Six on Saturday

No posts for a few months and then two come along together! Having a week off work in lovely sunshine has been great and given me time to re-charge my garden writing and make plans for bulb planting season. Looking back at my last Six on Saturday, I can see that the foot injury I suffered in March was recovering – I’m pleased to say that I am almost back to normal and as well as playing golf I can used a fork and spade again!

My Six this week are a mixture from Wales and Walsall with a helenium thrown in from a recent visit to Trentham, one of my favourite gardens

First up and growing in the garden in Wales is one of Chris’s favourites, rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’. This herbaceous perennial is a real worker with a long late summer/autumn flowering period. It’s fully hardy, growing to a height and spread of 60×50 cm and thriving in moist well drained soil. We’ve got it growing with persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ to good effect, just need to be mindful of the spreading capacity of the latter as it can take over!

I love shiny conkers and can’t resist picking them up at this time of year. This week I was ably assisted by a squirrel showering me with them them from the high branches of a huge tree! I didn’t take them all, it was only fair to leave some for the bushy tailed creature after all her/his efforts. What will I do with the ones I’ve collected – I think I’ll use them as decoration in autumn pots (they’ll no doubt disappear quickly though!)
This is a seedhead from clematis niobe – they’re a lovely silky golden tuft adding extended interest to this plant before it’s cut back. The wild clematis vitalba can be seen in hedgerows now – commonly known as ‘Old Man’s Beard’.
This gorgeous Helenium (I think it’s ‘Chelsey’) is planted en masse in the prairie style at Trentham Gardens. Heleniums have a long summer/Autumn flowering period and look great with grasses and other tall perennials.

A stunning Oak in Walsall Arboretum – speaks for itself!

Last but definitely not least – rosa ‘Iceberg’. We’ve three of these growing as standards and they’re in their second flush at the moment – their fragrance as you step out into the garden is fabulous! They’ll need pruning before we get any Autumn storms as they are extremely top heavy at the moment, fingers crossed this flush will be over first.

Stay safe and well!

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8 thoughts on “Six on Saturday”

  2. Ann Mackay says:

    Lovely images! I have the rudbeckia too, and it survives my terribly dry soil here in Suffolk. I think it’s time I gave it a good mulching with some of the precious contents of my compost heap – it deserves it!

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