This week’s garden post has taken a bit of a turn thanks to storm Hector and my garden went from a place of paradise to a windswept emergency overnight. I had staked what I could but losses occurred and it’s always sad when you are waiting on something to flower and it’s almost ready to open and then bam it’s gone. I lost dahlias, zinnias and some apples, and I still haven’t inspected everything.
So this week’s Six on Saturday post focuses on those things that appear and disappear quickly in my garden in June. I hope you like it.
Sage
Without a doubt, this was the highlight of my week. Although short-lived, these flowers are stunning. This is the first year this has flowered as the plant was just a cutting last summer and now it is a might fine plant fit for my entryway. I’m going to propagate with both seeds and cuttings and have a few more of these beauties around the garden.
Foxgloves
What is a cottage garden without foxgloves? This is the only white foxglove left in my garden so I am watching her like a hawk and as soon as those seeds appear I will be harvesting them. These are so majestic and have helped me realise that in my front garden ( AKA the site that time forgot) we are going to reduce the variety of plants and have a few core planting species interplanted with seasonal flowers. I love how the open from the bottom to the top and how the flowers react to light. Expect to see more from these next week.
Rose – Rhapsody in Blue
This is an old rose and I bought 3 of them as bare root roses last year and I moved them again this year. Because of this, I won’t allow them to flower much so they can develop their root system. This is a repeat bloomer having two flushes of flowers but these are quite young roses and I will be allowing them to root more than flower. I think these are much better suited to my back garden than the onslaught of wind in my front garden so hopefully, they have found their permanent home. Watch this space though.
Alliums
It’s time to say goodbye to these little beauties. They have had quite a long flowering period when I think about it. They appeared early in spring and are just spent this week. I need more of these in the garden and so will lift and divide when I can. If I say that here you will all hold me accountable right?
Rugosa
I inherited 3 monster rugosa plants with this garden. They are also in the plot that time forgot. Storm Hector has destroyed these blooms and I’m unsure about hips forming. These are pretty stubborn and strong plants though but even they are taking a beating. For a plant so sever with thorns the flowers are delicate, the petals dance in the wind and are so paper thin that photographing the light through them is a joy. I have to remind myself of this as pruning these and dividing them is a right pain. Next spring will see these lifted and divided as their roots are breaking out into other beds and trying to attack the driveway. When I think of these I envision the tale of Briar Rose and her castle.
Lavender
I have waited so long to have Papillon in my garden. I also have Munstead but when I want to take a photograph it’s Papillon that my heart calls for. Those little wings surrounded by tiny star-shaped flowers underneath and oh, the scent! Hector blew mine over and the terracotta pot it was in is in pieces. My husband dutifully popped this into a new pot so I’m going to take a few cuttings and then give this some care and attention this weekend.
That’s it from me this week apart from the above macro shot for Allison, of a bee landing strip 😉 Do make sure that you pop over to the main man‘s page to check out more wonderful gardening posts and why not search the #sixonsaturday tag on twitter too to fill your feed with beautiful blooms.
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