My Little Garden 20th August 2022
Yippee, we’ve had some rain at last. Not much to start with, but by Thursday evening it was proper rain and there has been the odd shower since. The garden is very grateful but I hope we get a bit more over the coming days.
I’ve been out and about again this week, and on Thursday when the rain was only a vague threat, I went along to Manchester’s new ‘sky park’ on the Castlefield Viaduct. If you don’t live in the Northwest of England, you’ve probably never heard of it, but it’s a pilot project led by the National Trust on a Grade II listed railway viaduct that closed in 1969. It’s a fascinating combination of social history and green spaces, and the gardens that have been created are absolutely amazing. I was very lucky to see them in their first few weeks of opening.
More about this another time, because I need to get on with my six on Saturday choices.
- Agastache
I’m pleased with how this little clump of Agastache ‘Blue Boa’ is coming on. It’s shorter in stature than some agastache, but adds a nice little clump of purply blue flowers to the sunny border. The big question will soon be, do I leave them where they are, or pot them up and put somewhere sheltered over winter. They’re not fully hardy and I’d hate to lose them as I haven’t been able to get any more this year. Decisions decisions…..
2. Rudbeckia
Here is ‘Goldsturm’ again and I’m still undecided about whether to retain them in the back garden, where I prefer more pastel shades. The final decision will be made if the buds of Aster ‘Veilchenkonigin’ ever decide to open. They are a strong purple and hopefully will restore a little balance.
3. Cirsium
You might just see a couple of red blobs in the background of the previous photo. That is my Cirsium rivulare, which I cut back a few weeks ago, and is flowering again. The bees are very happy that it’s back.
4. Geranium
Another plant that’s decided to give me a few more flowers is Geranium ‘Ann Folkhard’. Ann has been a big disappointment this year, as she normally carries on flowering from June into September, but she obviously doesn’t like the heat and drought.
5. Salvia
I must be mad, but I bought another Salvia ‘Love and wishes’ last week. I went for a good sized plant after the drama with ‘Black and Blue’ and put it in a pot with copper tape around to try and stop the slugs and snails in their slimy tracks. So far so good.
And the good news is that ‘Black and Blue’ seems to be recovering. No flowers yet but I’m hopeful
6. Dahlia
And back to the dahlia which is also just about surviving the slugs.
And there you have it. I have loads of writing projects to finish off next week, so I’m taking a one week break from Six on Saturday. See you in a fortnight, and I’ll be looking out for more #sixonsaturday blogs and photos on twitter, including the Propagator himself https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/
Thank you for reading!
