Six on Saturday – 22 August 2020

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Hard to believe we are heading into the last week of August. So here is the six from this week’s garden.

  1. Despite the damp morning this large white was hanging about.
Large white butterfly

2. It could probably smell these – brassicas. The wet summer has suited pretty much all our brassicas and they are doing well – but netting is essential to keep at least the majority of butterflies out.

Brassicas

3. Cucumbers have been coming but not in any quantity – I think it may not be hot enough for them, even in the greenhouse.

Cucumber

4. Another item that is scarce this year is fruit. I counted four pears on this tree today and that is all the pears from three trees and apples are equally scarce. I blame the late May frost.

Pear

5. This on the other hand was a success. I collected some bloody cranesbill, Geranium sanguineum, seed from wild plants growing in the Burren last year and have managed to grow two plants. I don’t think they are frost hardy so I am going to keep them in the polytunnel in pots.*UPDATE – Thanks to Eliza for spotting that this is probably not Geranium sanguineum but possibly Geranium sylvaticum, in which case it is not from the Burren but from seed from a friend’s garden!

Geranium SPP.

6. And finally this week – one of my favourite later summer wildflowers – devils bit scabious in the meadow.

Devils-bit scabious

Thanks to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday.

23 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – 22 August 2020”

    1. Murtagh's Meadow Post author

      We have another wild scabious here too – called field scabious – it is paler blue and has a larger flower and likes drier conditions.

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  2. Eliza Waters

    I like that image of the scabious with the pollinators. I wonder if your geranium is a cross? It doesn’t look like G. sanguineum to me, which has fuller petals, more rounded overall, than this one with 5 distinct petals. It has more the look of G. sylvestris. Curious!

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      1. Murtagh's Meadow Post author

        I have looked up the flower online and you are right it is not Geranium sanguineum, the shape is all wrong. I will have to correct on post. Thank you Eliza.

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    2. Murtagh's Meadow Post author

      It could that one Eliza. I did have geranium seed from a friend too (though I can’t remember what her flower colour was) and I could have got the pots mixed up.

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    1. Murtagh's Meadow Post author

      With veg growing there is at least usually one or two things that grow well each year. So it is year of the brassica 🙂

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  4. Paddy Tobin

    Apples have been equally disappointing here in Waterford except for one tree which has always been a reliably heavy cropper and will be ready in about a month’s time. Geranium sanguineum is very hardy, by the way.

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