Six on Saturday 13/10/18…

As part of the regular gardening blog hop put up by The Propagator, my Six for Saturday are growing in our little matchbox garden in the city. I mentioned once before in another post, that this garden is only three and half years old and was built from scratch. (See Matchbox Gardens)

It’s also had plants repeatedly moved until one finds the right place (if one ever does), so the six on exhibit today are keepers and probably also quite hardy, as the garden suffers blazing heat and sun in summer and dire shade and cold in winter as the sun lowers in the sky.

Nemesia Aromatica white. It says Aromatica, although to date there’s nothing at all aromatic about it, unless its to the bees who seem to enjoy it. I love it for its robust habit and for the fact that the snails (who have demolished all my cosmos and petunia seedlings) leave it alone.

Aquilegia flabellata ‘Nana Alba’ – I love these but on googling, suspect they may have been wrongly labelled as the flowerheads aren’t as curly as the googled inages. In any case, they’re robust, snail-safe, and I’ve popped them here and there throughout the matchbox because they are just pretty. (Jack Russell’s bottom disappearing into the right as he searches for lizards.)

Calamintha Nepeta White Cloud. So hardy. Cut to the ground every autumn and returns as healthy as ever in spring.

Pulmonaria Sissinghurst White. This is very special. My close, super gardener friend (oh my gosh, you should see her garden! Set in the grounds of an 1800’s sandstone house and filled with delight!) gave me cuttings of this twenty years ago and when we moved, I took cuttings and brought them with me. My concern is that the position is too sunny and that the poor things do rather frizzle in mid-summer. Should I move them?

Polygonatum Solomons’ Seal. Love the stately arching growth of these. They also came from our previous garden and they fill this shady, very ordinary stretch of path beautifully in summer.  Hardy as anything. But what do I plant around them for winter. I already have hellebores amongst them and there were the sweetest tiny imperial mauve violas which have vanished. All suggestions gratefully received.

And finally the first buds and flowers of a white clematis, variety forgotten, that climbs happily up over the rusty windmill top that we brought to the city from the farm. The structure is a focal point in the garden and the clematis never disappoints. I’ve got five different white clematis around the garden (don’t know their names because I wasn’t keeping a list at that point) but I’m besotted with clematis of all kinds and intend on demolishing a juvenile white wistaria to replace with clematis.  (Or should I plant the clematis with the wistaria and they can climb around and over each other? What do you think?)

And that’s it.

Cheers all!

PS: It’s Sunday morning here!