Six on Saturday 26.02.22

Thistles and Kiwis,

I thought about how to start this post, but Six on Saturday is a blog theme about gardening, and not world affairs. It doesn’t mean I am ignoring what is going on here (the squatters at Parliament are still here, and now all falling sick with Covid….) and abroad, but the sun has been shining and I managed to get out and do a bit of tidying and repotting. A big thanks to The Propagator who encourages us to share what is going on in our gardens in all parts of the world. Check out the participant guide if you want to join in.

To start with, this week’s nasturtiums: another gorgeous dark red one, and this lively yellow one with a deep orange sun burst. So pretty and cheerful.

Another cheerful thing to be seen is this sunflower. I planted four seeds and have had four flowers so I am not at all disappointed and who doesn’t love a sunflower?

I know I said I was going to do a Marie Kondo on my plants, but I couldn’t help but pick up some herbs when we visited the garden centre last week. As well as this striking purple basil (which I am keeping inside) there was a new oregano (my third one…), and two thymes, (common and ruby carpet) as I use this herb quite a lot in cooking and just love the smell.

Still, in herb corner, the bergamot lemon is still flowering and looking extremely pretty against the fence. The echinacea is showing signs of new flowers and there is still masses of tarragon.

When I was out cutting back my poor dahlias, which have now been treated for the white mould, I spotted this spectacular green insect which I believe is a green stonefly. Just look at the length of its antennae!

And to end…the delicate pink glory of Japanese anemones, which you can also see at the featured image at the top of the post. There are still lots of buds, so there’ll be more to come in the weeks ahead.

That is my six this week, and as usual, I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s beautiful gardens in other parts of the world. Hope you are all well and enjoying your gardens in whatever the season is with you.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis.  As for Twitter….am totally inactive these days.  If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com

Published by Thistles and Kiwis

27 Comments

  2. I think your green garden visitor is a Katydid. They are members of the grasshopper family and do like to nibble on leaves but aren’t a big problem generally in my garden. Your flowers are a tonic.

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  3. First of all your nasturtiums are looking glorious and, as you say, sunflowers are a delight. I also think your green insect is a katydid – your stoneflies appear to have longer bodies – for it looks remarkably akin to ones we get in South Africa.

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  7. Hard to resist new herbs. I must seek out some tarragon this year as mine seems to have died off, again. It’s not terribly hardy. And the lemon bergamot is very nice too. I’d say that insect was some kind of cricket – I had to look up the stonefly and yours doesn’t look to have wings. But I am no insect expert and especially not of NZ insects!

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  8. Marie Kondo does not have the heart of a gardener or a book lover. Have no guilt over herbs (or books). My Japanese anemones are just reawakening in this Alabama February. I look forward to a display like yours in several months.

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  15. What a wonderful purple basil – huge leaves! I agree with Susan above – dump Marie Kondo if you are interested in life! A lovely six, thank you.

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