PotsandPlots

Winter made its return to the garden this week. Many plants that I optimistically put out last weekend had to be returned to shelter. The garden fleeces even made a reappearance due to a couple of nights of frost. Finally, it rained.

I’ve had a busy week, so not much gardening done. Not much inspiration found, but nevertheless, there’s always something going on.

SixOnSaturday is curated by Jim at Garden Ruminations, and you can find the participation guidelines here.

1. I pinched a small bit of this Erigeron karvinskianus from the car park of a garden I visited a couple of years ago. It has now grown a fair amount, and I have 3 broken pots with it in growing in various places in the garden. It feels like it borders on being a weed, though, so far, it has yet to break out of its own accord into my garden.

To be honest, I don’t mind if it does. I love seeing it grow in the cracks and crannies of brickwork. Can you spot the Feathers McGraw pot stand peeking out through the daisies?

2. This cotinus has been in the garden since we moved it, and I love the richness of its colour. It has, however, gradually become less and less healthy. I cleared up this area to give it more breathing space, and I had the tree surgeon cut down a large portion of the old bush. As nature tends to do (life finds a way!), it has returned with vigour. Looking forward to shaping the resulting growth into something that enhances the garden.

3. More attempts to breathe vigour into my garden last year, when I split up my iris plants. I now have more plants growing, but only one of them has flowered. As I wrote last week, hopefully normal service will be resumed next year.

4. I love aliums but I struggle to grow them in the garden. I don’t think it gets enough sun. These two, however, keep coming back, year after year, and always bring a smile.

5. I bought this white aquilegia a few years ago, when I redid this bed. It has gained a friend from the dispersal of seeds from further down the garden. (This friend may well be evicted after flowering, as I’m not sure I need its type around here!). The white looks lovely against the yellow-green euphorbia and the bright yellow of the rhododendron behind it.

I inherited that sickly rhododendron from my parents. Every year, I think I will get rid of it, as it looks a bit rubbish, but then it flowers. Usually, one solitary bloom, but it always looks lovely and convinces me it can stay another year.

6. I wanted to show off the thalictrum that I randomly bought a few years ago, as it’s just coming into bloom. (Random purchases are a unifying theme of the garden.) The photo doesn’t show off the mass of aquilegia behind it, so you can have a bonus shot of them too!

See you next week and thanks for taking the time to look at my #SixonSaturday