September is ending well in terms of sunshine but I still feel I’m missing out on rain. The quantity of stored water is diminishing as I continue to water specific plants. Our apple harvest is good and bad. So many apples fell during the heat waves and there is high incidence of brown rot on one of the trees. Although we could probably get a few bottles of juice this year we have decided to enjoy the crop as eating apples. The good ones are particularly crisp and tasty. Here are six other things from the garden.

One

The garden feels a bit topsy turvy. Here’s a resurgent antirrhinum, flowering again after a desiccating summer.

Two

I kept a number of young plants in pots over the summer rather than plant them out. It was easy to see them all together and remember to water them. Here’s a Japanese anemone that I propagated from a root cutting. This went into the garden this week.

Three

This liriope has been in the garden for several years and hasn’t really caught my attention. This year is the best it has ever looked and it’s still rather scruffy. Probably time to divide it.

Four

I thought I had dug out this fuchsia last year. It did not look happy, but it has fought back and although it is quite small I give it huge respect for re-appearing. I’ll leave it alone.

Five

The hylotelephiums are having a very good year. I’m enjoying this phase of colour before it turns deeper red.

Six

This is one of the plants I’m still giving a can of water to every now and then. Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’. I’m showing this again because it still has it’s ivory colouring which I like.

I’ve sown a few seeds that I collected from the garden. I can report that the hollyhocks that seed themselves quite happily have rejected my seed tray of peat free compost topped with gravel. I wanted to have a few more white ones but only one has germinated. I have managed to get two blades of pennisetum villosum to appear which I consider to be a great success. Astrantia also turned up its nose at a space in the greenhouse. We can but try. We have a new fox cub in the garden. A gorgeous creature but not a welcome one as it chews the compost bags and strolls through the border with impunity. I hope to be able to start on moving a few plants soon. I have definitely got my spacing wrong and this needs to be sorted out. I hope your gardening spaces are enjoying the gentler conditions. Jim’s garden is closed for visits but generously, visitors to Garden Ruminations still get to have a peek.