Another week has passed and another Six on Saturday is upon us. It’s been a mixed week: some lovely sunny afternoons, some light frosts on a couple of mornings, and still no rain! The shrubs are doing fine, but some of the more shallowly rooted perennials are flagging a little. The Propagator is the epicentre of all Six on Saturday activity, so head to his blog to take a look at some other posts. For my part, the first few items involve revisiting some previously featured plants.
1. Tomatoes
When I showed these earlier in the year, they were hunkered down in the living room, waiting for some warmer weather. In the end, I put them in the greenhouse to take their chances. Despite the temperature dropping below zero in there every night last week, they are doing pretty well. I’ve kept them quite dry, to lessen the effects of the cold. The peppers and cucumbers are still in the living room; hopefully I’ll be able to move them out before too long!
2. Dicentra peregrina
I’m now almost certain that this is a peregrina seedling. It has also been joined by another plucky friend (out of shot). It’s making very slow progress. I’m not sure whether this is normal, or whether it’s not very happy. Only time will tell…
3. Oxalis enneaphylla ‘Slacks Peacock’
This one was star of the show as recently as last week, but I couldn’t resist putting up another picture. This captures it with the flowers wide open, and more of them too.
Now that we’re caught up with that lot, onto some Corydalis successes and failures
4. Corydalis ‘Boyar’
I believe it was Donald Trump who, with typical sagacity and wisdom, said “It is only by learning from our failures, that we can achieve success.” It’s possible I made that up, but my point still stands. ‘Boyar’ is variously described as ‘easy to grow’, ‘a vigorous hybrid’ and other such phrases. Unfortunately, the grand sum of my efforts is, as I’m sure you can see, less than impressive. The good news is that it’s still alive. Presumably if I can find something to learn from this, I’ll be more successful in the future.
5. Corydalis temulifolia
This is not a failure as such, just a damned good frost scorching. The plant is fine, but it’s a bit of a shame. The leaves were looking great and it was starting to come into flower. Admittedly, the flowers are more of a curiosity; it’s the leaves that are the talking point.
On a slight aside, this was sold as C. temulifolia ‘Chocolate Stars’. I don’t believe that the named cultivar is actually any different from the species, so I tend to just refer to it without the ‘Chocolate Stars’ embellishment.
6. Corydalis nobilis
And to finish: a success story. This has been a long time coming. It’s a plant I’ve grown from seed sown in 2014. It has struggled along, putting out a measly display for it’s first flowering last year. This year, despite the dry weather, it’s starting to look more fitting of it’s name.
That brings this weekend’s Six on Saturday to a close. You can find lots more posts over at The Propagator, so do take a look. Enjoy your weekend!
The oxalis looks lovely.
I agree!
Your note that the tomatoes were left dry so as to minimize frost damage is helpful. I am pleased to hear that your long wait with Corydalis nobilis is finally paying off. I am remarkably inexperienced and inept at growing from seed, but was delighted to see the vigorous growth this spring of some of last year’s pretty unimpressive seedlings.
It’s nice when things come through unexpectedly!
With the tomatoes, it just means that the roots don’t sit in frozen water (if it gets that cold).
Oxalis…yes so pleased to have a peep at that again. How deep is the pot, maybe show it again next week with the full pot in view, and excuse for a third view?
It’s not a particularly deep one, but yes, sounds like a good idea!
The Oxalis is a beauty. Like Erin, I didn’t know about the tomato watering/cold weather tip. Mine are still living on a window sill but they may need to move to a less cosy location soon. I can see I’m going to have to get me a Corydalis.
It was a bit of a risk with the tomatoes, but they’ve come through really well.
You should definitely get some Corydalis 😉
Here, too, the tomatoes stay in the greenhouse day & night (despite the still cold temperatures at night. At the lowest this week we had 4° which is suitable) By cons like you, peppers, chilies, cucumbers and other more tender plants go back and forth in the house for the night.
This ‘Slacks Peacock’ oxalis is an eye catcher! I love it!!
The weather is certainly making things interesting!
The Oxalis is very nice. I just found out that it’s a hybrid from Slacktop Nursery (hence the ‘Slack’ part of the name). They’ve bred quite a few nice Oxalis.
Amazing tomatoes! I started mine late but even so, I hoped they would be more than 2mm high by now. I do like the oxalis, the leaves are as much a feature as the flowers.
I started the tomatoes much earlier than usual this year. The later ones soon catch up anyway!
You’re right about the leaves, very nice!
Hurrah for nobilis getting its act together at last. The frost has been a pain though. I look at a drooping plant and don’t know whether it’s drought, frost or disease.
Yes, it’s been a trying spring. Also, I think the combination of lack of water and frost has made some plants more susceptible to disease (I’ve seen a bit of mildew around already), only making things more complicated!
There’s something very endearing about the tiny Dicentra peregrina seedling, you must be very patient, it’s a lucky seedling. I reckon tomatoes are tougher than we think – when getting fed up with my multitude, I stuck a few in open ground and they don’t seem bothered.
One year I popped a load of tomato plants out in the open on the allotment. They did very well, but a wet summer meant they all got blight in the end. That’s never a problem in the greenhouse!
I think I briefly had Corydalis temulifolia ‘Chocolate Stars, the name rings a bell. C. nobilis appeals to me, will that seed around when it gets going?
I’m hoping so, but I think the odds are slim. It’s described as self-incompatible. Having said that, I find that sometimes self incompatible plants do occasionally set fertile seed, just not in abundance. Fingers crossed!