Saturday

It was very wet again overnight as we start November with largely grey overcast skies. I have been enjoying my snapdragons as they go through their 2nd year. I will leave them in place and see whether they come through another winter. My self sown nasturtiums are going strong & providing colour at the back of the Magic Garden. Along with what I think of as ‘summer’ flowers, my orientale hellebores continue to flower rather surprisingly. The Christmas box are both coming into flower too in the winter border.

Sunday

We started the day with some sunshine so Ben was out enjoying the first sunpuddles of the day while I got on with domestic tasks. I cleared the end of the sweetpeas & having taken the seed heads off, chopped the echinops back to the ground where the fresh shoots are showing through already.

Saturday

Another dry day so a little more time spent in the Magic Garden. I picked what I think will be the last of the blackberries before clearing leaves & sludge from the pond. The fuchsias are looking lovely while at the back of the garden the nasturtiums are still giving value for money given they are self sown from a couple of years ago!

Thursday again

I am allowing the annual sweetpeas to go to seed now. They are still flowering despite the plants clearly being at their end. The cosmos are still doing well & I will carry on deadheading them.

We’ve had a beautiful day here today and I spent a few hours in the Magic Garden allowing Ben to keep an eye on me and soak up a little sunshine too. I added more allium bulbs to the Magic Garden and filled in some holes with spare used compost. I planted out the last of the wee asters I bought from a supermarket. I then had a go at the bit beside the backdoor where the blueberries are. The blueberry’s leaves have turned beautifully red. I firmed in the kiwi I planted last month and the perennial sweetpea adding both compost and leaf mould. I also potted up the Edgeworthia chrysanthemum ‘red dragon’. I’ve brought it indoors for the moment as I suspect it is rather tender.

The michaelmas daisies are continuing to do well and the wee white aster is doing well.

Thursday

Back to mild and after a wet day yesterday some sun today. There were a few insects in evidence and there is plenty of bloom still with the end of the Michaelmas Daisies & wolfsbane. The little rose that my Hedgewatch HQ friends gave me is blooming its third flush of flowers.
Ben came out with me this afternoon but not this evening when I went out to worship the Hunters Super Moon.

Monday

Cold and frosty this morning so I’m glad I brought the banana plants in yesterday. There is still plenty of bloom in the Magic Garden and other colour. My hellebores are clearly confused as they are blooming full out.

Sunday

I’ve been a bit busy lately but the Magic Garden is still my little haven even as autumn continues to walk in. I’ve moved the lemon verbena and pelargoniums into the summerhouse as they are too tender to be outside now and the banana plants have come indoors with the larger lemon verbena bush.

Sunday

It’s been another dry grey day in the Magic Garden. I enjoyed watching the birds today, picked some more blackberries & apples (and had a lovely crumble) and photographed some of the flowers.

Saturday

I’ve had a week away and in the meantime the Magic Garden has turned autumnal but with the addition of some small asters to join the Michaelmas Daisies the blooms continue to brighten the gloom. Ben I think is glad to have me home & investigated the Magic Garden cautiously..

Friday

After a grey start to the day it turned a bit damp & then foggy so I appreciated more the amount of colour left in the Magic Garden & the flash of yellow from the goldfinch youngster & its parent & the occasional bloom.

Indian Summer

We seem to be having a bit of an Indian Summer with glorious sunshine all day albeit with a chill to the air. The Magic Garden still has plenty of colour in it and the bees & others are still busy. I’m cropping tomatoes & courgettes which feels good for mid-September. Ben has enjoyed a day in the sun.

Monday

The autumnal feel continues with mizzle this morning and the nights drawing in. The hellebore under the apple tree is confused though and in full bloom and the Bramley apple tree is also confused with flowers as well as apples on its branches.

Sunday

It’s been a foggy wet weekend here but I’ve still got bits & pieces done in the Magic Garden including planting out a new crocosmia Carmine, a Japanese anemone & a rudbeckia. I am really pleased with how the Magic Garden looks even in the gloom.

Wednesday

The nights are already drawing in as we’ve arrived in September. This is the season of Michaelmas daisies although Michaelmas isn’t until the end of the month. I love these purple daisies and have them planted in the north quarter of the Magic patch. Traditionally St Michael was the archangel to stop the incursion of the Devil. For some reason the Devil was thought to come from the North so churches at the north end of towns were traditionally dedicated to St Michael.

Sunday

Autumnal feel to the day and some showers to remind us its September. I have a second flush of ‘wild’ flowers in the Magic Garden brightening around the pond as well as the foxgloves in shady bits of the rest. The number of birds in the garden have been steadily increasing & a lot are juveniles including the goldfinches. I'm hoping that they will stay around even if they are consuming vast amounts of feed.