Squelching Into June

So what’s been happening your garden this week? In Glasgow, we’ve had rain, monsoon like rain, which then coupled with a few warm, sunny days, has made the garden growth prolific! Everything is looking lush, green and healthy and we certainly won’t be needing the watering cans for a while! Here are my pick from the garden this week for #SixonSaturday!

Let’s start with the gorgeous Lupins! Regular readers will know that they are in my top six favourite plants and as they are just starting to pop their jellybean blooms, I cannot get enough of them! All the Lupins I have are white or purple but within that, there are shades of white and purple which makes for interesting contrasts!

Another of my favourites are Hostas! I did a quick count last night for no good reason to find I have eight Hostas although some of the bigger ones could do with being split next Spring so I’m already planning where I can fit in a few more Hostas! Lots of people don’t like to have Hostas in their garden as they can be a slug magnet but thankfully, these beauties are untouched this year! I keep saying eggshells work for me as a slug deterrent, even though the RHS don’t agree but I’ll keep saving those eggshells if they in turn keep saving my majestic Hostas.

I started a project last year to green up a boring corner of the garden which I’d just been randomly planting in and this Clematis has surprisingly romped away to cover an arch! I say surprising because it hadn’t been doing much in another spot in the garden and I moved it, not expecting too much and in its second Spring in this spot, it has not only made its way up and over half the arch, it has flowered for the first time too! I think it might be Clematis Cartmanii Avalanche but I stopped paying attention to it as it wasn’t doing anything previously, just proves again that right plant, right place always works. I’m so excited to see how far it gets year on year and all I’ve really been doing is helping to guide it though the lattice so it has some support.

I can’t get enough of Chives in the garden and apparently, neither can the bees: all week, the Chives have been party central for the bees! I’ve had one clump of fabulous Chives in the same spot for years and this Spring I dug up the clump and divided it into smaller clumps which I replanted in different places and now I have four clumps of Chives absolutely swarming with bees!

On a similar note, I left the grass uncut this week and last, partly due to the rain and partly to see the effect it would have. Very happy to report that the grass is also providing a party pad for the bees. This one and his pals were luxuriating on the daisies. I’ve never had a neatly cut swathe of perfectly, manicured lawn and I don’t feel the need to be that pristine with the grass. I have to share the lawn with footballs, paddling pools, trampolines and hula hoops and now I’m happy to share that with the flying insects too if it gives them a soft place to rest.

The final pick for #SixonSaturday is the stalwart companion we’ve seen in our Glasgow gardens for the last few weeks, the rain! We may complain but where would our gardens be without it. Take time to look at the raindrops on your plants and you’ll find beauty even in that!

Do feel free to me leave a comment on these six and enjoy reading other #SixonSaturday blogs for information and inspiration from gardeners around the world sharing six things from their garden on a Saturday. #SixonSaturday is hosted by The Propagator, and you’ll find lots of links on Twitter on the #SixonSaturday hashtag. You can find The Pink Wheelbarrow on Twitter at @PinkWheelbarrow.