Six on Saturday
Our gardens, whether large or small, welcome winter as a season of rest and renewal. It’s a time when we can reflect on the plants we have and ponder new additions that will fill the beds and borders with colour and vitality.
We snuggle up in the warmth of our homes, browsing through plant & seed catalogues and making lists, often impractical because of their length and cost. But still, we optimistically plod onward, full of hopes of sunny, warm spring days when the garden bursts into new life.
At a glance, my garden feels and looks desolate, but everywhere, shoots are pushing through the ground, shrubs are sporting new buds and hellebores are beginning to flower. Spring will come. Winter is a time of hope.
Hellebores
Heuchera
Heucheras don’t overwinter gracefully in this garden. Mostly their once-lovely leaves are a sad, soggy heap on the ground. I divided this plant in autumn and planted the divisions into pots, tucked snuggly up near the greenhouse where they’ve enjoyed a reasonable level of shelter from the worst of the weather. There are a few old stems I need to cut back, but on the whole, the older leaves don’t look too awful, and there’s fresh growth appearing. It’s still early days of winter, we have more freezing weather on the horizon, but somehow I think they’re going to be ok.
Calendula Seedlings
Two small trays of Calendula ‘Sherbet Fizz’ seeds and Calendula ‘Snow Princess’ were sown at the end of August. They germinated, were potted on and popped into the cold frame for the winter. There, to my shame, they were forgotten. I remembered about them this week, and I expected the worst. It was a nice surprise to see that around and half were in the same condition as they were when I put them in but with a stronger root system. The surviving half were ‘Sherbet Fizz’ and those that were lost were ‘Snow Princess’. I have more seed, I’ll start again.
Rhododendron ‘Black Magic’
Most buds on this Rhododendron look fairly healthy but a few others are damaged (photo right). I don’t know much about rhododendrons, is this frost damage (we’ve had a lot of heavy frosts), insect damage or something else?
Hebe ‘Emerald Green’
A few years ago, five of these small hebes lived at the front of a border. Now there are two. The other three succumbed to the cold and wet of their first winter. I should, by this time, know that hebes don’t make it through the winter on this piece of ground. Two remain, one is smaller and weaker than the other, but I’m willing it on – I hope it, and its slightly larger cousin are still green in springtime.
Hellebore ‘Double Ellen Pink’
This is the hellebore that’s been flowering since September. None of those early flowers have been doubles, but although it needs a bit of a tidy-up now, it’s still flowering and looks healthy enough. In this back shot it shows the flower lightly coated with frost.
A huge thank you to Jim at Garden Ruminations for hosting Six on Saturday. If you want to find out more about Six on Saturday, or join in, Jim’s blog is the place to get started!
If it’s too cold to work in the garden – try to keep those seed and plant lists under control! 😁 Have a lovely weekend, whatever you decide.
Catherine 😊
Notes From My Garden 
Very nice close-ups! Hebe is my favourite. Have a good rest and look forward to spring
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Thanks, Fred. The rain has arrived here this morning, but temperatures have shot up to 10C so I might get out for a while between showers and do a bit of winter pruning – and before the winds get up in the afternoon. Have a good week!
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Hebe Emerald Green has been on my wish list for a while but I couldn’t seem to source it, possibly lucky for me now I’ve heard your story. In the end I planted christmas box which should be hardier. So far so good.
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Good choice! I’ve been talking about planting Christmas box forever, but never got around to it. It could have been a much better choice than all the hebes I’ve lost over the years. I hope yours gives you many years of lovely perfume in your garden!
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Well done for finding six plants to post about. Still feels chilly here. I thought that I might venture out into the garden but now the cold wind has returned.
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I think that might be the last Six until the winter bulbs start to flower, Rosie. But you never know – the garden (like the weather) is often full of surprises! We’ve suddenly shot up to 10C, but the wind is hitting us now and it’ll get worse over the next few days. I’ve just been out to anchor down a few pots but now I might go and bake some cupcakes! 😁
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Pretty photos, Catherine.
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Thank you, Mitzy. There’s not much of a selection in the garden at this time of the year. But very little sign of new life is appreciated. Have a lovely weekend!
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I have all that’s
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I love the color of your hellebore!
Yes, dreaming of Spring is a frequent pastime this time of year! I ordered two new bare root natives for my garden – Liatris aspera and Monarda fistulosa, the latter I had collected seeds from the marsh where it does quite well (not literally in the marsh, but on the high ground), but they did not germinate, They will ship sometime in April, so I am looking forward to those additions. I want some goldenrod also, but might just buy that from across the street, as they did not have bare root available, and I had scattered seed of goldenrod pilfered from the campus where I work and nothing came of that either, but I want to have more late summer/early fall natives in my collection. Curious if my so called goldenrod soldier beetles will prefer goldenrod to the other flowers that they seem quite happy with.
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So sorry for the late reply, I’ve just found your post in the Spam folder. No idea why it’s gone in there!
That aside, your two new plants, Liatris aspera and Monarda fistulosa will make great new additions to your garden. Your comment about the Goldenrod soldier beetles led me to an amusing but rather gruesome article in a New Scientist post. I believe we don’t have these over here – and I hope I’m right!
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Hellebore ‘Merlin’ is a beauty. I’ll have to look it up later. You’ve reminded me that I need to sow some more Calendula this year – especially Snow Princess – it’s one of my favourites.
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I normally have snow Princess somewhere in the garden too, I like Indian Prince too, but haven’t bought any seeds this year.
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As always, lovely pictures. Encouraging words too, we can expect too much from our gardens.
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Thank you, Gill. Like most people, I’m looking forward to Spring, but to be honest, I’m becoming more at ease with this in-between time. I have so many other things I’d like to tackle and this is the best opportunity of the year to deal with them all! 😊
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The hellebores and heucheras are beautiful. I love the shapes and textures. I am not a rhododendron expert but that bud on the right looks like it was someone’s snack.
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Thank you. I think you’re right about something nibbling at it. I wonder what 🤔
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I’m pretty sure squirrels had been at the buds of one of the Camellias at the park last week. Lots of part nibbled buds on the ground. Is that a possibility?
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We had a squirrel in the garden a couple of years ago, but haven’t seen it since. All the damaged buds are still on the plant – at least – they were when I last looked a few days ago. I’ll have to look for clues!
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The winter rose, Hellebores are a favourite. Understated yet so lovely to view during the cooler months.
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It’s a gem at this time of the year, Suzanne. 😊
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Lovely hellebores, soon they will be in full swing along with the snowdrops. I always feel it is worth having a wander round as each day brings something new.
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I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s Hellebores, Pauline. They’re a winter treat. Hope you weren’t affected too badly by yesterday’s storm.
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The hellebores are beautiful, and something I definitely don’t have enough of.
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I don’t have enough either, Helen. Maybe we need a wee visit to the garden centre? 😁
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The Hebe is really beautiful. 😃 I would love to grow them , and do occasionally buy one but they never make it through the winter. I must take a look at my hellebores later this week as it is supposed to finally go above freezing. I grow the Double Ellen too and in mild years my hellebores would start flowering around now. But it hasn’t been mild this month!
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It’s been cold here too – though maybe not as cold as where you are! ⛄️ I need to venture outdoors to see if there’s any damage from the storm, but it’s still too windy. I can see a garden chair has blown into a border and is caught in a rose bush. It will have to wait!
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Winter is most definitely a precious time of hope and anticipation Catherine. A time to reflect and plan before the rush begins. ‘Merlin’ looks a most beautiful hellebore. I’ve made a note of the name 😀
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H. ‘Merlin’ is a bit different from the others as it has grey-green leaves which are rather nice. The only problem with my hellebores is keeping the flowers undamaged by the weather, but having said that, they’re pretty resilient. Have a good week, Anna. 😊
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