Six on Saturday – Going Potty! 20🌸5🌸23

For the last few weeks I have been slowly reinstating and re- planting and creating new bulb pots for my spring bulb display. I didn’t have a dedicated bulb display last year and my spring bulbs were rather disparate in pots in different places. So with firm resolve, I decided to reinstate my big spring bulb display on the concrete steps on the old cottage that is next to my house, like I had a few years ago. This is I have done off and on for many years. This area is quite good because it gets morning shade and afternoon sun in the winter /spring and is mainly weed and pest free.

I had the able help of one of my daughters, and I did a lot of carting of pots, weeding and replanting and redistributing bulbs. My preferred bulb I like to grew where are the lovely rannunculus bulbs that put on a magnificent show here, with some freesias, tulips, dutch iris and the odd blue star flower. I am still prevaricating as to what I am going to under-plant them with because I would like some pretty under-plants that have the potential to flower here all year round. But it gets stinking hot here in summer, so that will have to be thought about. I already have some pretty violas planted there and some fairy-sown petunias, lobelias and pansies from other pots too, we will see if they:
A. withstand the huge growth of the bulb display and
B. Are able to cope with the searing heat and dry conditions with summer.
and C. Whether I have the patience to water that many pots in summer anyway, which may be doubtful. That is why I mainly use this area for a spring display rather than a summer one, as it still rains regularly and is damper then.

My 30 planted bulb pots all lined up like little soldiers! The next photo is of the rannunculus bulb display here 3 years ago in spring, which looks pretty fab.

Also flowering this week are verbenas, petunias, newly flowering mini snapdragons, daisies and Salvia mexicanus.

The last hurrah of the cucumbers. I must make a mention of them because they have kept us in crunchy cucumber and salad sandwiches/rolls for lunch every day in summer/autumn! They produced over 60 cute little Lebanese cucumbers in my new Vegepod! It was an outstanding success and my best cucumber crop by far!
Cineraria saxifraga and felicias, Splice rose, and cute little non-flowering pelargoniums called dainty something that I use for edges of the flower borders in my retaining wall garden. The pink leafy plant is a kalanchoe I obtained from a market plants stall with no labels or flowers, so I will have to see what colour they are. The plant is telling me a dark pink colour.

Still can’t get enough of the pretty Heidesommer rose with the Salvia Marine Blue!

Daisy crazy, the earliest of my flowering daisies has just started to bloom enmasse and is a very welcome sight. It makes the start of the match towards my spring flower fest. Each week now in late autumn, a few more of my Mediterranean flowering shrubs/ sub-shrubs and perennials will start to flower.

As the deciduous trees bow out for the season, the season is only just getting started for my local wattle Acacia iteaphylla, the Flinder’s Ranges wattle. This little beauty is local to my state and starts to flower with her egg-custard smelling flowers in late autumn, making her one of the first wattles to bloom for the year. Giving a welcome source of nectar for the local honey-eater birds. Things that flower very early or very late in the season are most acceptable in the garden!

That’s all from me.🌸 See more beautiful Six on Saturday gardens from around the world, on the Six on the Saturday tag, our host is Jim you can find his blog here .
Thanks for visiting. 🌸 Happy Gardening – Sarah 🌸

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