Saturday 1 June 2019

Goodbye, May!



Mizzy BunnyButt amongst the iris.

The weather's a heartless master, but now that May's over, all complaints about the heat have to go unsaid, June being a proper summer month.  No better way to distract oneself than joining the #SixOnSaturday gang, sharing six things in the garden on a Saturday.

Mr Propagator has set gardeners all over the world on this addictive path, so visit his blog to see how it's done.  This week, he's got 'em tall, he's got 'em crowded, he's got 'em from the local privately owned garden centre & the chain store grocer.  Between you & me, mostly he's got 'em pink.  Shocking.


1.  Iris.

My poor Iris.  She spent a year as a single mother trying to raise her family in a planter shared with a few dodgy neighbours.  After absolutely no clipping back by her human, the great liberation came for Iris & the chillen via a small spot near the curry plants.

Unfortunately, the resident gang leader, DoodleFace, decided Iris' family stood in the path to the Doodle pool.  They survived only because their ghetto landlord stuck a few bamboo canes between them, drastically bringing down property prices in the neighbourhood.

And still Iris blooms.


O, that Iris face.


2.  Fire pit (nee stump) garden.

Last week, I discovered that the stump garden was really an overgrown fire pit.  It had a single columbine in it, plus a lot of weeds that needed evicting.

Digging out the first half took 3 M.E. work days - 10 minute intervals of actual gardening followed by at least half an hour in the hammock followed by 10 minutes . . .


Zinnia, tithonia, one African daisy & a Dr Pepper.

Each of those days has to be separated by a day of rest.  A serious drag, but me, I'm happy to not be bedridden.


The side not done.

This is why I get so tickled at any little achievement in the garden.  It's also why I come up with cowboy ideas like . . .


3.  The Neighbour's Bramble.

Young people live next door, of the subspecies Studenterius, I believe.  They're apparently growing brambles.


Howdy, little short human neighbour!

But as well you know, brambles aren't content to chat over a fence with you - what they can't get over, they go under.  In this instance, 3 times over.

Now digging out a bramble can be the flick of a fork or arduous digging to China.  Having to make decisions every hour of every day how to budget my stock of energy, the risk of the China route proved too much to bear.

So I did this, in the hope there might be a few berries in it for me.


Bramble supports.

Leaving the herb Robert in its bed has nothing to do with energy decisions, everything to do with thinking it's really pretty until the seed heads come on, after which we have our yearly falling out & they're kicked to the kerb/curb until next year's romance.


4.  Philadelphus

Speaking of yearly romance, the mock orange is in bloom.


Philadelphus in bloom.

I've lived with or next door to a few mature phiadelphus, & lamented that their blooms were so far above my head.  This little guy is still a short shrub in a pot, very compact with a high ratio of bloom to foliage.  I feel like never going back, but all puppies eventually grow into dogs.


5.  New love.

This love can be blamed on Mr P, who introduced me to it, & the backup chorus of SoSers who made this purchase seem like a virtue.


Thalictrum Black Stockings.

Did you ever see anything as cute as these?


6.  Nudder rose.

Last week, the red rose bloomed for the first time & is still going strong.  This week, it's the yellow.


Big Yeller.

 I love how the buds have swirls of red in them that fade to pink blush & finally disappear as the rose opens fully.


And that's my Six.  I hope you find time to visit the other SoS gardens - you'll find their links in the comment section of Mr P's blog.  Whether you do or don't, thanks so much for stopping by.



Purple toadflax & allspice w/nigella on the side.


19 comments:

  1. You have got to respect the iris, so many obstacles and still she keep going. It reminds me of someone not a million miles away. :) Beautiful rose and you are not going to regret the thalictrum purchase, it certainly is a wonder!

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    1. The iris has more buds on her & one of her chillen does as well. I'm excited about the black stockings & hope they survives me.

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  2. Love that double mock orange and Big Yeller with those reddish swirls, Lora. Yes. SoS may encourage us all to view purchases as virtues -- or at least a measure of our dedication to our gardens! Ha!

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    1. It doesn't bear thinking about, all these new plants I'd've never met w/o SoS! Tis a virtue, now that you say it.

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  3. I do like the Philadelphus. This is the second presented this weekend and I must say that the bloom is really attractive!

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    1. They'r beautiful & if you can reach a blossom, smell good, too. I had a neighbour a coupla gardens ago who had one about 20' tall on the property line btwn us. She said it hadn't bloomed in years & she was thinking of taking it out. The laurel hedge btwn us was outa control, so we dropped it to 6' & her philadelphus bloomed like crazy after that.

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  4. The fire pit bed looks great and ingenious solution to the bramble dilemma. Nasty things to dig up but blackberries are delicious. We have a dwarf orange blossom Philadelphus 'Manteau d'Hermine' that has very similar flowers to yours. Doesn't get much bigger than a few small feet.

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    1. Oooooo, I hope that's what I have, too. Will sort through my receipts to find the name. Thank you, Graeme, for giving me hope! It's so lovely as it is.

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  5. The fire pit bed will look very colourful. All those 10 minutes of effort added up to a great job done. Are those chicken manure pellets I see? I love using these but my otherwise well behaved dog digs up anything planted with these. Maybe Bignose and Doodle face don't share his poultry poo penchant?

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    1. Not chicken pellets but fleece pellets, as the S&S devoured some of the tithonia. They don't seem deterred by the fleece much, but enough for the poor plants to grow up, I hope. And yes, I picked hot colours for the pit. Seemed appropriate.

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  6. Mr P has a lot of to answer for. Lovely yellow rose to.

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    1. Mwah ha ha, mwah ha ha ha.

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    2. He's the Pied Piper of Propagation. It is an amazing rose, but as old as these roses appear to be, their scent is faint.

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  7. Yay, thalictrum! Definitely a virtue. And it's kerb. 8-)

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    1. I keep procrastinating planting it out, as I love having it on the plant table at near eye level, it's so pretty. As to the curb/kerb dilemma, I usually think US spellings make more sense than UK (Thank you, Mr Webster), but I have to go w/you on kerb. Sounds just like it's spelled.

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  8. You do make me smile Lora, a lovely post! My neighbours (who are not students, but busy running a business from home) also cultivate brambles that love to pop over into my garden! Sigh... and I am still thinking about the black stockings.

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    1. Thank you! I really love the black stockings & can't believe they'll eventually produce such big blustery flowers, altho from what Jon says, that'll happen next year.

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  9. Interesting six..the iris will no doubt improve with your tender loving care...

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    1. It's done pretty well under my neglect, so certainly now it can only get better. It's still blooming away.

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