The long hot summer continued into Autumn, with lots of sunny days between the much-needed rainfall. The garden gradually winding down… Many species — flora and fauna — contribute to a finale so long and sustained that the it was impossible to say when summer ended and autumn began. I made very few changes to the garden: Mostly just maintenance tasks, which I’m so accustomed to (and enjoy) that I barely notice them. The garden is mature now. It ticks over. Things change. Things die. Things appear, unexpectedly. Things get replaced. Little now threatens the overall dynamic balance. I’m glad I put time into sound structures: sheds, fences, paving. They mostly shrug off the seasons and need little attention to stay in good nick. The hedges, mature shrubs and trees hold everything together, even as the seasons turn inevitably and imperceptibly.
Keir Watson
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SEPTEMBER
Following the drought of summer, September brought some welcome rain, while continuing the glorious sunshine most days. I did little gardening beyond lawn mowing and weed pulling. My planting continues to provide new flowers and attract insects right into October, so there was plenty to enjoy and photograph. A good example is the planting above in my Pond Garden — a lovely colour combination courtesy of Euphorbia ‘Miners Merlot’, Sedum ‘Plum Dazzled’ (bottom-right), the geometric glaucous foliage of Euphorbia myrsinites (bottom-left), and September Plant of the Month, Aster × frikartii ‘Mönch’ (behind). These plants are hard workers in a planting design, with the euphorbias and sedums providing interest for 6-9 months or more, and the Aster flowering from July-October.
Hope — After the longest summer I can recall, September continued to provide many sunny days, along with just enough rain to reduce the need to water so often.Respecting boundaries — Over the hedge at dusk, a roe deer nervously approaches. They never come into the garden, thankfully.Welcome Visitors — Pollinators were in abundance this month. Allium senescens subsp. glaucum is a beautiful late-season clumping onion. Its purple-pink flowers attract bees throughout September…Peacock Butterfly – …and butterflies too, often two or three feeding at once.Japanese Anemones — I think they are early this year. This one is Anemone × Hybrida ‘Königin Charlotte’. Like all the Japanese anemones they are beauties and beasts — they need a firm hand to stop them spreading uncontrollably, but are so beautiful the effort is worth it.Miniature Roses – Supermarket florists often sell miniature roses in small pots and gift wrap. I popped a couple in an outdoor planter, and they soon put on vigorous growth. We’ll see how they fare.More Roses – …meanwhile, in the borders, my shrub roses continue to flower their hearts out. They love the long hit summer. This is Rosa ‘Susan Williams-Ellis’Small White – Now I don’t grow brassica crops, these friendly little butterflies are a joy in the garden. Here’s one, attracted to the new Aster Monch flowers.Sloe Bug on Ruddy Clover – or more technically, Dolycoris baccarum on Trifolium Rubens. Tip: I kept my ruddy clover flowering for much longer this year by removing spent flowers as soon as they went over.Autumn Shade Flowers – After a couple of months with little in the way of flowers, my Woodland Garden comes alive again with hardy cyclamen (C. Hederifolium). This one has a huge corm.And Purple Too! – These Liriope muscarii flowered in teh woodland really well. Surprising, perhaps, after such a dry summer. I must have watered enough.The Visitors – This night time shot of my greenhouse produced some interesting lens flares that look like UFOs hovering above it.Better in a Pot? – The lovely autumn stems of Schizostylis (Hesperantha) tend to flop in the bed, so I planted a cutting in this tall pot, where its flowers can be held high.Autumn Glory – By the end of September, the Amelanchier was giving us its best autumn colours ever.
This month, my main project was replacing two Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ that flank the kitchen doors, with the very similar ‘Annabelle Improved’, that’s not supposed to flop in the rain. (You can read my long-term white hydrangeas review, here). Meanwhile, I’m reminded just how much is still happening in the October garden. On warm-bright days it feels more like summer than autumn, with insects and flowers everywhere: very active and delightful.
Annabelle Improved — With October came a revamp of two major shrubs, replacing a pair of 5 year old Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ (wonderful) with the non-flopping variety ‘Strong Annabelle’ (better). [I’ve written in detail about it here.]Mystery Rose — I have three of these wonderful shrub roses, which were sold as “Jacqueline du Pré”, but now realise they are some other variety. Dense, bushy to 1.2m, floriferous and repeat-flowering, bright red hips. But what is it? Help!!Nursery Web Spider — I think this is Pisaura mirabilis. There were severl of them hanging out on my sedum ‘Plum Dazzled’ waiting to catch unsuspecting prey. They are about 15mm (1/2/ in) long.Autumn Flowers — A lovely display of Kniphofia ‘Poco Citron’, Verbena ‘Santos Purple’ and in the back Aster amellus ‘Rudolf Goethe’ – Also, Sedum spectabile just opening.Close up — of Aster amellus ‘Rudolf Goethe’ looking stunning, but quite different in colour to the previous photo. Lesson: don’t base your planting decisions on photos!Harvest — My fan-trained Concorde pear produced an excellent harvest this year. BTW, that’s Clematis x durandii a great long-flowering variety.Crook-necked Pears — One of the issues with this year’s pears was that they were misshapen, having very bent necks. This one is far from the worst. Strangely, there seems to be no reports anywhere online (not even photos) showing this condition. The deformity did not effect their eating quality.Dahlia ‘Melody Harmony’ — I grow this Dahlia in a raised bed next to a rose and perennials where it has thrived for many years. It’s very photogenic!Flower Crab Spider — I’ve become increasingly aware of these fascinating little spiders that wait on flowers to grab incoming pollinators. They often take on the colour of the flowers they hang out on. This one is not quite pink, but easy to overlook on this Dahlia petal.Plumbago Roof — On my Green Roof, the hardy plumbago (Ceratostigmaplumbaginoides) is doing really well, flowering and taking on autumn tints and easily visible from the main garden below.‘Hawkshead’ — One of the hardy Fuchsias and practically indestructible. This is growing in my garden where I had dug it out two years ago. Apparently, that’s not enough to stop it! (Which I don’t mind as I like it)Three Hedges — On one side of my drive, I have three formal hedges: The drarf box is the oldest, then the Yew, and more recently, I planted the Privet. As they all need the same maintenance (trimming) it’s not much more work than a single hedge.…Looking the other way — into the sun… I have planted the narrow border in front of the yew hedge with 4 clumps of Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra). In pots I have clumps of sedum spectabile, which produce lovely autumn colours.Box Topiary – In my woodland garden, evergreens such as Buxus, Euphorbia, Helleborus and Asarum (above) ensure that even when most of the flowers are over, that there is still plenty of interest and structure. For whatever reason, I’ve had very little box caterpillar this year :)Sunset Apple — All of my apples overproduced this year – hundreds of tiny fruit. i thinned a lot, but not enough. This old four-tier espalier has had some die-back over the last couple of years, but still looks wonderful.Halloween Owl — on my gate post. A nice photo to finish the month. It was blowing a gale and the candles kept going out, but hopefully some passers-by got to enjoy my work!
Autumn has been brilliant this year. The fruiting cherry that makes the canopy of my Woodland Garden at the front of my house was spectacular (See above). I spend time sweeping leaves, and tidying up the beds beneath, only to have more leaves dropped the next day! These woodland beds, once cleared of last year’s dead foliage, quickly become a thing of glory with Hellebores and snowdrops just round the corner.
Brilliant Colours — from fallen cherry leaves. I admire them as I swwep them into the compost bin.Common Puffball — growing in the mulch in my front garden. I’ve harvested and eaten full-grown specimens before (slice and fry in butter and garlic) but not from my garden.Late Flowers – In the White Garden a few late perennials keep the show going: Chrysanthemums, Roses and Nerines, with white winter heather on the way. The pyracanther berries have done well this year.Dahlia ‘Playa Blanca’ — flowering in a quiet corner — beautiful.November Moon — Early evening, and the moon dominates the eastern sky. A gull passes over the garden, returning to roost.Digitalis grandiflora — One of the most reliable perennial foxgloves which often produces two or sometimes three flushes of flowers – including this display in mid-November.Frost protection — I move pots of half-hardy perennials into the greenhouse. Even though it is unheated, many will get through the winter and be usable in my summer display at the front of the house.Mangave ‘Pineapple Express’ — is relatively hardy, resulting from a cross between the genera Manfreda and Agave: wonderfully exotic with its spotted jagged leaves. I’m going to try to overwinter it in my unheated greenhouse.Greenhouse Plants — These red Gazanias look mysterious photographed through the greenhouse glass.Snow! — Very pretty for a few minutes, though not cold enough to lay.Over-Cropping — many of my apple trees produced a huge number of small apples this year. I tried thinning them, but clearly I could have gone a lot further. Now I risk setting up biennial fruiting where they have on/off years.Fern-Colony — The end of this bed in my woodland garden is dominated all summer by over-arching stems of Solomon’s seal, but at their feet this dainty maidenhair fern creeps about…Adiantum venustum— looks delicate, but survived this year’s super-dry summer, admittedly with some sporadic watering. It seems to be happy co-existing with the much bigger Polygonatum that arches over it, protecting it from mid-summer scortch.
Final thoughts… There are no frosts forecast in the lead up to the new year, so I can leave the agapanthus pots outside, which is good, as the leaves on the greenhouse peach still have not fallen. Once they do, I’ll need to find time to tidy them up before moving the African lilie pots under cover. As we move into December the mild weather holds off the feeling of winter, but the garden knows different: I expect to see Hellebores and the foliage of snowdrops emerging soon. So, until next time…
