Are we going to have a mild Autumn

Ooh, I hope so. bring it on!

My strawberries actually had a second fruiting this year pompa and some of them even ripened. What type of fig tree do you have? I've just been looking at the different varieties and would value a recommendation.

We have been very successful with the Brown Turkey fig in the south of England and the north-west of France.

Brown Turkey, pretty reliable here in the East.

Must be planted in a container buried in the garden, if they are given an unrestricted root run they will get enormous and not get as much fruit.

I was thinking today, if it wasn't for the leaves falling off the giant acer it could be mid-September. We have alpine strawberries too. Raspberries and apples and so many flowers in bloom that shouldn't be, such as pinks. I've been picking huge bunches of fuchsias, they are enormous this year.

Has autumn not started yet then?

Not here in the East, as Pompa says. We are still getting sunshine and around 20C at lunchtime most days and no heating needed really - an hour in the morning when it tends to be misty here. T-shirt weather.

Thanks - Brown Turkey it is then.

I thought we WERE having a mild autumn, the central heating didn't come on until a week ago and I was wearing summer clothes until then as well.

It's already 17c here and sunny, although it's not meant to last the forecast is 20c again today. But the nights are so warm for now, 12, 13c or more. Usually here we have a frost in mid-September, nothing this year. It's wonderful, very southern. It feels more like early September.

Our Brown Turkey is planted in an old tin bath which is perfect for restricting the roots. I bought the bath at an auction and was delighted with my successful bid of £2.

Very mild here today. We haven't lit the woodburner yet this year and like janerowena we only put the heating on to ward off the early morning chill. The East Anglian climate suits my joints!!

Storms on the way though.

Gorgeous again today, after 2 grey and rainy days- 21C and fabulous colours- grass still a bit damp, but will be out soon, OH cutting grass and me tidying up/cutting down perenials in the borders and eating autumn raspberries as I go along (altitude 950m/just over 3000') in the Jura mountains on Swiss/French border).

It's a slightly damp and dreary day here in my little corner of Devon, but it's 17°, so very mild still. I quite like this time of year on the allotment when everything is winding down and the ground will soon be dug over and covered for its winter sleep.

Thanks pompa for the information these will be on my to-do list for our garden when is the best time for planting ? I have an old beer tub which will serve nicely as a pot for them.

I'd go for late spring, it's not kind to expect the poor thing to be happy right now after perhaps a couple of years being coddled in a polytunnel somewhere.

I've had a couple of brown turkeys in the past at different houses, one was in an old plastic dustbin that had a split in it, the other was in an old brick well that had been filled in. I want another one here, but we are going to build a wall for it to grow against first this time.

Another one that is supposed to cope well with our climate is Celeste, but I have no experience of it.

Don't wast a beer tub on it, just dig a hole about 2 foot square by 2 feet deep, line it with black polythene, punch some holes in the bottom for drainage plus an inch or two of rubble. Then just plant it in the hole with the soil you took out, you do not need special soil. The idea is to stop the roots getting out into the surrounding soil. Most are now supplied container grown, so can be planted any time. Don't pay a fortune for a large specimen, they grow very fast, probably several feet in the first year.
They are best fan trained on south or west facing fence/wall, they need sun.

Well there you go two gardeners with different ideas, my experience in East Anglia is that they are as tough as old boots. I would rather plant whilst they are dormant to let the roots get a hold before they grow away in spring. I planted on winter before last, it is 10 foot high and spread now, dozen or more fruits this year. It is on a south facing fence.

I haven't planted one in this area before at all, pompa. I bow to your superior knowledge. Also I live right on the edge of the Brecklands, Britain's only desert - which means that we roast in summer and -12C is quite normal in the winter. My previous two figs were in Winchester and mid-Kent, so much milder than here. Which is frequently colder in the winter than Yorkshire and merlot is probably warmer than me too in the winter, but I too along with my arthritis really appreciate the dryer weather.

Our local cold record is minus 42.8C ;)

As said, amazing 22C today- and ....

snow forecast for Wednesday- yiiiiikes.

Granjura! Yikes. -22C once in Kent was the lowest I have experienced.

Really? When was that?

My daughter was a baby, so in late 1985 or early 1986, mid-Kent. I was cutting back a tree in the garden, she was in her pram. I thought it felt a bit chilly when I breathed in but she was wrapped up, and my neighbour came at me gibbering with rage at my bad mothering and shaking his thermometer at me! It was -22C the previous night and only -12C then, at midday.

No, I'm wrong, she was a bigger baby and it was the following year, with the lowest temperature being -23.3C, recorded in Rutland.

It says the sea froze over in Southend!