayfever 
Stunning six, particularly the hellebores. I started a few from seed last autumn that are finally making progress. Will be a good while until they get to flower though. Great colours on the Echeveria too. When we get out of lockdown I want to look at getting a few more exciting varieties of succulents for my back door pots. I’ve ended up with pretty much the one sempervivum spreading and dominating.
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Oh and yes the Primula is stunning I just had to take a picture of it. Looks like a golf ball.
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Yes the Hellebore does look good although it only has had 3 flowers. I really do hope they flower next year as buying a plant at the garden centre is extortionate. One of the succulents I recommended you to get is Sedum Palmeri. Almost possible to get a whole plant but you do see cuttings on EBay sometimes and they are easy to propagate. Basically just stock it in a gritty soil.
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I got lucky with one decent hellebore this year at a cheap price but they do tend to be one of the pricier options, thus why I was trying from seed.
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Superb primula denticula! I also noticed that the geums are multiplied here and there and that is part of the plants I have soon. We have so much time with the lockdown that we will see that … next week maybe?!
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Morning Fred I hope all is well in France. Sorry I don’t quite understand. Do you mean flower?
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Sorry, it lacks 2 words. * It’s part of the plants I have to move soon*
I wanted to say that since we have a lot of time right now, there are so many things to do in the garden that we put things off until tomorrow. The geums have spread and I have a lot of plants to move to other places to have flowers elsewhere.
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Ah I see that makes sense! Yes loads of stuff to do and with the garden centres being closed it is good to make do with what you have.
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Geums are wonderful, they will look great dotted around the garden. The primula is a beauty, such a pure colour. Happy Easter to you and yours!
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Happy Easter!
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That Echevarias is an unusual colour, very striking. I haven’t had any joy with my pompom primulas, they don’t seem to like my clay soil. Never mind. Look after yourself.
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Thanks Granny. I am lucky half a mile up the road the soil is much more clayey. They built a small housing estate on it called Brickfield Lodge. I wonder why?
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That primula is a beauty. Is that the geum that fell apart one year?! It’s doing really well if so. I’ve never had much luck with geums but one of them is finally thriving. Hopefully, I’ll be able to split it in the not so distant future and end up with a few more.
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Oh I forgot that it is part of the Geum that fell apart. Glad you are here. My memory is shocking! Thanks.
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Great to hear you now have a Geum going from strength to strength. Hope you are having a nice Easter.
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Whatever it’s name that Narcissus is a stunning colour. It is annoying though when you don’t get what you order. The little green eye in the Primula is very striking. Lovely Six, as always
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I sent a Tweet to Farmer Gracy and they have informed me it is Professor Einstein. They have also told me to send n Email to customer services. Top marks! Thanks for the comments.
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I rather like the daffodil you’ve ended up with. Though I know how annoying it is. I have the same problem with my tulips. I love the drumstick primula.
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I got some good news about the daffodil. I tweeted Farmer Gracy and they apologised and gave me a voucher for the amount of the bulbs.
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Excellent propagating!
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Thanks. One Man and His Gardening Trowel pointed out that I wrote a blog about a mishap I had with a Geum when I tied to spit it and took the top off. I propagated it from basically leaf cuttings.
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Someone else mentioned ‘marmite soldiers’ earlier. I was compelled to look it up. It sounded like rodents with guns. Eggs that go with them seem too complicated to eat easily. The only dippy eggs I know are over easy or sunny side up.
Primula denticula is so . . . spherical. One of my favorite rhododendrons blooms pure white, which is why I like it so, but blooms with silly spherical trusses. Primrose can get away with such form.
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Liking the free Geums! Which variety?
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Lady Strathden, Banana Daquiri and Orange Queen
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Ooh I don’t know any of those ! I trust you will put up pictures in due course
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Of course
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It’s obvious why you’ve had so much trouble picking only 6. That primula is gorgeous, as is the wonderful hellebore. Mine are like yours – some bloom like crazy & a few inches to the left, only foliage. Hard to figure. Really love the Red Gilva’s colour.
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Aye with all this staying at home my garden must not know what has hit it. No finishing work and rushing around at 6pm on a Friday night. That primula just goes to show you how wonderful nature is. I thought they were Hybrids but looks it up and then are native to Afghanistan, Tibet and China areas.
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Beautiful pictures! Your primula is a star, I’ll be looking out for this one for next year..
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The Primula is stunning! So unusual with its spherical head! I must investigate whether they are available here. The Hellebores are also looking good. It was interesting reading about the Echeveria and how it can survive the cold. The one you featured this week is a lovely colour, and it contrasts nicely with the green in the rosettes. Lovely 6.
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