Six on Saturday – 18th June 2022

It was scorching yesterday, so obviously I chose to collect and bag up a tonne of horse manure with a hangover. Today, blasts of very welcome heavy rain have kept me out of the garden so far, but I’m not complaining. I’m dallying over an extra coffee and browsing the gardens of all the other SOSers, who are really raising the bar with some fabulous photos. Check them out on Mr Propagator’s page, link below, and take a look at the participant guide, second link, if you fancy joining in yourself. Wishing everyone a decent sprinkling of rain with enough dry spells for a spot of gardening in between showers!

https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2022/06/18/six-on-saturday-18-06-2022/

https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

Slightly blurry poppies, since they were swaying in the breeze when I tried to photograph them. Self-seeded (and HOW!!! They are EVERYWHERE!!!!) Originally from seed given to me by a couple of friends. I love the colour and the showy stamens. I do love the seedheads too but I might deadhead sooner this year in a bid to avoid turning the garden into a monoculture.

This penstemon was a swap done with a neighbour at our old allotment site and this is the first year it’s put on a good show. It looks set to make a nice big statement in the border and provide a good block of bold colour.

The self-sown teasels are ridiculous. This one must be 8ft tall. I rather like it, but it’s in the most inconvenient place, close to the front of the border. I shall be torn between leaving the seedheads up for the birds and taking them down to avold further self-sowings. We all know the former shall win out though, don’t we?

Peas are good. These are competing with the teasels. I’ll need stepladders to harvest. These are the ‘telefono’ peas from Franchi seeds. I find some Franchi stuff a bit hit and miss, but these peas never fail me. Some other varieties of pea in front. I’ve gone all out on peas this year.

The yellow loosestrife, nepeta Six Hills Giant and the pink centranthus are real spreaders, but I need tough bulky plants here because the leylandii hedge makes this border inhospitable to many things, so I’m happy to let these thugs sprawl. Chief Engineer complains of wet legs when hanging out the washing on the line, though, so I might need to curb the nepeta’s enthusiasm.

Clematis Midnight Etoile coming along nicely. A very mixed bag from my clematises (clematii? Clematis? What is the plural?!) Some are refusing to do much of anything at all. I think a combination of mole and S&S is probably to blame. Infuriating. This clematis is very reliable, though.