Wednesday 1 October 2014

Last month

Recently the weather here in the UK has been wonderful - dry, warm and sunny.  However, I can not pretend that I like this time of year when the days get shorter and the evenings draw in, the leaves turn and fall off the trees, the garden looks permanently untidy and the new series of Downton Abbey hits our television screens. I will admit that I am a fan, but alas Matthew is still dead. OK, the early Autumn colours are good this year, but we are desperately short of rain and I am having to water some of our established shrubs, that are struggling with the dry conditions. The prospect of Winter being around the corner is depressing. Yesterday morning in the post office I saw a pile of boxes of mince pies for sale and then  in  the afternoon I saw my first Christmas tree!

Regardless of all this the garden continues to be a source of colour. I have been making the most of the good weather and spending time in the garden, so rather than bore you with another post about a holiday here are some photographs taken in our garden during September.




The first photograph is the only one from our front garden and is of a fungus which I think is honey fungus. It is growing out of the stump of an ash tree which was cut down several years ago. Since I took the photo the fungus has disappeared.












Round in the back garden we still have lavender in flower.




Along from the lavender is Dahlia Bishop of Llandaff

and Crocosmia Lucifer which grow along side one another.


In the bed that we call the shrubbery is this perfumed rose whose name we do not know.



Then if we turn back in the other direction we have Dahlia Melody Gipsy

 

and a peony in its Autumn colours.


While further down the garden the sedum is coming into flower and it looks as if the wasps are enjoying themselves.


Finally in my white border the Japanese Anemone are looking very graceful.


In the vegetable garden we have had a good crop of mange tout, runner beans and courgettes. The tomatoes are now doing well. These are a trailing tomato that I have not grown before. They have been very easy to grow requiring only the minimum of attention unlike conventional tomatoes.



And we can not forget the apple tree which is still holding on to its bumper crop, despite the fact that there are wind falls on the lawn every day at the moment.