Confession: It’s been almost 9 months since my last Six on Saturday. Here I am again, dipping my toe into the ocean of gardening posts. I’ve continued to blog and have enjoyed reading and commenting on weekly posts by gardeners around the world led by The Propagator, but I’ve lacked the steam to fully re-engage — until now.
ONE – Anemone Coronaria –These bright and cheerful lovelies I started a few months ago are surviving our chilly, wet spring.
TWO – Lupine Hill, which we smothered last summer and partially replanted last fall, is now thriving.
THREE – Fava or Broad Beans — No one told me how interesting their blooms are, and they have definitely surprised me this spring, my first time growing them.
FOUR – Nibbled-off Alchemilla Blooms — These were grazed by deer along the front of our home. Good thing there are plenty more in the fenced land.
FIVE – The Year-Old Rose Garden — Our exceedingly cold spring has held off blooms, but the plants are positively loaded with buds. First two to open were a Munstead Wood and this Golden Celebration.
SIX – Blue Poppy — The time for Meconopsis betonicifolia is NOW at Coppertop!
Gardens at Coppertop 
That fava bean blossom is a beauty, unusual. Blue poppies are always a treat. Wish I could grow them.
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Hi Lisa! I pretty much leave the poppies alone and let them do their thing.
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Well, you’ve certainly come back with a bang! Stunning photos and vibrant colours. Then the grand finale…..Meconopsis, my all time favourite which has only succeeded once in the last 50 years. (I have only tried it half a dozen times but gave up a long time ago.) I will try again next year.
Good to see you again!
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Good to see you, Granny! I’m so glad the poppies have survived all the drippy weather.
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Very nice bouquet of anemones coronaria in this pretty vase! I love it!
I’m happy for you that you grow broad beans, you’re going to be delighted … I ate my first ones last weekend and now, I harvest them twice a week. Tasty ! Finally, very beautiful photo of the blue meconopsis😍
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Hi Fred! Yes, it was definitely time to grow the beans. Tell me please, do you enjoy them young or wait until they put on some size? Have you dried them before? Lastly, I read some people eat the leaves…
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I never dried them and never ate the leaves. I eat them always cooked and then cooled, removing the “double skin”and with olive oil, salt, pepper and sliced lemon. The best size of a bean is roughly that of a phalanx.
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You got rich colors too. This is only the third Six on Saturday I saw this morning, but the others have lupines too. It must be the season. Are fava beans there primarily as a cover crop?
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I do love lupines! I’m eager to eat the beans, Tony. I don’t grow any cover crops this time of year.
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I remember fava beans only as a by product of what was grown as a cover crop. They produced significant foliage.
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Nice to see you back 😄 I so want blue poppies. Your lupins are looking great and your rose garden looks promising.
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Thank you! I remember you’re in the UK, so you could definitely give meconopsis a try! Starting Wednesday, we are due in for some sunshiny weather, so the roses will finally have their day.
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Lovely flowers on the broad beans, I only tried growing them once and they got black aphids and also attacked by S&S so I gave up. Maybe I need to have another go. And you end on a real beauty. Is there anything more beautiful than a blue poppy?
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Thanks! The poppies do seem to glow every year. I think the fava blooms resemble some exotic orchid. I’ll diligently watch for pests after reading your experience.
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I had never given broad beans any thought whatsoever until I saw their flowers in past Six on Saturdays! I still haven’t planted any, but with flowers like that I’d grow them just as ornamentals even if they weren’t edible.
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Thank you, Lisa. AND the chickens love the fava leaves, so they’re winning on all levels.
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The Amemone in the vase are lovely, and I adore your Lupine Hill! I have sown lupin seeds this year for the first time in years, but I don’t think I’m going to have success in getting flowers. After seeing your photographs I’m wishing now I’d bought some plants. 😊
The blue poppy is glorious – a perfect ending for your first week back on SoS.
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Thank you, Catherine. I also sow fun varieties of lupine every year, and these are now two-four years old. I’d dug them and kept them potted while we reclaimed the Hill from weeds.
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I hope some of my blue poppy seedlings survive and flower one day. Beautiful. The broad bean flowers are very pretty.
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I wish you great success with your poppies! Patience will be key.
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Where to start!? Lupine hill is amazing, the blue poppies… wow!, All those roses, and the anemones… (I wish I could grow them here). In spite of a chilly spring the garden is still doing its thing.
I loved the vegetable garden update. Mine is getting there, but it’s far less ordered and weed-free, and now you have me wondering if I don’t also need to give up some land for raspberries and strawberries! We are completely opposite and already on to the hot weather crops. The lettuce is complaining and the cole crops are not as happy with the dry and warm, but the tomatoes are taking off.
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I’d trade some of my cool for some of your warmth right about now, Frank! I vote that you go for it with berries. I find them relatively easy-care. Raspberries in particular could fit into a long, narrow planting just about anywhere in your great space. The orderly veg garden does bring me a sense of peace in this restless time…
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lovely to see you back, hope to see you again soon. your rose garden must be very exciting and i love your lupins, mine have been reduced to one solitary plant by who knows what, slugs n snails, probably.
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Thanks for the welcome back, Jon. You have faithfully maintained the helm. Yes, I can barely wait for my roses, but today is rainy AGAIN.
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You can grow blue poppies??? I am too jealous for words!
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They are ephemeral, but the crowning glory of Coppertop. Thanks!
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What a wonderful six for the summer solstice brilliant. The title is excellent. I especially like the Blue Meconopsis such a wonderful photograph, too. I tried to grow this myself but still fail, might give it another go sometime. Yes, I’m jealous too. 😊
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Thank you for stopping in, Keith!
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