Six on Saturday 3rd July

Goodness gracious, we’re into July already. I’m not quite sure what happened to the first half of the year; it seems to have gone in a flash of work, sleep and Six on Saturdays. As usual The Propagator will be hosting a variety of other Six on Saturday offerings for your entertainment and pleasure. For my part, I’ll start today’s proceedings with a look at the lawn.

1. White Clover

My lawn has a longstanding population of White Clover, adding it’s cheerful presence to the garden every summer. I’m a big fan of clover: it looks nice and, being a legume, fixes nitrogen in the soil. Lawns with clover in have a built in fertilising mechanism, so it seems a sensible to encourage it.

Being as the clover seems so at home in the lawn, I’ve collected a few other plants to keep it company:

2. Red Clover

The logical step is to add a bit of Red Clover. Much the same except in colour, I’m hoping it will establish itself both through spreading and seed.

3. Daisy

Strangely, my lawn has been completely bereft of Daisies, so I thought it was about time to rectify this situation. I know the kids will appreciate their presence (in fact, they like to pick the clover flowers too), and I think they’re such jolly little things.

4. Bird’s-foot Trefoil

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There weren’t any completely open flowers on this, as the poor thing is still recovering from it’s rude uprooting. This is possibly the one I’m most looking forward to establishing itself in the lawn. It’s another legume, and it flowers so well in lawns, adding splashes of yellow all over the place.

The three plants above were all collected from the same lawn; there was also a bit of Selfheal on offer, but I think it’s coarser, broader leaves are less appealing. That ends the lawn section of the post; now onto a couple of extra bits and bobs.

5. Opium Poppy

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I featured one of these in a previous Six on Saturday and here’s one in flower. These pop up in the garden of their own accord, usually pink to purple, some a little less ruffled than this individual. Visually, I think they sit somewhere between incredible and ridiculous. They look even more silly when the petals collapse in a pile on the lawn.

6. Bumblebee

Here’s a bumblebee enjoying itself, dangling upside-down on the flowers of Capnoides sempervirens ‘Alba’. There’s a spot of photobombing courtesy of Corydalis linstowiana.

On a final note, I hope you won’t mind me mentioning that my shop has a few Corydalis and Dicentra seeds, plants and tubers available (UK only, I’m afraid). I generally don’t mention that sort of thing on Six on Saturday posts as I feel it’s contrary to the spirit of the thing, but this’ll be my one and only mention. If you’re interested, do take a look. Enjoy your weekend!