Random Ramblings :: Falling into Autumn

Hi there everyone 😀

The calendar tells me it's the 1st of September and, whilst the garden is telling me it's late summer, the temperature is definitely saying that it's autumn. There has been a real drop this week and I must confess to having to resort to just popping the heating on for the last couple of evenings as it's felt decidedly chilly within these old Edwardian walls.

Out back it is not looking chilly at all ... the garden's summer wardrobe is definitely on the warmer side of the spectrum ... with lots of pinks and purples, accompanied by the odd splash of bright and zingy scarlet ...
There is still plenty of life and colour in the hanging baskets too ... which, in spite of a lack of plant availability in the spring, have been a triumph this year ... put together from cheap Aldi annuals, Jackie's home grown geraniums and lobelia and bits and pieces saved from last year ...

We have made good use of the extra time we've had at home and have had some real luck with propagating and growing from seed. These salvia have been fabulous ... with cuttings taken from a broken stem on the plant that we bought from Hidcote last year ...
They are even starting to flower, which I was not expecting at all ...
We have been so chuffed with how they have gone we have taken another batch ... these are destined for Lesley & Tom's garden ...
We have also done really well with cuttings taken from basil and rosemary, though the lavender does not seem to be going so well.

The cobea was grown from seed and has done a fabulous job of covering the arbour ...
We have been waiting so patiently for it to flower and were beyond excited to see the first buds developing. Well, these have now started to flower and whilst we were thrilled we were a little disappointed when they appeared to be cream ...
Google told us that they start out this colour but do turn through pink to the glorious purple that we were expecting and over the course of a couple of days they most certainly did ... ending up just as we hoped ...
Another success from seed this year was our first baby cauliflower ... small, but totally perfectly formed ...
Following the success we had earlier on with growing herbs from seed ...
I planted a big bucket of parsley, which is doing really well ...
... and we've started to think about next year, with pots of honesty and love-in-a-mist well on their way ...
It's now that time of year when we are starting to think about what we need to do to get the garden ready for the winter months and this week we've managed to give the privet another trim ... the conifers are next.

Whilst the temperatures have dropped considerably, there has still been a little bit of sunshine and we managed another 'fleeced up' garden get together at my brother's where the little man was in fine form ...

Hopefully the weather will stay on our side for a little longer so we can keep getting together safely with friends and family for as long as possible.

Normally autumn is one of my favourite seasons, with late holidays, lots of birthday celebrations and family get togethers over Christmas and New Year. What this year will bring I guess nobody really knows ... but if we have to do things a little differently this year so that we can make sure that everyone is around for the years to come then ... in my mind anyway, it will most definitely be worth it 😀

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