I’m hoping October will be mellow and fruitful. I have much to do and after longing for rain I have definitely had enough now thank you. I feel sure I had this feeling last year, I can see much in the garden that needs to be refined, cleared out, divided. It needs a good tidy up. So I need to get moving. On with the six then.
One
I was amazed to spot this gaura flower amongst the verbenas. Was it sheltered by them and also overcrowded by them? I hope it can last through another winter and I will thin the verbenas to give the gaura more of a chance.
Two
The hydrangeas are rapidly changing colour and this one has chosen the perfect autumnal red.
Three
I’ve called time on the tomatoes, blight finally got to them. But there is a good quantity ripening off inside. Not such a good quantity of carrots though! These are chantenay, so the shortness is good, but the germination was not.
Four
Here’s the frost shattered pot in its new home. Against a sunny wall, perhaps it will survive another winter more or less intact.
Five
New violas for the terrace pots. Cheap and cheerful and I’m hoping they’ll last a good while. The lobelia was definitely past its best so it was time for a change
Six
Lastly, I’m going back to the cactus dahlia because it is a firework of orangeness at the moment. It’s down at the shady end of the garden and looks much better in the afternoon sun.
I’m off to dig and divide geranium phaeums today. I hope you have good weather for your gardening jobs. Jim hosts the SOS links as usual, but unusually he has some great pictures of Cornwall! Have a great weekend everyone
n20gardener 
Keep an eye on your ripening tomatoes. Mine had blight last year but I thought I had a good harvest. Almost every one of them began to rot once I got them inside. Even the ones I’d frozen, rotted once I’d defrosed them. I hope yours don’t. Thanks for reminding me about violas. I must hunt some out.
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You are so right about the watching the tomatoes. I’ve had that problem before so I tried not to bring the blighted ones inside. But even so several have been despatched!
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That;s a shame. It’s horrible, isn’t it, when you think you have a good crop only to see it dwindle day by day. Mine even smelt bad. Better luck next year
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I have the same carrots! I just picked 6 this morning that I added to my broccoli/romanesco for lunch.
I see we have the same post ideas with the pink hydrangea and you are lucky to still have this very pretty dahlia actus in full bloom. It wasn’t a good year here…
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Graeme also mentions not a good a year for dahlias! Your lunch sounds tasty.
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Well the carrot harvest beat mine, I have just 1 germinate and survive.
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Don’t we have fun! I’ll try again next year. I sowed in June and I think that’s best for my shadier space. The soil takes longer to warm up.
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I know what you mean about the rain. Those Violas are very pretty and that dahlia is a show. My dahlias have been mostly rubbish.. again.
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The rain wasn’t the best for them. Mine did collapse/spread but fortunately in a space that could take it.
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Those sweet stubby carrots look tasty! Gorgeous color on the hydrangea and the dahlias. A digging & dividing Saturday in the fall, I should follow suit.
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I did dig and divide so feeling a little better about things. More to do though!
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Lovely picture of the gaura, I love verbena bonariensis but it does become a bit of a thug, doesn’t it?
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I have pulled up so much this year and now have it a totally new area where it is romping away. I do like it though.
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I’ve been doing the same, moving it to where I want it to be instead of where it wants to be.
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I can see that mine takes in turns to seed either side of the path!
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Beautiful colours in the Hydrangea. Fingers crossed for your pot through the winter. Lovely Violas, mine are still too small to plant out.
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Did you grow your violas from seed? I was looking at mine today and thinking I really should avert tried growing them. I cheated!
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I do usually but missed the windows this year so bought some tiny plugs
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Better than having an excess of pots! Mine came in small bowls. But I don’t need those either!
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Gaura really gets prolific in our landscapes. We pull most of it up, but leave some where it has space to grow and be an asset to the landscapes. It has potential to be a weed. Is it limited by frost there? I can not imagine frost that is harsh enough to bust a pot.
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I think the gaura suffers from the wet mainly and also frost. Be careful what I wish for but I wouldn’t mind some gaura weeds!
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Well, I probably make a bad impression for it because I am none too keen on it. Realistically, what we retain is an asset to the landscapes, and excludes other weeds that would be worse. Everyone else likes it.
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Your violas are so pretty I am tempted to hunt some down.
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There were plenty of them at the garden centre until I got there!
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