Tag: clematis

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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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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Early Summer Showtime

Published on by Catherine29 Comments

Roses, Peonies, Clematis, and many perennials are now starting to put on their summer show. The weather unfortunately is not. It has completely ignored the ‘Summer’s Here’ command for the sun to shine and temperatures to rise. It’s been a rainy and cold week, with strong winds that have left damaged plants behind in many gardens. Snow in the hills is being forecast – but to be honest, that’s not unusual for Scotland. Skiers will have fun. All is not gloom though as we’ve had a couple of dry days this week (or part-days), enough for me to get out with the camera and search for hardy survivors. Just enough to fill the six requirements for this week’s Six on Saturday.

I’m having problems with the WordPress slideshow at the moment; it’s also affecting previous posts, so for the moment, I’m only posting single images.

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Geum Love

Published on by Catherine27 Comments

The rain finally arrived in the wee hours of last Saturday morning. It rained throughout the day, that night and through the following day. It has continued to rain a lot this week with a couple of sunny days in between – but I’m sure you get the picture! The garden is now looking green and lush, and plants are responding well after 4 weeks of drought. The baked soil had been unsuitable for planting, but that’s all changed and we’ve managed to plant several new shrubs and perennials. Hopefully on Monday I’ll be able to start putting the seed-sown perennials and annuals into the ground too.

It’s cooler too, but I’m not complaining about that as it’s easier to work in – though I hope it warms up as we go into summer. I’m sure that no one on the northern hemisphere needs reminding that the first day of summer, if you go by the Meteorological calendar, is tomorrow. But if you don’t mind waiting another few weeks, the Astronomical start of summer is Saturday, 21 June 2025.

The plants have made up their minds about which season we’re in; roses are starting to bloom, and there are pops of colour all over the garden as buds start to open, most of them, just a little bit earlier than previous years.

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