Autumn's Bounty
Thursday, October 31, 2019
At the date of writing this News,
21/10 I have just come in from the garden full of the joys of a
dazzling array of colours from a wide variety of plants. Not
yet having had any damaging frosts in an otherwise wet
month, many plants from mid summer are still going strong.
Clear blue skies and bright
sunshine did enhance the show and made the forthcoming late autumn
seem a long way off
Cotinus Grace with asters in
foreground
Magical effect
of sunlight on Cercis "Forest Pansy"
What happens when you
plant young trees too close together! 3 examples of the genus
cornus
Roses, salvias and
autumn colour
It is not only trees
and shrubs that have good autumn leaf colour Maianthemum Racemosa
turns a bright yellow during the month.
Hostas too put on a
show.
Seedheads of all
kinds add to the show as in rudbeckia sullivantii "Gold
Sturm"
Large seedhead of
sinacalia tangutica an unusual daisy family member
Selinum wallichianum
a lovely late umbellifer
Leaf colour on hardy
geranium and seed heads of allium
Deep red leaves on
sedum in rockery
What tree is bearing
these unusual fruits? Answer later
Weather
Sun = 7 days max 19C on
1st
Rain = 8 days. during the month
1.9" rain.and on 26th 1.9" rain leading to some flooding of
river
Chageable = 15 days
Frost = 3 min -1C on 28th and
3 other lows at just 0C
Frosted dahlias and
knifofia
Scenes of autumn
Garden Update
In spite of very soggy ground we
managed to get into store all the remaining rootcrops save parsnips
and swede which remain in the ground. Brassicas are now a staple
crop through the autumn and winter including brussels sprouts, all
winter hardy along with leeks which are growing well after a
slow start; the rain has helped enormously. One crop we are sorry
to see the end of is sweetcorn which has been the best we have ever
had. 72 plants including some later sown ones which gave us
continuity. The last feed was on 27th after our firt frost but
still tasting good!
It is always said of home grown
vegetables that nothing you buy in supermarkets or green grocers
ever tastes as good. That is more true of sweetcorn than anything
else which quickly loses its sweetness when it has been
picked for a few days, peas too are much the same.
Root crops including
in the background the odd shaped roots of celeriac which are so
spooky looking they could supplant pumpins at
Halloween!
Bunch of the carrots
"Amsterdam forcing" sown in early August
Unlike last year when we
had such a large crop of Bramley apples we didn't know what to do with them
all, this year following pruning of the trees we have a
more manageable crop
Most of the hedge trimming has been
completed and the larger yew tree now looks pristine with it's
sharp lines - such a key player in the winter, when there is not
mulch else to admire
Seed gathering for the HPS Annual Seed
Exchange
We sent 36 packets of seed
What is/was looking
good.
There is so much to rave about
which in the different light levels at this time of year looks
different from day to day, making a regular tour of the garden
essential, and I just can't stop taking pics so sit
comfortably!
Salvias continued to put on
a good late show like one of my all time favourites "Phyllis
Fancy"
Roses continue to flower well
and look good with late flowering salvias
This huge salvia up to well
over 6 feet is "Super Trouper"
What a lovely shade
of blue is salvia patens "Guanajuato" tall too up to 4-5
feet
Some years ago a vistor asked me
what it was and when I replied it was a salvia, she responded that
it wasn't and when challenged for her reason for saying this she
replied it couldn't be a salvia because they are always red!!
A surprise Late flower from
centaurea "John Coutts" usually summer flowering
Dahlias are a great
addition to the autumn garden mingling well here with
knifofiaRooperi
Dalia "Honka"
yellow
Dahlia Merckii a
wonderful species form which flowers profusely from wht must
be enormous tubers that have been in the same place for upward of
20 years
I recently purchased
this beautiful species type in a pure white which was
labelled "Lisa but I haven't been able to accurately identify it.
Names don't always matter when you see something as lovely as
this
A very late flowering plant
which does well for me in part shade or sun in dry or retentive
soil Strobilanthes rankanensis. unlike its relative
Strobilanthes attenuata it doesn't seed around.
Chance seedlings of
feverfew in the Picket Fence Border looking fresh as a daisy! on a
cold autumn day
A true plant of autumn and
almost into winter formerly sedum "Spectabile", recently renamed
Hylotelephium "Spectabile"
We grow a good range
of impatiens and this jewel is a wild collected form from China
that was collected by the late Michael Wickenden who introduced
many fine plants into cultivation. I give you "Emei
Dawn"
Another choice and
hardy plant from China and the far east is begonia grandis ssp
evansiana teaamed up with asters in this pic
A better image is afforded
by these crates of varieties of these begonias loaned to me
by my nursery man friend Richard Bramley, Farmyard Nurseries for a
talk that I gave to our Hardy Plant Society Group in South
Wales
Wildlife and
Countryside
All signs of
butterflies have now gone but the bees are still active on drier
days. One amazing wildlife stat is that we have neither seen nor
heard many blackbirds for about 3 months. Where have they gone? I
rather suspect that the large population of magpies in the
surrounding contryside have predated fledgling and young birds.
Crows too are also most likely the cause.
There was some good news about
birds when a flock of fieldfares came to visit the large hawthorn
at the top of the garden which was smothered in berries a favourite
food.The next day there was the first sighting of large flocks of
starlings which has continued into the end of the month. There was
also the chance sighting of a goldcrest when one of them flew
into a window but fortunately it was just concussed and after some
gentle massaging it recovered and sat on my hand for a few minutes.
They are such pretty tiny little birds you don'often get to see
them at such close quarters. They are Britain's smallest bird.
Rabbits thank goodness are
still conspicuous by their absence and we hope it stays that
way!
Visits
There were several during the
course of the month, to which I have added others that we did not
have room for in packed News items from previous months, and a few
more left for next month.
25th Anniversary of Malvern Autumn
Show on 28 Sepember
The floral Marquee
with a range of quality nurseries and guest speakers
This lovely salvia is
a sport of Salvia "Amistad" This red form with dark calix is a
recent imtroduction called "Amante"
The Harvest Pavilion
is always packed to the rafters with people and many fine
exhibitions by amateur growers and plant Societies. One of the real
beating hearts of the show
These are not cup
cakes but a novel way of displaying dahlia flowers
We always bump into
people that we know and it is good to catch up with
them
Moira is having a Cwtch
(Welsh for cuddle) with Medwyn Williams the great vegetable
grower who last May won Gold and best in show at Chelsea Flower
Show. He usually puts on a display at Malvern but this autumn he
was having a break and selling gardening products from his
company
A cwtch between 2
elderly gentlemen would not be appropriate!. We first met
Medwyn at Llanberis, N. Wales where every autumn Medwyn runs a 3
day Vegetable Masterclass weekend for members of the National
Vegetable Society with a range of guest speakers. Having
heard me speak at the Royal Welsh Show, Medwyn invited me to speak
at his event. I was flattered and humbled to be asked to speak at
such a prestigous event packed with some of the top members of the
NVS. It was great learning opportunity and we were made to feel so
welcome. an unforgetable experience. Medwyn is a most
engaging man and unaffected by all the success he has had over the
years at shows all over the UK and around the world. He has many
stories to tell and always find the time to catch up with
us.
29th September The
Picton Garden, Colwall worcs. also comprising Old Court Nurseries.
Famous for its National collection of asters, it still holds a
large collection although the garden has been expanded to include a
wider range of plants and habitats to allow the garden and nursery
to open over a longer season then previousy, including many fine
plants for shade and incorporating some intriguing garden
structures
October 13th Hergest
Croft garden Herefordshire annual Autumn Plant Fair, the last of
the year. For us an unmissable event in one of our
favourite gardens
A week of wet weather
had left its mark on the showground but it was dry on the day and
well attended
The garden is famous
for its trees and shrubs and arboretum
Many plants are like
old friends at their very best in autumn
One of the rarest is
Neoshirakia Japonica that has the most marvellou leaf colour that
varies with the weather and light conditions
Many
Borders on the
terrace by the tea rooms
Friends Sylvia and
Tony always bring their nursery Shady Plants. com to the fair,
and we know just about everyone of the nurseries that
regularly attend
Answer to question - What
is it?
Fruits on cornus
kousa. They are supposedly edible but I am too wimpy to try
them!
And finally at last I hear
you say.
A message from Kit Kat - he
likes following us around the garden and is learning more about the
joys of autumn which sometimes includes diving into leaf mounds but
on this occasion he refusd to do so. As is often said, never act
with children or animals!
