Six on Saturday – In the Blue

I’m not sure why, given the current situation, but the weeks seem to be flying by – I can’t believe it’s Saturday again already! What we should have been be doing today was packing – for our week of golf in Portugal with a group of friends, due to start tomorrow. However, on the bright side, there are folks with far worse problems than we’re facing and at least we have our garden. This week I’m going with blue for my six:

Although very beautiful, centaurea montana (perennial cornflower), isn’t choosy about where it grows. It’s a self seeder and tends to pop up in any corner of the garden, in any soil and light condition and even up through other plants, so a close eye should be kept on it!

Next, myosotis scorpioides, the diminutive Forget Me Not (or as our daughter Sophie once called it ‘Remember Me’!). Another prolific self seeder, its charming appearance every year is always welcome even though it pops up all over the place!

Clematis alpina, a wonderfully subtle climber grows in any soil, in sun or partial shade. I’ve planted this behind the greenhouse, to grow along the fence. It is rather shady, but the growth over the last year has been impressive – for now I just need to give it a good feed and start training it.

This gorgeous aguilegia has been in our garden for years. Aguilegias aren’t guaranteed to reproduce in exactly the same form from self seed as they so easily cross pollinate. When we first moved to our house in Scott Road, there were so many aguilegias of varying colours in the garden and I fell in love with them. However, over the years their colours (except this one), have become more and more diluted. I should grow some more from proprietary seed for next year….

The attractive red/green foliage of Ajuga reptans creeps along the ground and gives great cover to suppress weeds. Apparently it can be invasive, but I haven’t had any trouble with it. The flower stems spring up from its carpet of leaves attracting bees, who seem to love it. This plant prefers partial shade, but will grow in any soil.

Finally, bluebells! We have lots growing in the garden and I think they are hyacinthoides x massartiana, a cross between the Spanish bluebell, hyacinthoides hispanica and the English hyacinthoides non-scripta, as the flowers are shorter and the petals curl back. It’s quite straightforward to tell the difference between the English and Spanish varieties, as the former has flowers along one side of the stem making it droop over and the latter has flowers all around the stem giving it an upright habit. Bees apparently prefer the English bluebell, which has a greater fragrance, but in our garden they don’t seem to be fussy, busying themselves in and out of the flower heads. We are careful to dig a few up each year as they can become invasive. There’s some lovely information about bluebells on the Woodland Trust website, including mythology and symbolism and the consequences of upsetting the fairies!

For more SoS please visit it’s home at: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

15 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – In the Blue”

    • Phao Hewitson says:

      I’ve got a home office set up to work from here, but I’m part-time so all the things I’m usually doing (apart from the garden) have stopped. I do think we’re all trying to keep busy though, so that may be why..

      Liked by 1 person

  2. janesmudgeegarden says:

    Such beautiful shades of blue! Interesting about the aquelegia. I have some that have spread themselves around, so it will be interesting to see the colours when the time comes.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Catherine says:

    What a great collection of blues. I agree about the Centaurea montana, one plant in my garden has become many. Most of them I dig up.

    The clematis alpina is so graceful, its leaves are a perfect match for the delicate flowers.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. cavershamjj says:

    I love bluebells in the woods (and in other people’s gardens!) but can’t help but see them as an annoying weed in my garden, Spanish or not. I dig em up at the first sign of flowers, but usually don’t get it all. I think it’s the leaves I find annoying, not to mention their spreading habit.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Heyjude says:

    I love blue flowers and these are a delightful selection. I have the Bugle too though my foliage is variegated and quite pretty without the flowers that are now appearing. My favourite here though is that beautiful clematis. What a beauty!

    Liked by 1 person

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