Six on Saturday – out and about around my garden – 11 August 2018

I’d been thinking for a while that I haven’t taken many photos or described what’s happening in our garden – so I looked around for a linkup to prompt me to join in, and found Six on Saturday – hosted by thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com  (participant guide) who lives in Reading, Berkshire. That’s where I went to school, though I’ve lived in Manchester for over 20 years – so it’s a small world sometimes.   I’ve been following various contributors and, as usual, been inspired by the plants they grow and what they write about – but hadn’t got my act together to take photos on a Saturday.

So I’ll be covering what’s been happening around our garden, the locality in Monton, Eccles, Greater Manchester, the North.  Mostly gardens and places we visit with an emphasis on plants.  Knowing me, I doubt I’ll be contributing every week as time runs away from me, but I’ll try my best 🙂 I hope this post covers the Six on Saturday brief. 

Background

Our garden in Manchester has had a tough time this summer, the temperatures have been in the high 20s for a couple of months with very little rain. Even in our north facing, shady garden, we lost plants which had too much frost in the Spring and now drought conditions. I’ve been doing daily watering from the water butts and have sedums/succulents in a couple of hanging baskets, instead of more traditional bedding plants.
We didn’t do very much in the garden last year, apart from grow lots of lavender, as we were busy with wedding planning, and my health wasn’t great.  It was a case of keeping up with watering the pots, but we didn’t buy any new shrubs, didn’t got to any flower shows or make any changes to the layout.

1. Building Corner decking – what to do next? 

For the first couple of years we lived here, this corner of the garden was shingle and an old bench (2009-2014).  In fact, this bench is why the blog has its name – as we used to sit here and discuss what to do in life, and in the garden.

Before – nackered bench 2010

Deck – veg plot on the left and flowers on the right – 2014

My Chap built the decking in 2014 – it was a pre cut kit from B&Q – as it worked out much cheaper.  We’ve had new fences at the back now, as they fell apart when some of our neighbour’s conifers were cut down.  This is was our favourite place to eat in the garden until the chairs broke.  Now we have a green metal bistro set in the middle of our nackered grass this summer.

• Where we sit (part 1)

a lovely place for eating out during the summer

Current situation – July 2018

I’m hoping the photos will push me into painting the fences, the table and buying some new bistro chairs.   I’m looking out for metal wall art or a mirror for the fences.  The camellias live on the left, there’s an Abutilon, a dwarf lilac, some lavender and  a Philadelphus.  This area gets the morning sun and some of the last of the evening sun (when the conifers in my neighbours garden are pruned).   Yoda is just out of shot.

Any ideas what else I should put in this area? Apart from more plants 😉 I’ve got some nemesia (see below) and some more lavender for scent. 

2. Tigridia pavonia ‘Auria’ – tiger flower

These stunning flowers last only a day in our garden – you can see it’s in a pot in the photo above.  The bulbs came from Wilko a few years ago. Obviously, I had to look up the proper name as my memory is a sieve for flower names.  This reminded me that the bulbs need lifting over the winter and placing in trays of sand as they aren’t hardy here.

3. Nemesia ‘Sunshine’

These are outside the front door in a blue china pot – it’s called ‘Sunshine’, which seems appropriate given the hot and sunny weather we’ve had since May. The scent is lovely.  This is the first time I’ve had this plant and I’ve bought more for where we sit outside.  I think they’ll need to be put in the porch to overwinter though.

4. Hydrangea ‘Kardinal Violet’ from RHS Tatton Park Flower Show

Hydrangea Kardinal Violet

It seems very happy in a pot, in the shady side of the garden – what a stunning colour.  It’s hurling down with rain here so I’m not going to go out to see what it’s called.

5. Petunia ‘Night Sky’ and Petunia ‘Cascadia Rim Magenta’

Petunias ‘Night Sky’ and ‘Cascadia Rim Magenta’

I’ve got a couple of troughs of petunias on the porch walls by the front door which cheer me up every time I see them. The Night Sky (purple spotty) and Cascadia rim magenta (maroon with yellow edges) are looking particularly fine.  You can see the Nemesia in the background too.

6. Bee Spotting in Manchester – #beeinthecity

We were out in the city centre running errands – but managed to do a bit of #beeinthecity spotting while we were there.  This public art trail has certainly caught the imagination of the public, especially children.

Bee No. 2003 – ‘My Heart Belongs in this Place’ Hatch, Oxford Road, Manchester

‘My heart belongs in this Place’ sums up what I feel about this wonderful city. There are nearly 200 bees around the city. I’ve found about 35 so far, I’m off to find some more…#beeinthecity

• beeinthecitymcr.co.uk

And look what I found in the hanging baskets at Hatch – Petunia ‘Night Sky’.  There were lots of flowers, in planters and baskets, around Hatch – all in very good condition.  It’s lovely to see flowers in such an urban, industrial-style place. I’m always looking for nature in urban areas.

Petunia ‘Night Sky’ in Hatch with ‘My Heart belongs in this place’ in the distance

Had a lovely lunch in Hatch on Oxford Road – it’s collection of containers housing a catering space for food startups; although the microbrewery and coffee emporium are permanent (and there’s free wifi too).

• hatchmcr.com/

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I hope you’ve enjoyed my first link up to ‘Six on Saturday’ hosted by thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.  Do have a look at the contributions from others to the meme at the end of his post.

He’s been on a family holiday to Slovenia which looks stunning.

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Have you noticed any unusual flowers? or in unexpected places?  If you’re local to Manchester – Have you been bee spotting too,? Have you got a favourite?

Carpe Diem

Love Bec xx