My Little Garden 16th Jan 2021
If you ignore the weather, and in as far as anyone can have a good week in lockdown, this one hasn’t been too bad. I’ve been for a socially distanced walk with a friend I’ve not seen for ages, watched a GMG garden photography talk by Joe Wainwright (which was excellent)and spent my Sarah Raven £10 voucher (plus a teeny bit extra) on some dahlia tubers and a few other things. I was spurred into action on the SR front by an email that said the voucher would run out at the end of the day, but to be honest I didn’t need too much encouragement.
It’s nice to browse an old fashioned plant catalogue occasionally, and maybe it’s an ‘age thing’, but I am always pleased when the one arrives in the post. And this brings me nicely to the first of my Six on Saturday.
- Dahlias
Now I haven’t grown many dahlias in the past, but thanks to the fabulous pictures on Twitter last summer I’m a convert, so where better to start than the colour co-ordinated pages of the Sarah Raven brochure. I quite liked the look of ‘Hollyhill Spiderwoman’ (or was it the name that attracted me). I didn’t pick that one but I was almost tempted.
Faced with so much choice, it wasn’t an easy decision but in the end I went for ‘Honka Fragile’, ‘Verrone’s Obsidian’ and another shorter variety that is very suitable for a container called ‘Happy Single Kiss’. How could I resist having something called ‘happy’ in the garden.
2. Bulb Update
Not a lot to report this week. The snowdrops are a bit rain and mud splattered at the moment after all the rain, but this one has a flower that is almost open.
3. Catkins
On the one sunny day of the week I managed a photo with a bit of blue sky background. Last year I pruned this Garrya a little bit late but left some of the height, with the result that on the lower accessible branches there are no catkins. This photo was taken by sticking the camera up through the top of the arbour and hoping for the best.
4. Hellebores
I have three hellebores in flower, or almost in flower, with more to come.
5. Foliage
I grow a few evergreen shrubs in the garden, partly for winter interest and partly to disguise the fence at the bottom of the garden. This one was bought on a whim from a plant fair and has very attractive foliage that looks particularly good with a touch of frost.
6. Weather
This week we have had everything from rain, frost and fog to glorious sunshine. Happily for me, the sunshine came on Tuesday when it was childcare bubble day and I was able to take the youngest to the park. Thanks to the constant rain beforehand we had to negotiate some extremely muddy puddles which is all very well if you’re under two, an avid Peppa Pig fan and love splashing granny.
And in a quieter moment this week I took a photo of raindrops on the remnants of the cotinus flowers.
And yesterday I took almost the same shot but with frost instead of snow.
And that’s my six choices for another week. I don’t know about everyone else but I’m really looking forward to spring and lots of colour in the garden.
For more ‘sixes’ take a look at the blog of The Propagator who is the creator of this weekly collection. There are also many more excellent photos and blogs on twitter under the hashtag #SixonSaturday
