It's October...no, seriously.

The middle of October, as it happens, and Autumn continues to stall its entry.  Other than last night with temperatures dipping below 5c, the weather refuses to accept the season's journey towards winter.

Global warming.

This time last year my garden was fully aglow. However, this year summer is clinging on for dear life and the leaves are slow to change.

In the Yen, we've brought the banana under cover where it'll remain over winter.  The palm has been brought up to its winter residence in the lea of the house.  The rate things are going, it won't be long before we will be able to leave them in place year round.  That's not as good as it sounds.

Colour is beginning to lick at the foliage now, with euonymus Alatus picking up the polished bark of the Tibetan cherry in the foreground, while in the background, the leaves of liquidamber styraciflua Lane Roberts will soon be ablaze.

Euonymus Alatus 

Liquidamber styraciflua Lane Roberts 

Here and there, touches of autumn are appearing.

This is an exciting moment to see what our newest tree thinks to the season and so far acer  October Glory is living up to its name! 

And now for something a little different.  We spent about 15 minutes watching this tiny wee critter playing among the plants in the front garden this afternoon.  Apologies for the photo quality, we were inside.  

We think it's a field mouse due to the size of its back legs, and that it's a female or a youngster due to the ahem...anatomy.  She spent a fair bit of time climbing up the fence to try to balance on the top most support wire before falling off and doing it all again.

So comical.

The Lull

 

The lull has hit the garden early, despite so many flowers arriving late this year.

And my bedding has been a disaster.  But I think that is probably more to do with the fact lots of things have been happening outside of the garden all at once and life has been a bit of overwhelming this year.

Let's take a look at what has worked. 

Last year I pushed bits of these sedums into the barely-there soil around the base of the gate and this year they've bloomed!

R. Shropshire Lad has reached to the bend in the arch and has flowered really well.  We've had a lot of rain this summer so I've been cutting these roses for little bouquets to enjoy inside. 

The day lilies.  The one above doesn't always flower but this year its salmon-pink flowers have been brilliant. 

This is my stalwart, orange with a golden stripe and has flowered annually without fail.  I did procure a version opposite to this, golden with a deep orange, almost brown stripe but that hasn't flowered at all this year!

And this beautiful clear yellow beside the pond has flowered poorly this year. I think I'll lift and divide it to try and inject some oomph for next year.

The Eryngium have been spectacular this year.  Another plant that I've used in my indoor displays. I think I'll spread some of the seeds into the front garden and Mugwart's Retreat this autumn.  What do you think?

The astrantias have struggled in the high temperatures this year. I'm disappointed with the dusky pink shade.  Perhaps it's time to remove them and inject some of the stronger coloured ones like Ruby Wedding. 

On the whole, the garden has managed well. The roses however have been a bit hit and miss.  R. Mum in a Million has been very poor, with balling and black spot, likewise r. Special Anniversary has struggled on the terrace. This year has been the first year not using any sprays for bugs or spot, and I've not used any slug pellets either.

The garden shows this with ragged hostas and sickly roses.  I must prevail.  Perhaps the garden needs time to adjust and fight back.

This happy accident I think was down to the birds. The pollinators have loved it and in return, they've been doing their bit to rebalance the garden.

Every spare bit of soil in the Yen is being colonised by this dark leaved sedum. Again I've just broken pieces off and pushed them into the soil. The hoverflies and bees have loved them. I've only seen white butterflies this year however. 

A splash of vivid red from crocosmia Lucifer in the Yen punctuates all the calming tones of green.

Last year a single waterlily was eaten before I had a proper chance to enjoy it. This year a pure bloom flowered for a couple of weeks.  Another is about to open.

So, back to the lull.  There are my late summer beauties such as the taller sedums and mophead hydrangeas set to bloom but the Long Border in particular is lacking some punch.

We've cut the astrantias and hardy geraniums back hard to encourage another flush, and in their wake, planted some echinaceas, rudbeckias and heleniums, along with a bright monarda. 

I'm hoping these will bulk up and help with even more pollinating insects. 

In the meantime, they look fab in my posies

Feeling the Heat

 

England is in the middle of a heatwave.  Temperatures on our terrace have today reached 40c!  NHS England have issued health warnings.

For the most part, we've stayed indoors, in the shade with a fan.  

It's been some time since I've blogged.  We've had some sad news recently with my Dad passing away.  He had been unwell for sometime.  He learned how to use video calling so we were able to have virtual visits, and a couple of weeks before he passed, we were allowed to spend the day with him.  It was a day I will treasure.

Dad was probably my biggest reader.

My work colleagues very kindly whipped up a collection and sent me some beautiful flowers.  They also gave me some money for a plant or two for the garden in his memory. 

I chose clematis Carnaby.  It flowers in the spring and again in late summer, early autumn. 

TMTC cut rosa Maigold and clematis Warsaw Nike back hard to enable him to replace the supporting wires on the fence in the front garden.  Clematis Carnaby has been planted on the left of the rose as c. Warsaw Nike is on the right.

I shall be able to see c. Carnaby every day from the sofa and remember all the lovely times I spent with my Dad.

So as today's post is very much dedicated to my Dad.  I'll let the flowers do the talking.

Love you Dad 🥰