Six on Saturday at the end of September

Having broken up from work for a two week break, I’ve been busy listing the jobs that need to be done – but only just started with some deadheading and cutting back. It’s a bit chilly, but bright and sunny in the West Midlands – perfect for deadheading, cutting back and bulb planting. As I’d also like to plant some colourful autumn pots next week I’m hoping that the local nurseries have stocked up. My six this week are still going strong so it’s a floriferous start to Autumn for us!

The three standard rosa ‘Iceberg’ are still flowering in abundance – I’m pretty sure that the lack of any significant rainfall recently has helped as this rose in particular suffers with petal browning when persistently wet. They’re in a border just outside our bi-fold doors and so we’re enveloped in their perfume on stepping outside – just wonderful.

Voted plant of the century at the 2013 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, geranium ‘Rozanne’ AGM is a long flowering perennial growing to a height and spread of 60x100cm. It doesn’t self seed which is a bonus for me, for although I’m a great fan of hardy geraniums, some of them have an undesirable tendency to reproduce prolifically around the garden.

As I didn’t keep the plant label or make a record, I’m not sure which hydrangea paniculata this plant is – it’s only about a metre tall after 5 years and the flower heads are relatively small (when compared with ‘Vanilla Fraise’ or ‘Limelight’). It’s not green enough to be ‘Little Lime’ so I’m stumped! Anyway, it’s a joy to see throughout autumn and requires very little care apart from pruning back in spring.

Last year, after quite some deliberation, we chose rosa ‘Lady Emma Hamilton’ to plant in a round bed in the garden at the side of the house – no regrets on choice, it’s flowered well this year and I’m hoping for even better results next summer when they are properly established.

I’m really pleased with antirrhinum ‘Royal Bride’, grown from seed this year, they are a lovely snowy white and flowering freely. The seedlings were tiny and I was worried about them being damaged whilst being handled, but as you can see, they’re sturdy looking grown plants!

A feast of magenta colour, aster amellus ‘Veilchenkönigin’ is a starry delight! Flowering in August and September, this beauty is an unfussy perennial which will grow in any well drained soil to a height and spread of 50 x 50 cm. It’s got another great attribute in that it is easy to propagate from cuttings.

That’s my six for this week, but I can’t resist adding a seventh – a visitor to our garden pond this week seems to have fallen from the sky!

Keep safe and well all.

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

12 thoughts on “Six on Saturday at the end of September”

  1. Eliza Waters says:

    A nice six, Phao. I esp. love ‘Lady Emma’ and the bright Aster. Seeing your Mickey visitor makes me wonder if he flew there all the way from Florida on a powerful wind (of which there have been too many this year). Anything is possible.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Paddy Tobin says:

    I was busy yesterday and read only the first few blogs posted and am sitting after breakfast now going through the list. It was wonderful to read in one of your first sentences…”west midlands”… as I was immediately able to relate to your gardening conditions. I have read this morning of someone planting an orchid in a tree, another with a lizard, one with hornets and I have wondered where these were situated – giving a location early is a great idea. That aster is a little beauty, by the way!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Ann Mackay says:

    What a lovely selection of flowers! The Iceberg roses look absolutely perfect. Rozanne still has some flowers here too – a favourite geranium. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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