Good news! After months of drought, we finally have rain. Yep, Friday and Saturday … and maybe more to come. I had to nip out between showers to take these photographs and as I write this it is still raining! The smell of rain is wonderful and you can almost hear the plants singing as they get drunk on fresh rain rather than grey recycled water, swimming pool backwash and tap water which even I won’t drink.
My Six for this Saturday focuses on flowers… oh and my new mint plant!
1. Dipladenia
I invested in several Dipladenia after my petunias, planted as seeds and nurtured for months, failed to offer the display of flowers pictured on the seed packet. I chose Diplandia as the plant I bought last year is still offering prolific blooms.
2. Sickly Fushia
Sigh. I may just give in with these and start afresh. I think the demise of the two cuttings is due to lack of water/feed as I’ve not been as attentive to my plants due to mobility issues. However, the fuschia I bought from the garden was always going to struggle because when I got ome I discovered its roots were brown and already rotting. In fact, I’ve had several plants from the same garden centre and they’ve all struggled to survive.
3. Mint – A new addition to my herb collection
After watching various cookery shows on TV where the chefs have numerous pots of herbs within easy reach I felt inspired to grow some in pots on the terrace. To start my collection I intended to buy lemon thyme and chocolate mint. The garden centre had neither in stock so I returned home with spearmint. It makes delicious tea!
And just in case I manage to kill it I’ve taken some cuttings. Is this how you root mint cuttings?
4. I Love Oleander!
I have several Oleander bushes in my garden but this double pink variety is my favourite. While taking the photograph I realsied I need to remove all the shhots at the base of the plant.
—
—-
5. Euphorbia Siraya
I bought this Euphorbia Siraya back in April and it has flowered ever since. However, its abundant blooms make it top-heavy so I will need to replant in a deeper pot and provide some support.
Cymbidium Orchid
When this orchid stop flowering I divided into two plants. I then discovered two bulbous offshoots (the brown pointy thing) and decided to plant them separately. They are now sprouting green shoots from the base, so fingers crossed these will continue to thrive and I will have four plants instead of one!
December last year
Read more Six on Saturday garden blogs <here>
Piglet in Portugal 
The pots that the fuchsias are in should not be exposed to sunlight. The roots do not like the warmth that the black (or brown) vinyl absorbs.
LikeLike
Both my mints (chocolate and ginger) suffered from rust this year as did several other plants including the fuchsias. I hope that next year will be better as I love mint and new potatoes. And isn’t it lovely when you get plants for free! Your Orchid offshoot looks very healthy.
LikeLike
Beauty Good.
LikeLike
I love the Euphorbia, really good flowers.
LikeLike
Mint cuttings in water: very good. Here we can directly put them in the ground and they root (clay soil)
I’ve got two : Morocco mint and chocolate mint.
Nice flower of euphorbia !
LikeLike
I put them directly into the ground too, and just keep them watered. Rather than take ‘neat’ cuttings. I prefer to pull up a few stems with stolons and roots attached, and then bury the whole mess with just the tips of the stems sticking out. With their tips pinched back, and only one or two pairs of leaves above the soil, they look like cuttings.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My chocolate mint didn’t do so well last summer. Must get another one – and a spearmint too.
LikeLike
They advertise Oleanders over here and I’m sometimes tempted but then I wonder if it would survive the winters here. Supposed to be scented too. Yours looks lovely. Glad you finally had some rain.
LikeLike
In our region, oleanders with fragrant flowers are very rare, and only in old gardens (after the late 1960s). Modern cultivars with prettier flowers and without the messy seedpods lack fragrance. I think that the delightful fragrance is worth the very minor bother of ‘messy’ seedpods. Regardless, hard frost would certainly be a limiting factor.
LikeLiked by 1 person