Late dahlias and the first falling leaves

Here is one of the beautiful Clair Obscur dahlias that I managed to buy before they sold out for this season - lasting well for this time in October.   We have had no ground frosts yet but they can't be far off so I am savouring these late blooms along with a late flush of roses which I have no hesitation in cutting for the house.  With a few sprigs of honeysuckle they smell just like high summer.

The first leaves to fall are among the most colourful - the little acer (unnamed seedling from Westonbirt arboretum) and the amelanchier.   I can't bear to sweep up the acer leaves but am trying to be tidy around the rest of the garden.

Autumn tints

So the first autumn tints and mists have arrived in what might be my last autumn in this my first own little garden.   I may be off to pastures green - and, of course, it may never happen.   But there is as much to surprise and delight me here as ever - even though I am having to curtail my tulip bulb buying passion.
We had a really dry patch during September when many things seemed almost to stop growing.   The dahlias have been incredibly slow and some are still only just forming their first buds.   I hope they make it before the frosts.   Here are some which have made it.

Other things which slowed up were the Japanese anemones whose flowers were really small until we had a few really good rainfalls (gardeners language!).   Here they are looking cheerful amongst the skeletal leaves of some echinops which did brilliantly again this year - attracting plenty of happy bees!!

Since then we have had several thorough deluges but little harm seems to have been done.   A few things have even thrived on this seasons strange weather - particularly the fucshias.

My thoughts are now turning to potting up little bits of old favourites which have multiplied so well and hopefully transplanting odd treasures.   I am jolly glad of my RHS bibles for advice!

Cobaea scandens

Have just come back in from picking a surprisingly big bowl of blackberries and autumn raspberries.   The latter are so tall I am having to pull them down to reach them!   The only problem with this fruit picking is remembering also to pick all the spiders off myself before I bring them back in the house to join all the others who have taken up residence.   There are so many at the moment, strung between every other stem or twig.

The garden is actually quite dry and I am having to water the pots.   But it is proving to be well worth the effort.   The fuschias are doing really well this year and so are my potted climbers but I am especially pleased with the Cobaea scandens or Cup and saucer plant.   I had my first two flowers last week and there are plenty more to follow.   They open white - a good 2-3 inches across - and gradually turn to a rich purple over 2-3 days, staying so for 2 or 3 more before neatly just dropping off.   At last, some more unusual late-summer colour nearer the house!  

Thunbergia success

The heat of the past week has been something of a shock but at least the days being slightly shorter has meant things haven't dried out too badly and it almost seems like summer has finally arrived.   Had my first (and probably only) good feed of French beans, more little Sungold tomatoes, one disappointing (small and not very good texture) Marmande tomato and the first blackberries and autumn fruiting raspberries.  The latter have grown to at least 7 feet this year but are producing huge tasty fruit so it's worth the stretch.

Pale orange Thunbergia has taken off at a surprising pace in a slightly shady spot

In terms of flowers, I am pleased with the colour for the time of year.   The dahlias are beginning to get into their stride - a gorgeous deep red one and some stripy magenta/whites are the most striking so far.   But I am really pleased with a couple of climbers which promise to produce interest over the really difficult period coming up - one cobea scandens which I managed to over-winter (the ONLY one!) is scrambling about well into the arch nearest the house and beginning to form flower buds and a vibrant pale orange Thunbergia (Black eyed Susan) has taken off at great speed since I bought it from one of the "sheds" a couple of weeks back.

The roses are all over - or "resting" but there is some lovely colour taking over around them from self-set fennel and the faithful clematis Heiraclifolia as well as a mass of late bloom on Cl.Etoile Violette and the white perennial sweet peas.

Of wildlife interest I have seen meadow brown and common blue butterflies in the garden.   The many swifts seem to have disappeared, unlike the wretched squirrel who is now digging holes in the grass to bury this years's cob nuts.   That tree is going to have to go....

Crazy spiders

The garden is suddenly full of cobwebs - something I usually take as a sign of late summer as the light begins to turn more golden.   It's also easier to get up at dawn and enjoy the freshness of early morning - but with it LOTS of spiders!   I found this extraordinary apparent double web the other day.   In fact it's 2 cobwebs that have been made within about 3 inches of one another.

You need to look carefully!

Changing places

"Julio" by Diana Roles in pride of place behind vibrant red Crocosmia "Lucifer"

After the best part of a day spent pruning and tidying this week I finally found time to assess the siting of my lovely new piece - and decided it looks a bit too hidden!   So I have swapped Julio with Feuille to have a think about it.   Not sure I've got it right yet as they both deserve a prominent position (also Julio is slightly less tall so from the house it is in some visual conflict with the bird bath behind it) - but it is fun changing things around and I am enjoying the new, more colourful vista.

A bit of a jungle but I like the way Julio and the bird bath complement one another seen from the house

Feuille in the shadier spot - for a while...

  Quite a lot of colour in the garden just now - I am surprised!   My first dahlia has opened - a vibrant red.   Pity something seems to be eating it already so I have put up a few straw-filled flower pots in the hope of catching out the odd slumbering earwig.

A couple of trips to local garden centres provided some cheerful gap-fillers at discounted prices including some ever-endearing violas, blue salvias and a black-eyed Susan which I am hoping to over-winter.

Picked my first cherry tomatoes - very good - and a small crop of French beans is nearly ready.   What a rich, lush place the garden is this August - one must be grateful to the rain for some things.

Welcome "Julio"

"Julio" my new ceramic sculpture by Diana Roles

We have just had a short but fairly impressive thunder storm with some more torrential rain - so no chance to cut the grass or trim back the rampant wisteria, vine and clematis that are all growing like mad into a great tangle in front of the green house, not to mention the golden hop.   I have never seen so much growth in July.

The sun we had has given the dahlias an incentive to start budding up and at long last Cl Etoile Violet is showing its first signs of colour.   I even have a few Sungold tomatoes ripening and some french beans setting in the grow bags by the kitchen.   I have been feeding them regularly so it will be interesting to see if it proves worthwhile.   I have also been feeding my clematis with Growmore on alternate weeks and they are beginning to look healthier....

The most exciting recent development is my acquisition of "Julio", my new ceramic piece from Diana Roles.   I have yet to install it properly and am slightly undecided about its location but it is a huge delight and certainly adds interest to the dull corner which needed brightening - although I'm not sure the space does sit justice and am thinking about swapping it around with my treasured "Feuille 2" centrepiece.   Here is the space and the new piece in position inviting investigation....

The lilies suffered in the extreme heat over the past 10-12 days and went over fast but I will replace them for next year and maybe be a little more adventurous with some bolder colours.

But colours are beginning to heat up.   Crocosmia Lucifer is doing its stuff and contrasting powerfully with a gorgeous magenta Phlox.   I am even enjoying seeing them both in combination with my once white but now pink hydrangea.   Things are set to become even more "dynamic" soon as the dahlias start to bloom in their unnamed and hence unordered state....

View with L, Formosanum, pink hydrangea and he flaming red of Crocosmia Lucifr in the background