Six Things Great & Small

Big Nose Dog ready for trick-or-treaters.

Oh my goodness me, it's nearly Halloween!  A day everyone in this house looks forward to, including the dogs.  A garden wouldn't be my garden if there weren't a pumpkin patch in it, but since moving to the UK, the results haven't always been what I'm used to.








Which brings me to my first of the six.  The pumpkin.

1.  This variety was billed as prolific, with fruit the size of footballs.  I'm nothing if not gullible & got several plants.  One lone, tennis-ball-sized midget is the year's full crop.

My jack-o-lanterns will be courtesy Asda this year.

After only 18 years, I need to admit defeat & research growing pumpkins here.

2.  Here's something tiny that I'm not going to complain about.  With the various critturs that run through the garden, it's a gift, finding one of these fellas intact.

Fancy little parasol.

3.  The last of the small guys, the bugle weed always meets black tie standards.

Creeping across the pavement, headed toward the lawn.

4.  Now for the big guys.  I got chard seed as a stocking stuffer last year, not something I knew much about.  

Beautiful foliage.

It grew like wildfire, so we gamely looked up recipes, cooked our hearts out & came to the conclusion we aren't chard eaters.  The neighbours were grateful, however, and I love how it looks, so'll probably plant it again next year.

Stunning colours.

5.  The other large finalist is a thistle that self seeded in the border.  Enticing to gold finches, I tell anyone who looks askance at it, but secretly, I simply love a good thistle.  

Love the flowers.

My phone camera doesn't do the colour justice, the darks & lights in one bloom.  This one's a beaut (although the fuschia behind it might disagree).

6.  The last selection will be one of several Unknowns in the garden, most inherited, though some self seeded.  These lovely, delicate things grow in any pavement crack they can find, have bloomed most of the year and even now, valiantly resist the cold.  Any idea what it could be?

Tubular yellow blooms, leaves similar to a bleeding heart.

Hope you enjoyed visiting the garden.  Our Artistic Director & I look forward to next week's Six On Saturday.

Mizzy Bunny Butt, aka our Artistic Director.

Check out all the other Six On Saturday contributors at The Propagator's site.

My First Six On Saturday

Autumn, absolutely!  It's messy, unshaven, hems split open & chignons coming undone but I adore this time of year, the way the world feels, outside in the thick of things.

1. The fruits & colours.  Here, the ornamental cherry colludes with an acer in party dress.

2.  The last ditch harvest.  Our first year growing saffron crocus, which essentially grows itself.  Although they apparently do better in the ground, ours are in planters - getting down on my hag-self knees in order to pluck the saffron out . . . well, it ain't happening.  The tweezers method of collecting explains why saffron is so expensive.

3.  But there's still plenty of blossoming going on.  The never ending calendula.

4.  These wonderfully prolific bulbs found at a village plant stall years ago which I think are hesperantha, but correct me if I'm wrong.

5.  Of course, the magnificent fatsia japonica wreaking bee ecstasies with its subtle but gorgeous scent.

6.  Lastly, the elephant garlic sticking out their tongues at the promise of next year's cooking adventures.

Be sure to check out  The Propogator for all the other great Six on Saturday gardens pinging there!

Thanks for stopping by.