bye-bye annuals. it always feels a bit sad to pull things up especially when there are still a few flowers..............but it means we can see the sedums, and make room for the wallflowers..............

interesting to compare the actual flower with the picture on the packet, it's much more pink...............was also supposed to flower in the summer but i did put them in quite late i think. it's called "Dizzy"!...............

mega sunflower head, destined to be bird food........................

geranium cuttings in the greenhouse

Autumn trim

September has been very warm and dry so rather than the garden going to bed, it's woken up again and all sorts of things that didn't do much in the spring are flowering now. the rescue rose and yellow rose not of Texas are both laden with flowers, as is the purple clematis and the Cystis. however...........it is time to do a little tidying up. so Carrie has been working on her beloved compost heap, and i've given the Persicaria its winter haircut and taken some cuttings, as well as some of the lemon balm and the geraniums. tender basils now indoors............Georgia Blue rescued from its tub into a pot. more salads planted in the greenhouse..............we still have rocket, corn salad, bull's blood and leaf beet outside but we wanted some more started for over the winter. annuals are out and wallflowers are in...............catmint trimmed and the passion flower retrieved from its hiding-place behind the fennel..............
empty seed packets tell the tale of what worked and what didn't.......................after much labour the Chinese forget-me-not produced ONE flower, the godetias were also much weaker than last year but the cornflowers did brilliantly again. the dahlia "My Love" is flowering really nicely, and the cerinthe also a great success. courgettes almost finished, tomatoes have been very slow but ripening at last....................strange, because it was a much warmer summer but the outdoor ones did almost nothing. runner beans very successful, the mini-carrots and beetroot too..................have just picked another lot of blueberries, and we have three different kinds of apples ready to eat!.....................

and now even more ready to eat. does this not just look like something you'd see in the Sunday supplements.............Nigella eat your heart out............

still life with veg............

Is this not beautiful. A squash!..............and beetroot, courgettes and rhubarb all ready to eat............

Love-in-a-mist "Miss Jekyll"

Ipomea "Kiss Me Quick"...................!!

other pride and joy.................biggest ever sunflower!

our pride and joy......................amazing squash!

Godetia

the other day lily....................think this may have come from Mum's, no idea what kind it is and i think this is its first year flowering. beautiful double flowers...............worth the wait!

Phlox in flower

Random Harvest

Haven't really got our act together since we came back from holiday so out today for a bit of minor tidying.......................pulling up obsolete bolted lettuce, chard and rocket and planting more salad, picking beans and peas, cutting down some wilted borage etc. everything very lush................first blueberries now ripening so no need to go all the way down the garden to graze...............first tomatoes appearing too but still green. courgettes cropping steadily, runner beans ditto.............haven't looked at the potatoes yet to see what they're up to. PSB planted for next winter and delphimium seeds harvested...................

strawberries ripening...............

the veggie bed, note artichoke (very tasty) and courgette flowers................

giant teasel flowering - sort of....................

parsley, geraniums and busy lizzie "Pastel Shades" - just looks like the old-fashioned pink one that everybody used to have to me....................