Family Visit
There was no post last week, and sadly I didn’t get the time to look at other ‘sixers’ posts either. My daughter and her family came for a visit, at very short notice. We had been expecting them this weekend, but other events came along and it meant that they had to reschedule their plans for the following few weeks.
We hadn’t seen each other, in the flesh, for seven months, so it was a happy time for all of us, and particularly this week, as yesterday should have been my youngest daughter’s wedding, postponed along with many others, because of the pandemic. We would have been with our four children and their families in Ireland for the event, our first full get-together in four years. But the more important issue is that everyone is safe, and that they remain that way.
This week it was lovely to have our house full of noisy, happy laughter once more.
But let’s talk plants – here’s my Six for this Saturday!
Lavatera ‘Barnsley Baby’ & Achillea ‘Crimson Queen’
Both plants have been in this border for about three years where they’ve grown large and are now intermingling with each other, creating a plant combination that I’m finding particularly pleasant. Unfortunately ‘Barnsley Baby’ has outgrown her space, and next year she’ll have to be moved. Achillea ‘Crimson Queen’ will probably be divided and I’ll grow them together in another border.
Clematis
I’d love to tell you the name of this clematis, but I need to see the label. I’m fairly sure that the label is still attached to the bottom of the plant, but I can’t get into it at the moment. I’ll come across it in late winter when it the plant gets cut back and disentangled from the montana that it’s clambering over. It’s the palest lavender and looks almost white from a distance – very pretty.
Clematis, also without a name
This one is scrambling over the same Clematis montana as the one above, and I’ll retrieve its label too and make a note of both plants.
Geranium nodosum
I thought this geranium might be a bit inconspicuous in the large patio planter, but I like the tiny purply-pink flowers that grow loosely above the bright green leaves.
Rosa Jacqueline du Pré
This is not a beautiful photograph of Rosa ‘Jacqueline du Pré’. This is a beautiful rose that I’ve had for many years, but now she has been surrounded by other, taller, roses, and access to her is almost impossible. This bloom was fading and the shot was taken by pushing the camera through the planting and hoping for the best – and by that I mean I was hoping I wouldn’t scratch the lens! I’ve made a note to lift her next year and find a new spot in the border where she can shine.
Tomatoes
My nine-year-old visiting grandson had the honour of picking the first six tomatoes in the greenhouse. They are Tomato ‘Sungold’ and simply delicious.
I have two plants Tomato ‘Sungold’
Two plants ‘Gardener’s Delight’
And two Tomato ‘Noire de Crimèe’ or Black Krim. One is in the greenhouse, and just as an experiment, I thought I’d try growing the second plant outdoors. It hasn’t been successful, sadly the weather hasn’t been kind to it, and although it has some flowers I’m not hopeful of getting tomatoes from it.
Stay safe and remember to follow your government’s guidelines. Happy gardening everyone – I hope the weekend weather is kind to you!
ABOUT SIX ON SATURDAY
To join with other garden enthusiasts from around the world, just take six photographs and post them to Twitter and/or your blog each Saturday. You can get all the details from The Propagator who kindly set it all up.
All photographs copyright of Catherine Wood unless otherwise stated.
Notes From My Garden 
It sounds like you had a lovely week. The Lavatera ‘Barnsley Baby’ & Achillea ‘Crimson Queen’ combination is beautiful. I’ve never had any luck growing Achillea; for some reason they always end up straggly. I’m tempted to try again. I often use the same camera technique when trying to photograph inaccessible plants! The pink stamens of Rosa ‘Jacqueline du Pré’ are lovely. I’m a bit envious of your tomatoes. M pathetic tomato plants have only just started to flower!
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It’s been a busy week, Graeme, but we’re back to normal now and the house is quiet once again. Not always a good thing.
Achillea can be a little bit top-heavy when it’s in full bloom, so yesterday I put a rusty bow in front of one section of it to stop it leaning too much. It’s fine if there’s enough planting around it to give it support though. My plants in that border are on a slight slope so they all have the tendency to lean forward. It’s a plant worth trying again, I’m sure you’d love it – there are so many great varieties available now.
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Agreed – the combination of the lavatera and achillea is beautiful.
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Thanks, Paddy, I’m happy with it. 😊
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Very nice mix Lavatera Achillea: Your photos are also successful to highlight the plants.
Enjoy your toms!
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We had some more of the Sungold tomatoes at lunchtime today, with salad leaves from the garden. Very tasty!
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That white rose is lovely. So many lovely flowers posted from people this week.
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Yes, there’s been a lot of lovely flower photographs posted this week, and Six on Saturday is proving to be a great way of gathering new ideas for our own gardens.
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How lovely, I’m so looking forward to visiting my Mum in a couple of weeks, fingers crossed we don’t have to go into deeper lockdown before then. I love Sungold, a great favourite, delicious. Great lavatera/achillea combo. Have a great week.
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I hope there isn’t another lockdown ahead for you, the hardest part of the lockdown has been the separation of families. I hope you get to visit your mum!
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Thank you, I am hoping the window stays open long enough for me to get there and back. X
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Lovely combination of Achillea and Lavatera. We had the first Gardeners’ Delight this week but, as is often the case, it wasn’t quite ready and not that tasty, but they always improve. That last tomato looks a little bit spooky.
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I have one Gardener’s Delight ripening and we had a few more of the Sungold with lunch today – they were delish! I hope Gardener’s Delight prove to be as good. You’re right about the last tomato – Noire de Crimèe – it’s rather distorted but was the easiest to photograph. It wouldn’t look out of place at Halloween. 😂
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How lovely to have visitors! I squeezed a quick one in to my daughter and grandchildren at the end of June before the tourist season was declared open. Now we are back in semi-lockdown. Your Achillea ‘Crimson Queen’ is beautiful. I have just bought one called ‘Red Beauty’ but I’ll keep it in a pot over winter as last time I planted a small one into the garden it disappeared! The combination with the lavatera is stunning. And I have tomato envy. I have grown both Sungold and Gardeners Delight before and they are very tasty. But I wasn’t able to buy plants this year and seed sowing is not my forte! Nothing like the smell of tomato plants and the taste straight from the vine.
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I didn’t know that your area of the country was back in semi-lockdown, Jude, that’s tough. Just as well you went to visit your daughter when you did.
I’m always wary about putting small plants directly into borders because I’ve experience the ‘disappearing’ too. I pot them up and let them grown for a while before planting out. I don’t grow tomatoes from seed either, I always buy plants as I don’t need heaps of them – and if my seeds failed then I’d be too late to get hold of plants. Hope you get tomato plants next year. 😊
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It’s a self-imposed lockdown Catherine. So many tourists here now that we don’t feel it is safe to go into a town or walk along the coast. We rarely go out in August anyway, but this year has been tough as we couldn’t go out in April and May.
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I understand. I don’t venture far, and since March have only been to one supermarket, twice, and to the hairdresser when they opened a couple of weeks ago. We went to a large park with our daughter and family a few days ago, but it was far too busy, so we didn’t hang around long. I can understand your hesitation about going out.
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Sungold is my all time favorite tomato to grow! I am not growing it this year though, because it is too productive! The only other tomato eater in the house (my daughter) isn’t living close by to share them with. The mallow and the yarrow are fabulous! Mallow has the most beautiful flowers, even the wild weed mallow I get. I leave them.
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I make tomato soup with any leftover tomatoes and freeze it for winter. It doesn’t matter what varieties they are, I just put them all together in the pot and they really do make a lovely pot (or more) of soup. I suppose I could try pasta sauce too, but we do like soup. 😁 I don’t know wild weed mallow, I’ll have to google that one.
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Oh, I know you loved that family get-together! We also postponed a daughter’s summer wedding, so I understand the sadness, but yes, we are safe and healthy. Your colors are soothing this week, then we get to those sweet tomatoes. Yum!
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Sorry to hear you had to postpone your daughter’s wedding too. I’m sure we’ll all look back on this as one of the strangest years of our lives. There will be stories to tell children and grandchildren in years to come. Enjoy your week ahead!
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I’m another one who loves the achillea and lavatera together. What a shame the lavatera has outgrown its space. The photos of the tomatoes are really good. Jacqueline du Pre is the most lovely rose. The stamens are so delicate looking.
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The lavatera will find another home, but if not, I’ll probably put a fresh one in its place until it grows too large as well. I wonder if I’m too late to take a cutting? Why did I not think of that earlier. 🤔
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I planted an Achillea last year and it was destroyed by slugs, which came as a bit of a surprise, though I’m not really sure why. The Lavatera is lovely with it; I’ve seen pictures of the annual Lavatera trimestris in similar pale colours a couple of times this year and was planning to grow some next year. Geranium nodosum is just a bit too free with self seeding for me to love it, though I have a dark form I could put up with more easily.
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So far the achilleas in the garden haven’t been touched by slugs or snails (and we have plenty here). Perhaps I shouldn’t speak too soon. That’s interesting. I didn’t know there was an annual Lavatera. I must find out more about that – it might be an option.
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The combination of the Achillea and Lavatera are too beautiful for words! A wonderful combination indeed! The two unknown Clematis are really beautiful too, and I do hope you find their names. Your tomato crop is impressive. I don’t know the Sungold variety, so will keep a look out for it. That is lovely that you had close family over to visit you, and you would have loved the visit! Happy gardening week!
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I did enjoy their visit, it was a busy, but happy week (though I still have all the bedding to change and the bedrooms to square up – at least all the towels are washed & dried. lol). Enjoy your week too – hope you get plenty of time in the garden.
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Thank you!
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Let’s talk family: Where in Ireland had ye all hoped to be together? The lavatera & achillea combination caught my eye, Catherine. The achillea in particular.
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Killarney. My daughter worked in Cork for a number of years then decided to go to Australia with her friend on a two-year visa. There she met a young Irishman. They’ve now been in Australia for around 9 years, and while they were home for a visit a few years ago, he proposed in Killarney. 💚 So, hopefully we’ll all make it to Killarney in 2022!
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