I couldn't resist getting three packets of perennials for £5.

They are crowns of plants in loose dry compost in a plastic bag. Last year I bought some delphiniums in similar packaging and by the time I came to plant them, they were almost completely indistinguishable from the compost. I planted them without much hope and indeed they did not grow.

By gently tipping the bags to and fro I made sure that there were some signs of life in the ones I picked. This post is about the Lupins and Echinaceas. The other packet was a Canna, which I will write about when I decide what to do with it.

Lupins

There were supposed to be four and that's how many there were, all had plenty of growth. Perhaps too much for this early in the year. One had a very large root, there were two medium sized ones …

There was snow this week and the lawn is still covered although it has melted somewhat around the borders. Today was sunny and as there was very little wind did not feel cold at all. Next week a mini heatwave is forecast of up to 11C.

The most exciting thing for me is to see the shoots returning of things that I planted last year; currently I have the first Tulips, lots of crocuses and plenty of snowdrops. That may not be so interesting to anyone else reading this, so I have mostly avoided new shoots in this weeks Six On Saturday as hosted by The propagator blog.

1 Primroses

I accidentally planted three primroses in a straight line instead of the triangular clump I was aiming for, so I had to get an orange one to make the group a bit more interesting and it was planted today.

2 …

I got four Tiarella plants of three different varieties, two of the variety "Spring symphony", and one each of "Pink skyrocket" and "Sugar and Spice".

Two are already planted, first the Pink skyrocket is next to the Brunnera.

and second, one of the Spring symphony. It is blending into the background with those very brown leaves.

I kept finding bulbs when looking for somewhere to plant, so I am going to wait a bit before planting the other two and see where there is a good space.

Bought and planted some primrose over the weekend.

The first two are outside the back door.

The second three are in the right border near the Lobelia. I didn't mean to plant them all in a line, I may have to get another one to complete the group...

Last year I bought and planted some snowdrops in early March after it was clear that there were not any already present. I was also given quite a few bulbs which I planted in various places and then promptly forgot exactly where.

This year I didn't see any appearing so just in case I bought some along with some Primula and Tiarella. Here are the ones I just planted.

I was particularly worried that the ones that I'd planted last year were not going to re-appear, but I do believe that they are starting to grow. They are very small, a little below the center of the picture.

There are more more all around the left border area, the ones in the first picture are almost in flower.

I wasn't sure if I would have anything for today, but I took some photos and there happens to be six that are reasonably in focus so here goes.

1 Foxgloves

There were many of these by the side of the house last year. I am assuming that they are foxgloves and that they be will be flowering this year.

2 Sedum

I thought this looked rather colourful.

3 Sidalcea

To my great surprise some of the buds have opened out somewhat. During the cold spell, the flower spike drooped, but it is now straightened up again.

4 Euphorbia

I don't much like this, but it is preparing to flower so will provide a bit of colour soon. By colour I mean green.

5 Lobelia

Both my hardy Lobelias are putting up new growth already. Here is the Starship scarlet.

6 What's this?

It looks like a Californian poppy to …

An unusual December as it has already snowed twice. The ground was frozen for the best part of a week on the first occasion.

Snow on the Sedum

Salvia hardiness

According to the RHS Salvia Hot lips is rated H5 so should survive even severe winters. It has indeed survived so far.

Again according to the RHS the "Wendy's wish" variety has a hardiness rating of H3 and so it may have survived a milder winter here. It is deciduous but given the sudden leaf death after the cold spell I suspect it is not going to make it.

I also believed that I had seen that "Radio red" was also rated at H3 but after checking just before writing this, I was mistaken about that - there is no rating currently on the RHS site for it. Its label when I bought it did say that it was half …

It snowed yesterday and there is still a covering over most of the garden - well there was when I took the pictures, but it has all gone now now that I am writing this up.

So here goes for the final Six on Saturday for the year. It turned out that I had more than 6 things that I wanted to include for a change even though it is late in the year.

1 Blue Primrose

Lets start with some flowers! I like the colour of these, shame that the leaves never look great and the flowers get eaten easily. Here they are looking about as good as they ever do.

2 Bulbs sprouting

Saw these for the first time today. I planted a number of different bulbs and didn't note exactly which ones I planted where.

As I don't recognise them I am assuming that they will be …