Yes, I’ve a vague recollection of doing the Six-on-Saturday thing, but it’s been almost three months since I’ve been there. I found it increasingly difficult to keep at it!
I’ve now accumulated a decent head of steam, fresh new steam, not just a recycled hash of old steam, so I’m ready to rock-n-roll. I’m thinking that I’ll see how it goes… I may take a little break now and then, but I’ll not be too far away.
Here’s six things from the garden this week…
1.
I’d like to have some space indoors to keep geraniums in flower through the winter. Alas, they are in the cold glasshouse. So far, I’m remembering to close it each night and let some air circulate by day. This is the only flower, and thus is to be treasured.
2.
Bought last week, this is Juncus grass, together with a few polyanthuses to add a wee bit of colour. Níl morán sa gháirdín mí Eanair. There isn’t much in January so this is a real tonic. Not sure of the proper name of the Juncus, but it’s commonly known as Rushes. Needs very wet soil, and if in a pot best to have no drainage holes. Too late now! I’ll sort it later.
3.
The little hellebore is cheering me up this week. My only other one is not in flower yet, and when it does it’s got a very drooping habit. This one is staring right at me!
4
Not my garden. Not my muscari. This is from my neighbour’s beautiful garden. I love it! Here’s the original from Twitter.
5.
I’m holding off. Last year I started my seeds on the third week of January. This time, I’ll wait until late February or early March. I learned a lot from last year. I’ll be repeating several successes, for example asters, rudbeckia and especially gaura. I’ll not be sowing tomatoes, sweet peas or dahlias. I’d happily grow dahlias forever but I just don’t have room for them.
I’m a bit more organised this year. I’ve taken a photo of the front and back of each packet. I’ve uploaded the details on my Plant List and tagged each image with name and label number. In this way, I can get at the information whenever needed. Helluva lot better than keeping track on paper that gets damp or lost! This plant list is a Google Sheet that can be added to whenever I buy new plants or seeds.
6.
On Thursday I got away for an hour and a bit on the Waterford Greenway. I’ve come to regard this majestic off-road track as my Country Garden! It’s quiet at this time of the year. Growth is beginning to shine through. Below is one of the lovely wild flowers abundant in patches on sunny banks. Paddy updated me this time last year. It’s called Winter Heliotrope, Petasites pyrenaicus, an invasive alien. It’s far enough away from my garden, so I’ll classify it as friendly.
I write as a member of The Saturday Gang. We are a group of gardeners who write. We write about six items in our gardens, and we do it on Saturdays. I love reading about and seeing other gardens from as far away as New Zealand, Tasmania, USA, Canada, Belgium, France, Britain and Waterford City. Many more choose to publish on Twitter and Instagram using the #sixonsaturday hashtag. You can find out more about it here. Six things, in your garden. Simple as that.
Confession: I do love seeing other Six-on-Saturday contributions. However, I had driven myself to distraction trying to do the impossible… reading everyone’s post and taking some time to comment was proving to be a mammoth weekly task. Therefore, I’m going to be selective…. I’ll pick a few each week.
That’s it. All sorted. I’ll likely be back with more next week. Of course, life lessons are happening all the time. There’ll be no pressure. If it happens, great. If not, fret not.
Pádraig.
Pádraig de Búrca - Grow Write Repeat 