A mild autumn's colours and a grasshopper under my pillow

Fucshias seem to keep flowering in harmony with pink dahlias

What is happening this year?   First a May bug then, this morning, I found a live - lively - green grasshopper under my pillow!   I didn't bring that in from the garden.   I wonder if it was blown in down the chimney....

We have had torrential rain accompanied by thunder and lightning over the past few days but at least it's been mild so a lot of my dahlias have managed to flower.

Having just put in a sizable tulip bulb order to J Parkers www.jparkers.co.uk my next concern will be getting them planted before the ground goes hard without having to remove the dahlias.

There is a surprising amount of colour left in the garden - I am such a sucker for photographing the delicate leaves of my little acer tree which fall about so elegantly. 

Acer leaf caught on dwarf lilac with self-set fern

The apples have all fallen from next door's trees but I am still picking autumn raspberries - straight into the saucepan to bring to a gentle simmer with a drop of cassis and eat with yogurt - yum.
There are also the odd little surprises like these colchicums peeking out from under some perennials, albeit a little worse the wear from something which obviously thinks they are rather tasty.

Colchicum