Autumn planting

Hi SuciB. Usually i hope to have Japanese anemones, dahlias and Michaelmas daisies in bloom in my overcrowded garden. Bad year for dahlias what with one thing and another. I have 2 small ones i bought from Waitrose in pots without a sign of a flower bud.
Japanese A's are about to flower but they have not liked the drought lately. After yesterdays rain maybe they will perk.
I am going to be away for a chunk of the autumn so it will all get away from me and I will be hoping for some decent days in November to do that epic autumn tidy up.
You could have columnar fruit trees maybe?

I like Japanese anemones but in my last garden they spread all over the place, even came up in the lawn. Are there any varieties that aren't quite so rampant?

I think there are smaller kinds. I have a very weedy little short pink one that never does much at all. My first white one is out this morning. But surrounded by yellowing leaves.
It is the perfect day to get out there and attack weeds isn't it after the deluge.
I have been feeling grouchy and un-partyish this morning, but yes, action will help, go out for a trot round the block and then lash into the weeds methinks. There are a couple of brambles lurking behind things that need to be attacked and no point doing it when the earth is like a rock.

I hate the grouchy days but being out in my garden (on my own) usually helps, hopes it helps you

I really wish I could grow Japanese anemones in my garden - they just won't grow for me. Neither will lupins - dunno why. Dahlias have done very well this year - I grow them from seed, raise them in pots and use the pots to fill in gaps in the borders when other things go over. But they have been dropping petals faster than usual this year. We have just sold our house so, hopefully, I will have a new garden next year, but I've had this one for thirty years and it feels like an old friend - not much about it I don't know, but it still throws up the odd surprise! Hope you find some nice columnar trees - the cherries certainly are lovely examples.

Artygran I had my last garden for 31 years and then 3 years ago this month moved 200 miles away and started turning a derelict plot into a garden again. I loved my old garden but it has been interesting finding out what will grow here and what won't. Some of my old friends I have had to abandon but can now grow things I've had no sucess with before. It's very exciting planning out a new garden.

I had a nice trip to Spalding and purchased 2 Blue Moon roses which we love and a columnar flowering cherry - all planted by 4pm so off to the party

Long may they blossom!

My only tip for autumn planting of bulbs :-

If you are planting them in flower beds, plant them in pots, you can then dig up the pots in late spring, when they are finished, and bury them somewhere out of the way to die down, the replant the pots in autumn.

Spent the whole day in the garden on Wednesday [covered in scratches and bruises to prove it]. I've got so many old shrubs that are woody and years past their best, but I feel like a murderer taking them out. Cut a honeysuckle right back only to find several wrens nests behind it, so feel even more evil now.; and a hypericum that just got rust all the time. Having to replant everywhere, but will stop for a while as we're away in two weeks and won't be able to water any new plants. Have put in some new honeysuckle; firethorn; laurel, cotoneaster and bergenia [never liked bergenia, but they are idiot proof and hopefully grow anywhere]. Got a dry, shady acidic garden, so limited with what I can plant..it's costing me a fortune as well. Didn't really think about planting bulbs; when I have done so in the past they never seemed to grow [except one year when I planted tulips in a tub; just as they'd flowered the dog ate them ]. Also the squirrel watches what I do and digs them up!

Well I did get a few weeds out - most notably the bramble that had obviously been growing for a couple of years, under the fence and behind the apple tree.
Just asked the chiropractor on my left (DS) if he would adjust my back after that little enterprise. But it was great to unravel the darn thing.

While weeding i was thinking it is not too late to plant a bit of nigella and maybe even californian poppies.

Any tips on bulb growing in a clay soil plse?

well they grow alright it is just a case of finding a day when the ground is soft enough to break up and get the darn things in. Co-opt someone strong to dig the holes maybe? Mine are usually planted a little on the shallow side. Mushroom compost mulching for a few years helped our soil a bit (new house, little top soil, lot of clay)
But i still end up doing it in pots mainly...
I find B and Q a good place to get bulbs - not a huge choice but v good value and v reliable.

Thank you JessM - oh yes I keep a man to do the heavy work (husband). We have a small Focus just across the road which is being converted to a B & Q as we speak so hopefully when they open I can get all I need excpet some manure which I am told will help break up the clay and give nourishment. our house is built on the site of an old police station one wonders what they buried under here?

the evidence of course...

and perhaps the bodies??

maybe even the odd hatchet?

I've got a hatchet in my holiday bag.

BUMP

Ask me why!

OK jangly. WHY do you have a hatchet in your bag?

Chopping logs.

Why do you think!

Mwah

I can go to bed now that's sorted.

Night night.