Six on Saturday: Keeping Busy

Busy Lizzies continue to amaze me every year with their flower power – those above have been flowering since the beginning of June and show no sign of stopping, despite a large degree of neglect by the gardener; however, a dose of frost would quickly send them packing.

Despite an acceptance that it is autumn and a gradual loss of leaves by some trees, with October remaining mild until this weekend, there is little in the way of colour change yet. The witch hazels are often the first to relent, and Wednesday’s post showed Hamamelis ‘Arnold Promise’ well into the process of colour change and leaf loss. H ‘Jelena’ never fails to disappoint in the autumn, and has just begun to turn, starting at the extremities:

I was well pleased yesterday to find my recent sowing of early sweet peas ‘Winter Sunshine’ was already paying dividends, with nearly half the seeds germinating in just over a week; sown in the greenhouse, they usually take a fortnight to germinate, so this was surprisingly quick and bodes well for next year’s early blooms:

I was equally pleased (but not surprised, as I had been checking periodically for a week or two), to find autumn flowering snowdrops emerging under the foliage of ferns in the entrance border. This one is Galanthus Reginae–olgae ‘Cambridge’, always the first of mine to appear (I couldn’t manage to get both scapes in focus!). It still seems strange to have snowdrops in bloom when there is so much else going on in the garden, but it’s an exciting foretaste of what’s to come a few months down the line!

Having shown a jar of tomatoes that I was fermenting recently, I did say I would provide some follow up, as it was all new to me. I was rather alarmed to find them covered in white mould, until a friend of mine knows better tells me it is a yeast called ‘kham’ and is fine; however, having not tasted fermented foods before, and seeing this mould that isn’t mould, I must confess to feeling a little reluctant to try the tomatoes. However, for the purposes of reporting back, I tried one and hmm, it tastes ‘fizzy’ perhaps? A curious taste, but not unpleasant – I will have to be braver!

Finally, I have been really excited this week because I have the stream running again! With dry and very warm weather forecast last weekend, I was determined to get to the point where the new liner was in place before we had the wet weather forecast for later. I have had the liner for over a month but have put the job off for much longer than that because it is not the most straightforward of tasks. However, the ‘hole’ was fully emptied and extended a little, the underlay cut and installed and the liner lifted into place. The reservoir was then filled, the pump connected and switched on and -whahay! – the stream was running! The job is far from complete though, as the rocks need to be replaced, which will be a very fiddly and difficult three dimensional jigsaw – but the hardest part was starting the job, and I have done that! It’s SO lovely to have the sound of running water again…

That’s my six for today’s Saturday meme, hosted by Jim of Garden Ruminations. Please visit his website for his own Saturday six and links to many others.