Hello and welcome to this weeks six on Saturday.

This might have to be a short blog as I was out last night with the lads for the first time in an absolute age. I also had my first pints this year and boy did it taste good.

The weather has been a bit rubbish this week but luckily we escaped the wind which by the looks of the picture on Twitter seemed to have caused a Lily apocalypse in some gardens. We have had a lot of rain this week and some of the foliage looks heavy and tired but I am sure it will spring back when it is sunny and warm again.

Here is my Six on Saturday.

1. Last Monday was delivery day

I have hardly ordered any succulents this year due to many factors but boy did I make up for it last week. On Monday the postman knocked on the door and handed me 4 parcels. I am sure he said under his breath “More Plants?.”. I just grinned and promptly took them off him and opened up straight away. I order a mixture of Echeveria and Sempervivums and all were promptly put into plant pots. I have slightly changed the way I plant my succulents and have started putting them in smaller pots so they are easier to store in the winter.

2. New Sempervivums

I ordered eight new Sempervivums in total and have split them into 2 troughs. Sempervivums don’t like nutrient rich soil as where they grow naturally in Southern Europe the soil on is poor and in short supply as these are plants that grow in cracks of rocks and screw. So I tend to use recycled compost and gravel. I also don’t dig a hole to place the roots on and just place the plants on top of the soil and press moderately and allow the roots to find there way into the soil naturally.

3. Succulent Propogation

One of the things I like about succulents are generally they are easy to care for and easy to propagate. So I spent a few hours this week propagating some succulents by taking the babies off and putting them off. At the front is some of the new Echeverias I received this week. I must have managed to get about 40 new plants this week. I can be my own worse enemy sometimes and lazily I gave not labelled them up. I must do that next week before O forget which on is which.

4. Alium Red Mohican

I bought 3 of these bulbs a couple of years ago. Last year the stems got damaged by wind and the flowers didn’t reach there full potential. This year thankfully they have survived and as you can see by the photo you can certainly tell why they are called Red Mohican.

5. Sedum Dasphylium Lilac mound

This is one of the best performing Sedums I have on my garden. Also known as Corsican Stonecrop I do not plant these directly into the garden and put these on pots. It is spreading rapidly and out of a tiny plant I got 18 month ago I am coming down with the stuff. It’s not the best plant to photo but you can see why it is called lilac mound. It produces tiny white exquisite flowers and this photo does not do them justice.

6. Bee Whisperer

When I was nursing my hangover this morning. I noticed that some of my Eryngiums had some dormant bees just sitting there in the cold and wet so I placed them in a saucer and put them in a more drier area and within a few minutes they perked up and flew away. It so upsetting when you read reports of the decline of pollinators and insects in general and I think we need to do more as a country and individually to help pollinators.

That’s my six on Saturday this week.

Until next week goodbye.