Category: Six on Saturday

September – the Ninth Month

Published on by Catherine19 Comments

How fast the months have passed and how strangely the seasons have shifted, surely a reminder that change is a constant in our gardens. Whether you believe in climate change or not, it’s hard to ignore the signs in front of us when we step into our gardens. The plants in my garden are both protesting and celebrating the strangeness of the seasons. Some plants have surrendered to the heat and drought, while others have been more prolific and vibrant than I could have hoped for. Here, we had an abundance of rain early in the summer, only to be surprised by the heat and prolonged dry spells that followed later in the season. Now, in the ninth month of the year and moving into Autumn, it has been an unpredictable year.

What will autumn and winter bring, and how will I plan for next year’s planting? Will your planting plans take account of the changes to the seasons, or do you think this year was simply an anomaly?

But let’s forget about the year ahead for the moment and get on with this week’s Six on Saturday.

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Rushing into August

Published on by Catherine24 Comments

This is a very quickie post today. Too much to do, too much happening! Why is retirement so busy?!!

It’s been another dry week here, a mix of sun and cloud, not too cold, not too warm, with light winds. That’s suited me, but even so, I couldn’t get into the garden until late on Thursday.

But on with Six on Saturday!

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Colourful July

Published on by Catherine25 Comments

I’m back again for Six on Saturday now that my visiting family have returned home. The house is quiet except for the whirring of the washing machine as it deals with the mountain of towels and the heaps of bedding outside each bedroom door. I’m doing my best to ignore it all, because the garden is calling me back.

The garden is heavy with colour right now, but individual plants, and in particular, the roses, are damaged by the heavy downpours of the previous week. I haven’t had the time to get round everything with pruners to tidy them up, but before my family returned home, my daughter and my 14 yr old grandson son spent an afternoon in the garden deadheading the roses. Alas, more heavy rain has thundered down since then and now I’m having to repeat the process by myself.

Here’s my selection of six photographs for Six on Saturday.

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Sweltering

Published on by Catherine25 Comments

It’s just a quick post from me today as I’m heading out to a Family History Event. It’s been a hectic week, and tomorrow my daughter and her family from Aberdeenshire will be arriving for their annual July visit. I know they are hoping for better weather than we had last year, but I think there might be rain from Monday onwards. Today, it’s going to be hot, or perhaps ‘sweltering’ might be a more descriptive word; perhaps it’s best that I’m going to be indoors for much of the day!

Before I have to rush off, here’s this week’s Six on Saturday!

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Colours of June

Published on by Catherine23 Comments

We’re currently enjoying some welcome hot and calm weather, thankfully not as hot as some of you are experiencing in England. I can’t work in the heat and there are times when that’s a good thing. Sitting in the shade on the patio has been a pleasure. While I’ve been doing that, the garden has being doing its own thing and producing enough floral delights to keep me happy.

It’s Six on Saturday time again – and here’s my choice of six plants for this week.

Clematis ‘Luiza’ is a dwarf variety, reaching a height of only 12-18 inches. I grow it as a trailing plant in my large patio planter. It’s a gorgeous clematis with only one problem – it’s currently 37 inches long and is lying on the patio floor! However, that means loads more flowers, doesn’t it.

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