This week’s Six on Saturday has been a challenge! I don’t know what the weather’s been like in your part of the world, but although officially, Storm Dennis is over, the wind has continued to blow and the clouds have continued to drop heaps of rain on us here, along with substantial amounts of sleet and hail.
I spent Wednesday morning in the greenhouse, potting on a few cuttings from last September and October. I stopped at lunchtime (read that as ‘I gave up’ at lunchtime – my feet and hands were freezing), and resigned myself to the fact that it was still too wet and cold to be trailing back & forth to the greenhouse. (That makes it sound as if it’s far away – it’s not).
That was the point that I thought I’d beat the weather and take some of the in-bloom potted plants into the house. Yes, I have to confess, they’ve not been photographed in the garden, they’ve been shot on my dining room table.
I lifted some of the old weathered slats from staging in the greenhouse, propped them up against an improvised support, and that became a rustic background. Actually, I rather enjoyed my afternoon in the pop-up studio.
Crocus ‘Cream Beauty’
I brought a small pot of Crocus ‘Cream Beauty’ indoors first. Poor little crocuses, soaked and a bit downtrodden with rain, and firmly closed. You might just see in the back of the clump that there’s a little purple interloper. I guess a wrong bulb managed to find its way into the packet.
But later in the warmth of the room, they started to open. I’m just annoyed that I forgot to take the plant label back out! 😐
Helleborus revisited: ‘Molly’s White’
This is Molly’s White, she’s tall and very graceful, but I really want to see her in the garden. I’m aiming to get her into her final planting pot on Saturday and then she can take her place near the house, where I can see her from the study and kitchen windows.
Helleborus Revisited: ‘Cheryl’s Shine’
Cheryl’s Shine is flowering well, she has plenty of buds and although she seems happy in the greenhouse, she’s an outdoor plant and the sooner she gets out there the better.
HELLEBORUS TUTU
I’ve got to admit that I’m disappointed with this plant. It was delivered last weekend, and I expected to find it in bloom – or ready to bloom. Instead, it is just starting to show above the soil, and I doubt if I’ll see any flowers on it this year. It’s in a 5 litre pot, so I think it must be reasonably well established – the flowering time is given as blooming in winter through to early Spring.
The existing leaves are well-nibbled, and I assumed the culprit was the ugly black slug that was sitting on top of the pot when I unpacked it. However I’ve since read that slugs don’t like Hellebore leaves, I’ll have to inspect them a bit further.
I’ve popped it into the greenhouse this morning to see if I can bring it on a little bit faster, though I’m not sure if that’s a wise thing to do? I’m new to Hellebores, and have no idea of the rate of growth, perhaps it’ll surprise me yet. 🙂
Narcissus ‘Tête-à-tête’
They’re slowly starting to open, but still have a way to go. You can’t fail to love ‘Tête-à-tête’, they hold their own against the weather and are so delightfully bright and cheery. I usually have two pots on my front doorsteps, as a friendly welcome to visitors, but this year I decided that I’d prefer to be able to see them more often, and placed the containers at the back of the house. Maybe that was a selfish move? Perhaps I should pot up some more pots next autumn and put them on the front doorsteps. Now there’s an idea.
Being at the back of the house might explain the later opening, as the light is better at the south-facing front than the back. But they’re opening now, and bringing some bright yellow cheerfulness with them.
Pelargonium cuttings
Finally, some of the cuttings that have just been potted up. These cuttings were taken mid-late September last year. I wasn’t sure that they would make it through the winter, but they seem to be doing fine.
On the other hand, the two in the Terracotta coloured pots were taken last July, with the September cutting in the black pot at the front. There’s a big difference in growth. It will be interesting to see if there’s any difference in the quality of the plants in summer, and whether there’s any great difference in flowering time.
ABOUT SIX ON SATURDAY
Six on Saturday is like a weekly journal. Take six photographs and post them to Twitter. You can get all the details from The Propagator who kindly set it all up. If you want to join in and see what everyone else is doing in the garden, just follow the link!
All photographs copyright of Catherine Wood unless otherwise stated.
Notes From My Garden 
Beautiful photos, the crocuses (or is that croci?) are stunning. Let’s hope that next weekend we will be back outdoors where we belong. 🙂
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Thanks re the photos. Ahhh, crocus, crocuses or croci? I prefer crocuses or simply crocus, as somehow croci takes my brain straight to crocodiles! 😁 Don’t ask why – that’s just the way it is for me! lol
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Or how my joints feel sometimes! 😀
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Haha…
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What offtheedgegardening said – beautiful photos. The cream crocus are lovely. I’m bored of this wet and windy weather. I’m trying to motivate myself to get outside – if only to tie down the swing seat cover that seems to have come loose on one side.
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Thank you! 😊
I’ve had enough of this nasty weather too. It’s gone on too long, but spring is on its way – and I need to do such a lot of pruning. Let’s hope the new season gets off to a good start!
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I have a question. Do you plant the hellebores in the garden and then dig them up every year and put them in pots in your greenhouse? Or are they new plants? I grow hellebores in my Woodland Garden and leave them there. They are huge and all over my Woodland Garden now. I love them because it is the one plant I know the deer wont’t eat! The creek takes the seeds everywhere too. You did a good job staging too! I need more plants in pots so I can just move them around! I planted snowdrops all over the Woodland Garden last fall and I am so excited that they even came up! I have been so busy and trying to get finished up with Riga, Latvia, that I didn’t get a SOS this week!
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They’re new plants, bought earlier this month. I’ve tried Hellebores in my garden in the past, but they had disappeared by the following winter. This time I thought I’d try them in pots to see how they get on. They’re still in the greenhouse because the weather’s been just too bad to get out to do anything in the garden. ‘Tutu’ has just been put into the greenhouse to see if I can speed up its growth.
Hellebores are very beautiful, so I expect that I’ll be planting some in the ground next year. Your Woodland garden sounds very lovely!
I’ll pop over to your blog later and check out your latest Riga post.😁
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I enjoyed this beautifully illustrated post – your pop up studio has done you proud. I wouldn’t give up on H. ‘Tutu’ flowering this year. Those new shoots most likely will have flowers. I’d be tempted to trim back the old leaves from last year.
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Thank you!
I’m encouraged by your comments about not giving up on H. ‘Tutu’. I had wondered if those leaves were from last year, so I will definitely go and cut them back.
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Your pop up photographic studio worked really well. I sympathise with the frustration caused by the weather keeping us gardeners indoors. Here’s hoping we get a dry and less windy spell soon.
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It can’t go on forever…I’m getting excited about spring – and I need to make sure my calendar is clear, for all those days I’m going to spend getting the garden into shape! 😂
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Love hellebores, you have some pretty ones there. Every year they give endless winter joy. First ones to bloom in my garden before narcissus and crocuses. lLke you I want to enjoy them more so all see planted at the back. Pretty flowers.
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What a lovely thought – “endless winter joy”. I think that sums up the role of the Hellebore so well. I’ll remember it when next winter begins so that I can look forward to seeing some lovely Hellebore flowers in the garden. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment.
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Love your Hellebores, I like them a lot but they do seem to take a while to get to the flowering stage. Mine are all out in the ground and seem to do OK. I have a load of seedlings that need potting on, but there is no way I can do that at the moment as my potting table is outside. You and I had the same ideas about photographing the crocuses and daffs this week. Cream Beauty really is a beauty especially when she opens up.
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I’ve just popped into your site – and yes, you have photographed indoors too! I don’t feel so bad about doing that now. 😁
Brrr…much to cold to work at an outdoor potting table, so I don’t blame you for delaying potting on your seedlings. My greenhouse is unheated and I find even that too cold to work in unless the sun is shining. I hope the weather quickly improves for us all, I think everyone on Six on Saturday is getting anxious to get back into a garden routine.
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Thanks Catherine, we’re all suffering from cabin fever.
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‘Cream Beauty’ certainly lives up to her name. I hope that helleborus ‘Tutu’ puts on a show for you this year. Slugs eat many plants I’ve found over the years but tend to stay clear of hellebore leaves. I think that the leaves are too tough and leathery but you may find them nibbling the flowers 😦
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Thanks for dropping by. 😊
Sadly they don’t nibble in our garden – they devour – at a rapid pace. I’m convinced there’s a slug and snail army in this garden and no matter what I do, they win every year.
I’ll keep an eye on the flowers – thanks for the tip!
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I like c. cream beauty too, I planted a couple of hundred last autumn, they are just coming out now. My t-a-t are not quite out yet, but soon!
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Your crocus will look spectacular when they come out, I’ll be looking forward to seeing them on SoS along with your tete a tete when they flower.
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Oh your hellebores are just beautiful. I’m admiring them as mine (the few that I had) have given up. I just don’t have enough shade. Crocus ‘Cream Beauty’ is aptly named too.
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I hope you get some relief from the heat and the drought soon Jane. Just as we will soon be entering Spring, I think you will be on your way to Autumn. I hope that brings with it, some welcome rain and freshness of air for you.
Crocus ‘Cream Beauty’ is rather floppy looking this morning, we had snow earlier followed by sleet. I’m not sure they will recover, but they were lovely while they lasted. 😊
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I also got Cream Beauty last autumn & there’s a few light purple ones come up in the bunch. They do like quite nice w/the rich Creams. Love the look of yours open. Mine haven’t done much of the, only giving me little peeks, then slamming shut. The hellebores are beautiful & yes, you cannot have too many pots of narcissus.
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Odd that you’ve had purple in yours too!
We have some sun (Yeah!) this morning, so some of mine are opening again, though a few have given up and are hanging over the edge of the pot. That reminds me why I don’t generally grow crocus, they don’t do too well in this wet/windy garden.
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