Tag: salvia

From Hot Lips to Secret Trips

Note to US Border Patrol… If you find this Six-on-Saturday on my Social Media, do not ignore. Send me back to Ireland immediately.

It has been the best summer since 1976, and I’ve enjoyed my time in the garden. As a consequence, because I’ve spent so much time working in the garden and relaxing to enjoy it, I have neglected my blog. There has been an almost complete absence of writing it up. My Six-on-Saturday has been abysmal. I think I’ve posted twice, and today makes three!

For anyone unfamiliar with the Six-on-Saturday meme, here’s the nuts and bolts of it. Many hundreds of gardeners from around the world and from Kilbrien post six items from their garden on Saturdays. The rules are more like guidelines, and for example four of my six are taken in my garden this week, one is in our housing estate, and one is in Northern Ireland. Likely, my efforts will be tolerated and there are no red cards for such mild offences.

Recovery

The garden is recovering just a bit, following a week of showers, mostly light. However, a few very heavy thunderstorms dropped more water than we’ve had since late June. Hurrah for that!

I too am recovering after my gallbladder surgery on July 25th. The lovely surgeon Niamh and her team outlined a six-week recovery timeline for me. This is week four. No bike, no running and no swimming. They did mention that I’ll know what to do when the time is right, provided I listen to my body.

This week I’m doing light dumbbell exercises for arms only. Given the continued good weather, it makes sense to do this outside. Listening to my body, added to my usual good feeling whenever I’m in the garden.

Lobelia

I bought this at the Farmers Market in Lismore last Sunday. It’s Lobelia something-or-other, and not often that my phone camera captures red properly. On this occasion, I’m happy with the shot. It has been potted up and is now living it’s best life on my sunny patio.

Salvia ‘Hot Lips’

This shrub is about fifty metres up the road from me, on our estate greenspace. I did have it in the garden several years ago, given to me by a gardening enthusiast (thank you Ann🙏), but I didn’t mind it as I should have.

Simon usually sells Salvias at the local Farmers Market. Perhaps last year or the year before we discussed it. He told me it’s Salvia ‘Hot Lips’, and suggested I’d be in the good books if I were to buy it for my missus. A few days later, Marion met him and he suggested she buy it for me! Good salesman!

Verbena

I rarely get to look at the front garden, apart from coming to and going from the house. That said, the Verbena is worth looking at. The masses of small purple flowers act as a magnet for butterflies. It seeds itself freely in gravel. I even see it growing across the road, germinated along  cracks in the footpath.

Onions

Harvested two weeks ago, and drying in the glasshouse, I made an error in not removing some flowers when the time was right. Still, bees were attracted to it. I have since cut it back and moved all onions out of intense direct sunlight.

Blackberries

Recently, Marion and I made a road trip to Belfast. Long day 9am until 9pm, there and back same day. Don’t ask, it’s all under wraps! I’m subject to the Official Secrets Act 1963 and Protected Disclosures Act 2014.

Anyway, that’s enough rambling on. The point is that on one of several stretch-my-legs-breaks somewhere just north of the border, I came upon a feast of blackberries. Very tasty too, these northern blackberries.

These are my items for Six on Saturday, a meme originally started by The Propagator, currently hosted by Jim. For more Six-on-Saturday updates, from all around the world, head over to Jim’s blog.In addition, many others post on X using the hashtag (you guessed it!) #sixonsaturday. I sometimes post there too @psdeburca58

In Other News

  • Boat trip on the Blackwater. Mr. Meta bought a castle nearby but when we called, he wasn’t home.
  • Cinema: The Odyssey
  • Five teenagers in balaclavas were killed driving wrong way on M9 motorway. Four innocent road users remain critically injured. National outrage. What on earth is happening to our country?
  • Body Trauma Gallbladder surgery
  • From Rust To Yellow My AI fun.

Until next time,

Slán, Pádraig.

Six-on-Saturday: Two In A Row

Would you believe it? Two in a row! Dry weeks, that is. Here are a few bobs & bits from a second consecutive dry November into December week here on the SE Irish coast. We had three consecutive nights of light frost, but the remaining annuals are obviously as tough as old boots.

We have bumped up the air-to-water for indoor warmth and the machine is whirring on a more regular rhythm.

1. Salvia

It’s called Salvia ‘Hot Lips’, given to me by my friend Ann. I’ve featured this previously as there was a quirky story to the first time I bought this charming plant. It since died because I didn’t prune it and it snapped.

Ar aon nós, I bought it at The Market in town. Simon said it would be a great gift for Marion, given the Hot Lips name. Later, as I was passing by on my way for coffee, Simon was selling another Hot Lips to a woman. If I were you, he said, I’d not buy it. Just send your husband in to buy it for you!

I’ve a feeling he’d sell sand to the Arabs!

2. Cotoneaster

Planted here four years ago, the Cotoneaster ‘Carpet Queen’ has filled all the gaps. I’ll be able to get rooted cuttings from the edges as there is a two-centimetre covering of loose stone beneath. I’ll grow them on for a year, perhaps six or eight (plants, that is, not years), and plant some at the front of the house. I see some red edges appearing on the evergreen “leaves”. That pleases me.

3. Fuchsia

Three things happen at this time of the year.

  • The flowers on the Fuchsia are at their very best.
  • I can begin to see through it because the leaves are dropping.
  • The low sun from the west in the afternoon wafts through.

Photographs taken are very interesting, if I say so myself. In a few weeks, this will be bare, as a result of the cold, and I’ll cut it back to about 50 cm from ground level.

4. Agapanthus

The blue flowers of Agapanthus from June and July are well gone and only the skeletons remain. Generally I leave them in place until late winter. When I do pull them (literally they come away with a gentle tug), I make them into a posy. Below is one of the two bunches from last year.

5. Bacopa

This annual Bacopa is on its last legs. Two or three of these fill a pot to overflowing.

Here’s what AI says: “Bacopa, also known as “water hyssop” or “Brahmi,” is a delicate and beautiful flowering plant that is popular for its ornamental value and medicinal properties. The Bacopa flower is characterized by small five-petaled blossoms that come in shades of white, lavender, pink, and blue, creating a stunning carpet of color in Páraig’s garden. Native to wetlands and marshy areas, Bacopa is often cultivated in gardens and as a trailing plant in containers, where its trailing stems create a cascading effect. Additionally, Bacopa is highly valued in Ayurvedic medicine for its purported cognitive and stress-relieving properties, making it a fascinating and versatile botanical specimen.”

Thanks very much, AI. I wonder do government departments know that I bought two or three of these? I think I’d be concerned.

On a positive note, it’s a stress-buster so I’m not worried in the slightest.

6. Uncinia

I grew Uncinia from seed in 2021. There are half a dozen scattered around the front and back garden. I think this is an attempt to air-root. I may have lost my marbles.

Join With Us

Pop over to Jim’s site to discover more Six-on-Saturday updates. Rules is here.

Until next time, I hope you get to enjoy some time in the garden.

P.

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