Six on Saturday - 30 December 2017

Joining in for my second Six on Saturday after a quick scoot around the garden this afternoon at the end of a difficult year. A lot of things have felt like a struggle this year and I think I'm not alone in looking forward to a more positive year next year.

Being more positive is going to be my buzzword for 2018 for starters!

I was quite surprised as I walked around the garden on this mild but windy last Saturday of 2017, to see signs of new growth in the borders. I've neglected the garden a little since I got my allotment 4 1/2 years ago but I'm hoping to make amends in the coming months, having made a tentative start this year.

ONE

I've decided I have a 'thing' for hellebores. I love the colours of the flowers; so subtle but such variety in their limited palette of pinks, mauves and white.

Pale pink Hellebore flower

I inherited two hellebores in my garden when I moved here, one white and one pale pink. For some reason the white one died on me but the pink one is going strong and I spotted this new flower bud this afternoon.

I remedied the loss of the white one by planting a new white variety to replace it a few months ago. I seem to have lost the name of it but think it's a double white. I love them so much I think I need to get another couple to fill the bed.

TWO

In another area that I've worked on this summer, I planted a pieris. Again I love the flash of red in their new growth. This one is just getting going, the variety is Mountain Fire.

Pieris, 'Mountain Fire'

THREE

I planted some more daffs in the same bed and it was pleasing to see those poking their tips through the soil.

New daffs

FOUR

The Euphorbias come into their own at the start of the year. Again, I've no idea on the variety but when I was googling to find out the type of plant they were, I remember finding a website for a guy who specialised in growing them. So many varieties!

Euphorbia

FIVE

The end of my garden has partial shade due to a large ash tree in my neighbour's garden. I worked on this bed earlier this year to replace a lavatera that had died. One of the plants I added were some mini cyclamen. I love the variegation on their leaves.

Cyclamen foliage

SIX

And finally to bring my end of year look around the garden to a close is this euonymus I planted in the same bed earlier this year, again with variegated foliage. The variety is Emerald Gaiety.

Euonymus, 'Emerald Gaiety'

I mentioned positivity being my resolution for 2018 earlier in this post, my other resolution is to remember the names of any plants I plant out in my garden!

Many thanks for @cavershamjj for hosting. Check out his blog for more Six on Saturday.

Six on Saturday - 9 December 2017

'Six on Saturday' is a newish regular blogging thing created by @cavershamjj aka The Propagator on Twitter via his blog, thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com. In  nutshell you post six images of your garden each Saturday and share them online. You can read more about how to participate here.  

I have a feeling I'll struggle to do it weekly let alone have six different things I can photograph each week in my garden. I may also have to employ a loose definition of the word 'garden' and include my allotment as well...but let's start off with a positive attitude and pretend we might at least be able to do it monthly and maybe incorporate it into my 'monthly' plot updates!

1. First up a little ray of sunshine that is continuing to add a burst of colour to my front garden.

Yep, it's a calendula! No idea of the variety, other than a regular one as it has come across from my neighbour's front garden and self seeded itself. A perfect little flower on a winter's day.

2. Continuing the 'plants still in flower when they ought not to be' theme is this rose in the garden.

Again, I have no idea of the variety. It was in my garden when I moved here. It provides a wonderful spread of colour at the end of the garden in the summer.

3. Heuchera. Despite living here for the best part of ten years, I'm only now starting to put my mark on the garden and planting a few new things out in it.

This heuchera has lovely purple leaves which you can see clearly from one end of the garden to the other. Not that it's a big garden mind you! I'm in awe at all the different colour leaves in this genus and just might have to invest in some more.

Which reminds me I meant to keep a planting plan on the go so I could remember the names of everything I plant out, but I've forgotten what this variety is already!

4. A naked Christmas tree.

I bought this tree, Picea Pungens 'Glauca' from a local nursery so I could use it for my allotment association's entry into the town's Christmas Tree Festival last weekend. I desperately want to be able to put lights on it at home but don't think I've got a socket I can use. Current thinking is I need to install one in a bin store cupboard out the front. I've just got around to googling the variety and it's a blue spruce. Here it is in all it's glory at the tree festival, and yes we made decorations from veg!

5. Seed heads. These are Love in the Mist on my allotment. I haven't got around to tidying them up yet. Saying that, I've just seen a post on Twitter where someone has collected seed heads of various plants and flowers and has made a wonderful arrangement with them, so these may still come home with me....

My friend, Gina, in South Wales sent me a load of seeds last year. They provided an awesome array of colours on the plot this summer.

6. And lastly for this week, oca.

I'm stretching the 'in my garden' thing here to include all of my outdoor space! Oca are a tuber which originate from South America. They are day-length sensitive in that the tubers only start forming once the days start to shorten. There's a bunch of people on Twitter attempting to breed this characteristic out of them. If things had evolved differently, we could have been eating oca instead of potatoes, which is something that fascinates me. I've taken a pic of this one as it looks heart shaped. They are usually oval and taste like potatoes with a hint of lemon.

So that's it, my first Six on Saturday. Thanks for reading. Not sure when my next one will appear. I'd advise you not to hold your breath, just in case!

Linking up with The Propagator for this week's post which you can read here. Have a look at his post and all the other blogs linking up their posts this week in the comments.

Joanna x