For me November has been a sunny month but the mists of autumn arrived on Friday. The softened light wrapped itself around the garden and the muted colours blended together like a good Harris tweed. I loved it. Today the skies are blue again, a brief respite as next week promises a good blast of winter chill. The gardening year is moving on.
One
I had the opportunity to be out in the garden this week and my bulb planting success rate increased. I started out with 258 to plant. I put away the ‘Mount Everest’ Alliums and Leucojum ‘Gravetye Giant’ last week, leaving me with 240 bulbs. This week the extra Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ went in along with most of the Thalia. Planting the yellow tulip ‘World Friendship’ in the narrow border led to a little swearing as I encountered one or two of last year’s friends. I took a rain check on them for another day. So I have 106 tulips to go, 10 Thalia and 50 of the tiny allium sphaerocephalon. I plan to get them in before the cold spell arrives.
Two
It was a week of tidying up and fond farewells were said to some old friends. The last of zinnias and cosmos went to the compost heap. The verbena bonariensis were brought back in check with self seeders despatched to the heap or relocated. I now have a clear patch in the south east facing border for 60 of those extra tulips and the remaining allium sphaerocephalon. I’m feeling the need for an anchor plant in this corner, something that would work well with the trachelospermum jasminoides. Suggestions welcome! It’s a sunny corner as it also picks up some afternoon sun from the west.
Three
Most of the leaves have fallen from my trees and the leaf pile is growing steadily. There are still plenty to come as the leaves on the trees in neighbouring gardens are still hanging on. Whilst I am not a regular gardening diyer I did turn my hand and trusty staple gun to producing this leaf bin. Say no more!
Four
At this time of year my thoughts turn to plans for next year. After two and half years in this new garden I am getting round to the north facing border. This photo shows the section that is currently home to a stand of blackcurrant bushes. I love blackcurrants but I do also have another stand in the veg plot so the ruthless gardener is going to make an appearance and these will go to be replaced by a planting of white shade lovers completely inspired by a Joe Swift article in the August edition of Gardeners’ world. Watch this space.
Five
Also on the project list is a new compost area. The current heaps are in crumbling brick bays. I’ve emptied out two sections and installed a builder’s bag nearby to take the new pile. Once the other two sections are empty I will be calling in some muscle to knock down and wheel away the bricks. Then Father Christmas will bring me some new wooden bins – I’ve had an early word!
Six
I’m looking forward to the bricks going as I will be getting a skip, which, perhaps sadly, I always find very exciting! I am inspired by One man and his garden trowel, a fellow sixer to share with you ‘down the side of my shed’. Hiding beneath those autumnal leaves is a great collection of old paving slabs and miscellaneous bits of metal excavated from the garden over the year. Once the skip arrives it will indeed be farewell old friends!
Good luck with your garden plans. Find out what everyone else is up to by checking in with Mr P. All the links to SOS appear throughout the day.
I garden in London and so get a little complacent about frosts. But this week the lawn has had a light frosting and it was clearly a sign that cold weather gardening had to start. Last year’s fleece was in shredded tatters in the shed and I hate all those white flaky bits. I hot footed it to Homebase and found some delightful green bags of 35gsm fleece with very handy draw string pulls. I usually fleece up the agapanthus armed with a stapler but these jackets were easy to pull over the plants and the fetching shade of green is slightly less obvious than white. Job done.
I was certainly lulled into complacency by the balmy days I experienced in Suffolk last week but the cold evenings are changing the colours of the garden. The persimmon tree is looking beautiful even as the leaves are falling.
The previously sun scorched hydrangeas are also taking on their winter hue.
But elsewhere the summer container plants are still in good health and I will leave them out throughout the winter. In mild years I have been able to carry the geraniums over into the next summer.
The white antirrhinum sowed from seed is still in flower at this end of the garden but elsewhere I have collected seeds from another plant that has done its bit for summer.
I recently planted out some gaura and pennisetums in a west border and alongside them I put in some Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’, which still thinks there’s time to put on a display. Thank you!
Daphne Eternal Fragrance. I had resisted buying this all year on the grounds that I wasn’t sure I had the right spot for it. But there it was on the bench in front of me with a label that said suitable for containers. I’ll find a space for it soon.
I have moved the scented leaf pelagoniums into the potting shed and taken a few cuttings for insurance. That meant two summer containers were sitting empty. There in front of me was a tray of winter pansies.
Recently added to the wish list was Brunnera macrocephala ‘Jack Frost’. Described as good for shade and for ground cover, I thought it would be ideal for under the snowberry tree. These were lurking just around the corner from the pansies. Speaking of lurkers – do the slugs like brunnera?
I was almost at the exit point when I spotted the pots of Gaultheria Procumbens ‘Big Berry’. I’ve had these in winter window boxes before with some ivy. The red berries are usually plentiful.
I had to walk back to the beaming cashier past the bulb section and remembered just in time that I needed to top up the alliums and fritillaries.
I count myself as quite restrained – I can’t give you a full six from the garden centre purchases! My last for this week is something that is giving me cause for concern. These Liriope muscari ‘big blue’ went into the garden in autumn 2016 and have not flowered once. The RHS site promises ‘small violet-purple flowers carried in dense, erect spikes to 30cm in height in autumn, followed by black berries.’ To quote our esteemed leader ‘Nothing, nada, zilch.’ Any suggestions?
I’ve planted the same group of plants either side of a small path.. The Agastache ‘Alabaster’ were in the garden already and they have now been joined by Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’, Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’ and Pennisetum villosum. Fingers crossed for next summer.
On the diagonal opposite to this area is what was fondly known as ground elder corner. After three summers of digging it out I think I have the upper hand and so I am beginning to put in some permanent plants. First to go in is Trachelospermum jasminoides, a firm six on saturday favourite. I’m hoping it will very quickly cover the great expanse of unattractive brown fence.
Also adding some late colour are these Lillies. Yet more naming debates: are they now Schizostylis, or Hesperantha? I know which one I prefer. These came from the old garden and are bulking up nicely.
And since repetition is allowed and because the late colour is so fabulous, I give you again the Salvia ‘Amistad’ and the Rose, Darcy Bussell. The Salvias mooched along all summer but they have really established themselves in the last month. Darcy Bussell just keeps on putting out new buds.
This week I dug up the last of my sarpo mira potatoes. This is the total haul from two plants. Barely enough to mash and I was certainly crushed.
The tale of woe continued. Into the greenhouse I went to pick some tomatoes. I noticed that the romano peppers needed tying in again. But as I brought the stems together to tie them in they snapped. But these things happen, don’t they? This photo was taken after a good many of the peppers had been used for the evening meal.
This bright cheerful zinnia, grown from a tiny seed, continues to shine.
The astrantia major are flowering again.
Autumn is coming and softer colours take their place in the garden. I call these ice plants but I’m going to venture to suggest the Latin name of Hylotelephium spectabile. Yes or No?
So I add to my crimes, ignorance. I had no idea the bulbs would flower this year. What a blissful ignorance it was. Without it I would not have been half so thrilled and excited as I was when I saw this flower and I didn’t step on it!
Pride before the fall and fall the persimmons did. Two branches came down, both heavily laden with fruit. They broke from the inside so nature has done a good job of opening up the tree.
No sooner had the delphiniums put up their second flush of flower stems than the storm arrived. Of course I hadn’t got round to tying in the tops but the ties at the bottom seem to have helped steady the stems enough to keep them safe.
The stately cosmos that was just opening out its flowers was not so lucky. I had tried to push a cane into the ground but there was no give at all. The plant snapped off at the bottom. All was not lost as I cut back the side stems and brought them inside to fill a vase.
The fruits of the passion flower are ripening and providing a focal point over the top of an arch. These is the more common Passiflora caerulea and although the fruits are edible when very ripe I prefer to leave them be.
There is a paragraph in the 
Indeed the doorbell rang a moment ago and although it was not the aforementioned plants I was excited to receive the first of the bulb orders. Excited on two counts: Yes! I had my six for the week (it was touch and go) and I could cross Colchicum speciosum Album off of the wish list. I hope they are going to like the space I have ready for them. Fingers crossed that it is sunny enough.
Cutting back plants after flowering really can work. The alchemilla mollis which were sheared to the ground have come through again and at this time of year they look beautiful with their dressing of early morning dew.
This is Geranium ‘Brookside’. It roamed through the garden in early summer, knowing no boundaries and so cutting it back when it finished flowering caused me no stress. The plant needed to be tidied up. This week I noticed it was flowering again.
Also starting up again are the seedlings of Nigella, love in a mist. I have a carpet of them which I should probably be thinning out and sharing around the garden. But I might just leave them all here to keep the weeds down and see how they come through next year.
In the greenhouse I have managed to keep a tray of foxgloves and echinacea pallida seedlings alive and it looks like some potting on needs to be done. Temperatures are on the up next week so they I hope they will put on some good growth once moved into a pot.
Encouraged by the good example of others I decided to try some winter vegetables. I rescued a tray of rainbow chard and perpetual spinach from certain death and planted them out a few weeks ago. The pesky slugs made straight for them but they have pulled through and growth looks good.
Last November I planted out bare root roses in a new border and Darcy Bussell is still flowering. I am impatiently waiting for the roses to become fully established but even in the first year the flowers have been rewarding.
n20gardener 