My Little Garden 9th July 2022
Last weekend, in a mad moment, I bought a salvia that I’ve always liked the look of. What a mistake that turned out to be. When I planted it every slug for miles around must have been laughing their slimy little heads off. How did they know that there’s a new tasty treat in the garden for them? Why don’t I just stick to slug proof plants? Why??
On a happier note, there is much to appreciate in the garden right now including the first of my six choices this week.
- Cornflowers
Last summer I used a large rectangular container to try a little experiment with directly sown seeds. It failed miserably because my Bee Friendly mix had a dominant seed in the form of Phacelia. I’ve nothing against phacelia but I would have liked to see the other annuals in the mix standing a chance.
This year I went for cornflowers in a mix of colours and they are just fabulous.
2. Hydrangea
This is Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Shooting Star’, that I picked up at RHS Tatton many years ago. It’s never liked the garden soil particularly but it loves being in a large pot which has the advantage that I can move it around when required. Last year I decided it had become a little unwieldly so I cut it right back to the base (almost) and gave it some new compost. Not surprisingly I had no flowers last year, but this summer it is a perfect shape and full of little shooting star flowers. A classic case of ‘treat ‘em mean’.
3. Another star
The name astrantia derives from ‘aster’ meaning star in Latin, but I rather like it’s common names of Hattie’s Pincushion and Melancholy Gentleman. I wonder where it got this second name from. Does anyone know?
4. Catananche caerulea
Another plant with a charming common name is this Cupid’s Dart. A couple of months ago I dug up a bit of lawn to plant some alongside Stipa tenuissima. So far it’s coming along quite nicely.
It’s been slightly tricky this week to take photos in focus of very mobile plants this week, but there was a let up in the breeze on Thursday morning.
5. Penstemon ‘Appleblossom’
This was a bargain at my local garden centre last weekend and insisted on coming home with me.
Another plant I’ve got no room for but fortunately they also do very well in pots.
6. The mistake
This was also a ‘bargain’ at my local garden centre. Or maybe not.
Salvia guarantica ‘Black and Blue’ looking very bruised and battered after a night with slugs. I’ve been very diligent in slug and snail removal after the first night, but will it survive …..
And there you have it. Another week has gone by with very little hint of summer weather. Where’s this heatwave we’ve been promised?
Check out the #SixonSaturday hashtag on Twitter for more blog and even more garden photos without the waffle. As always, thanks to The Propagator. https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/
Have a great weekend!
