Winter preparation ... lots to do

I must clear the three half barrels at the front of the cottage and plant them lasagne fashion with tulips, daffs, iris and crocus. These arrived from Holland today.

Dahlias in profusion are still flowering, i just picked a bunch of dark red cactus ‘Chat de Noir’ mixed with dark pink Michaelmas daisy and a couple of sprigs of pittosporum, very pretty!
DH is cutting the grass and I must go an do some weeding. Not easy with worn out knees!

The first primrose of spring is blooming in my garden today.

Gave myself a day off and went foraging with some friends new to the area- it was so so beautiful, sunny and almost warm, up there at 1250 metres.

That sounds beautiful!

My wild sweet pea has started flowering again! I don’t tie it to a trellis but let it trail free among the rhododendron and azalea bushes, it looks lovely in the summer. It’s flowers tend to be small and mainly white and purple but when in full flower you can hardly see the bushes holding it up.

It feels so cold today, I’ve just taken the geraniums out of the pots, binned them and fled back inside! I have some pansies to replace them, maybe tomorrow...

Great photo’s Lizzie, the sedums in particular look fabulous.
We’re busy putting our windswept garden to bed but like a naughty child it refuses to go to sleep, keeps popping up with something else to make us smile.
All sorts of pretty things hanging on. My nemesia have never been so good, lavender going on forever and a rambling rose that will be the other side of the country soon.

It’s been a lovely day here too, what a bonus in mid October! I’ve been sorting out the pots on the patio, and sweeping up ready to weed one last time between the slabs tomorrow. My shed is now a model example, and I’ve been washing plant pots as I go and putting them away in there now there’s enough space. Quite satisfying.

Another gorgeous, sunny, warm day in the garden. Lots done- and left all the phlox, golden rod, veronicas, mints, sedum, etc, as bees were busy and some butterflies too and a few of those amazing humming bird moths. But we had the first frost last night- so won't be long.

I have dead headed all the golden rod that had faded flowers and bagged them up to avoid spread. Back is aching a bit, but in that 'nice' sort of way.

Wait until November when it’s colder trisher to avoid ‘tulip fire’ disease.

Esspee

Continuing from Mapleleaf’s comment I’m just back from a walk in the park where I spotted a Rhododendron starting to come into flower. What on Earth is going on????

I noticed an azalea had come in flower in my garden this week. Why??

What on earth is a courgettle?!!!!

I'm looking out of the French windows now and can see several fuchsias blooming their little hearts out. Also annual dahlias that I grew from seed, rudbeckias, hebe and lavatera (dwarf variety but not Barnsley Baby!) My four raised beds for veg are due for a serious going over. The runner and french beans have more or less come to an end, although the courgettle is still going strong. I have a bag of tulips that I bought several weeks ago - can I plant them this month or should I wait till November?

My garden is my sanctuary and gives me so much pleasure and solace in tough times. I love reading about everyone else's triumphs and disasters!

That’s lovely Callistemon. I bought a few small plants (Spanish poppy) a few years ago and they seed everywhere. They start flowering in April and if you deadhead they keep going until November.

I’ve spent the afternoon covering my raised beds with anti cat netting! Luckily my daughter had an incorrect delivery of some very handy plastic netting, hopefully that will do the job. It’s fair enough if it’s my cat but I do object to neighbouring ones joining in.

I noticed a self-set orange poppy is flowering away merrily amongst the leeks and it has more buds on it.

It reminds me of that song: I''m a lonely little petunia in an onion patch'

Continuing from Mapleleaf’s comment I’m just back from a walk in the park where I spotted a Rhododendron starting to come into flower. What on Earth is going on????

It's really warm today, too warm to be doing anything too strenuous.

I agree Callistemon, it has been a strange year for the plants.
Like you, I’ve got a couple of clematis that have produced flowers this week and they are usually over by July. (They were in flower at the right time, too). I’ve also got a gladioli in flower just now, as well.

My raspberries also got hacked by the hail- and so there are tons of fruit now, but not sure they will have time to fruit before frosts come in. Got a belly full of big juicy ones I picked as I was working. What a gorgeous afternoon.

Lizzie72

Callistemon

Lizzie72 your hardy geranium looks like Rozanne but mine is looking very sad, never seen it looking like that before.

Yes, it is Rozanne - it’s very healthy

I've just chopped mine right back, Lizzie72 and ? it seems to be healthy at the bottom.

We (well DH mainly) chopped back an early flowering clematis which looked very dead after the spring cold snap got to it; it then sprouted some stems and had 2 flowers! so we hope that will survive.

Another summer flowering clematis has just produced 3 flowers, the first ones this year.

It has been a very strange year for garden plants.

I'm gradually cutting back the raspberries which have finished fruiting, and we planted two dwarf apple trees. This is on our allotment. Also just cut down the beanstalk, and planted a blueberry bush which is looking a bit sorry for itself. In the garden, I've finished planting hyacinths and daffs, and today planted some iris reticulata and anemones. Roll on spring.

Been very busy in the garden today with the help of DH because of Fibromyalgia and Arthritis. He made a hedgehog house and I've filled it with leaves etc according to the nature charity leaflet. I hope we get a winter visitor. The compost bin needs turning too. I need to remove some coreopsis that is taking over and divide the Iris sibirica. As soon as the Euonymus has shown its autumn colours its coming out. Its far too big now and I have a beautiful peony on order from Farmer Gracy.

The garden is full of frogs so they must be looking for somewhere to overwinter. A peacock butterfly has retired to my shed for the winter. I hope we don't get the long freeze like last winter.

Everything I Chelsea chopped picked up immediately, and then was hacked terribly by a massive hail storm!

Oh dear! I did wonder if they had all bloomed again.
It has been a strange year weatherwise, almost like summer this morning here.
The roses are still blooming but looking very leggy.

lemongrove

Callistemon

report
Re-pot!!

Too late!
I have reported them for taking up too much space?

Oh dear ?