Saturday again already, it comes round far too quickly! The garden is looking very autumnal now with leaves down everywhere and only me to clear them up, plants dying back and needing cutting down soon, so there is plenty of work to do as well as still trying to improve the old veggie area. I’m getting quite a bit done in between the showers, today looks good though, should get quite a lot done today. I’ll start my Six on Saturday with my cooking apples and thereby hangs a tale!
No 1
Yesterday I collected these windfall apples and now have them in the freezer, stewed and ready for when I want to make a crumble topping.
The farmer who owns the field next to me ploughed his field once he had collected in his crop of maize. The next thing I knew was when he was coming round the edge of the field with his flail making such a noise, but then all of a sudden he was using his flail on my Bramley apple tree! The poor tree was being shaken, I was working on my side of the beech hedge which is under the apple tree so thought I was quite safe. All of a sudden I cought movement out of the corner of my eye, a huge apple was coming straight at me at a fast rate of knots and if I hadn’t turned away it would have hit my left eye! As it was it hit me behind my ear, thank goodness I turned, as it hit me very hard indeed and could have done a lot of damage, I got my revenge though, I ate it as an apple crumble that night!
No 2
Clematis Rebecca which suffered from clematis wilt earlier in the year has now grown back after being cut back and is flowering again beautifully.
No 3
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides is flowering at last, I have had it for a good number of years, but have always tidied up the long trailing stems, not realising I was cutting off the flowering shoots! This year I forgot and it is now flowering! I think I will have to move it to somewhere where it has more room to spread.
No 4
The hibiscus that was a present from Canada a few years ago is still flowering but I must take it back inside for the winter as it won’t sirvive the frost.
No 5
I noticed a tiny little Primula denticulata flowering again in the bog garden, a lot smaller than it should be and the only plant flowering in the bog at the moment.
No 6
Fuchsia magellanica has gone mad, flowering as never before, it is making up for not flowering during all the heat of the summer.
Those are my six for this week, flowers are getting harder to find as the weeks go by, hopefully soon I will have some autumn tints instead. Lots of plants must come inside to the conservatory which is kept just frost free, so must get on with that this week before our first frost arrives.
Thanks again to Jon The Propagator for encouraging us to show what is going on in gardens around the world, do pay him a visit.
I didn’t realise apple trees could be so dangerous! Actually, that’s not strictly true because when I am outside at this time of year hearing a muffled THUD is a not an infrequent occurrence, either in our garden or our neighbour’s! Haven’t yet been hit by one though… Good to see Rebecca has perked up 👍
The tree wasn’t dangerous Cathy, but the apple coming at me horizontally as if a fast bowler had just bowled it certainly was! I have been hit in the past by falling apples and even though they hurt, there is no lasting damage, not like this time.
That really was quite a lucky escape you had from the Bradley Pauline. I’m glad you managed to avert the worst. The Bradley must be forgiven however, since it really is the best cooking apple ever. Years ago I brought to Sweden with me so I would always have that taste from my childhood. Love the colour of that hibiscus.
They are the best for cooking aren’t they Denise, love them! I ended up with a lump the size of an egg behind my ear and my daughter told me I had a bruise the size of a grapefruit, she even photographed it to show me! The apple broke the skin in the area where the lump was but even so I think I got off lightly.
That was a close thing! I must say I was worried that the flail would get too near. Love seeing rich red flowers excel in autumn.
It was wasn’t it Allison, I thought I was far enough away and just thought it would be twigs and leaves that would come through or over the hedge, I forgot about apples!In future I’ll beat a hasty retreat when I hear that noise again!
Goodness, that could have been nasty! So glad you turned your head. What a delightful array of pretty blooms.xxx
Yes, it could have been so much worse Dina, so I’m very glad that I managed to turn in time. Hopefully the flowers will carry on for a bit longer although we are warned that it will be frosty tonight so today I’ve been busy bringing lots of plants inside!x