Early Signs of Autumn



Geranium 'Rozanne'



September has been a difficult month – the garden was very dry. The meadow grass (lawn) was crisp and prickly from lack of water.  Not many plants that I brought from Sussex made a show of any kind. The gold-leaved privet setting its black berries early, Hydrangea heads turning and fading into their subtle hues of pink and green, small green buds on the pink Camellia already set for late winter flowers. The bank of Azalea died off in several places.  As this is planted on a slope watering became a waste of time, we will wait and hope for a recovery. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and G. nodosum ‘Saucy Charlie’ were both cut back at the end of August and Rozanne came back with a couple of flowers – the petals well chewed by some insect or other.

Sternbergia lutea

 When we returned from the UK after an eight day visit, Sternbergia lutea greeted us with one or two flowers already spent. Yet I’d not noticed the narrow foliage before we left.  This does come from Sussex but not from my garden but from the garden of an old friend Lady Hazel Taylor who had a wonderful garden called Duckyls not far from where we lived.  They didn’t flower for me in my Sussex garden but here they love both situations. One in the shelter of the large boulder, the others grows beneath the Liquidambar. These are more mature than the ‘daughters’ removed from them several years ago.

 A deep crimson Antirrhinum -

 grown from seed from my brother-in-law's garden proliferate

around the garden and it is my intention to spread them further.

They don't seem to mind the dryness - where they grow on the top of a granite wall; and some of the plants are now two or three years old with masses of seed to spread around. The photograph to the right shows a pinker shade than the eye sees. 

Phil’s plants produced hundreds of tomatoes.  The tiny plum-shaped ones were the sweetest. His peppers are still growing and his chillies will once again have to be washed and pushed into tall jars with olive oil. A self-seeded cucumber plant gave us sufficient fruit for several weeks.  There were rather too many large seeds in the centre but easily removed. Cucumber is good to eat raw and cooked.

Miscanthus sinensis ‘Zebrinus’ just coming into flower and Stipa gigantea still holds on to its stems giving delight for several months.

 This cluster of white-flowered Cyclamen are seedlings from the enormous corm that came from Arthur's garden now sadly gone. It was a complete surprise to see so many - all perfect in their whiteness.

Yesterday when I walked around to study what was flowering and what was not – imagine my surprise when I came across the first of the white-flowered wild violets.