We were begining to feel that we were the only part of the country that wasn’t suffering from snow. We still don’t have very much, but enough to take some photos of the garden, with a light sprinkling that makes it look so different.
All the Workers
One thing that has occured to me while I have been taking so many photos of the garden, is that I have an army of helpers out there with 2,4,6 or 8 legs, and without them the garden wouldn’t look anywhere near as nice as it does. Yes, we have a few green, white, and black fly, and some leaves have a few holes in them, but there are so many insects, birds and animals that obviously find enough to eat in the garden that the pests never become a problem (here are some effective ways to kill palmetto bugs, neverteless). If there are any greenfly on the roses, I know that they will be eaten by the next day, maybe by bluetits or ladybirds.
Coloured Verticals.
Even after all the leaves have fallen there is still so much interest to be had from coloured bark and stems. These show up much more during the winter with the low angle of the sun highlighting them.
Autumn’s Pyrotechnics.
What a difference a few weeks makes, just a couple of weeks ago, the garden was mainly green with highlights of colour from the flowers. The month of October has been fantastic!!
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Tagged Acers, azaleas, Beech, Cornus, Cotinus, Hamamelis, Horse Chestnut, Miscanthus, Prunus, Silver Birch
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Natures Harvest
So many flowers turn into berries, which then become food for all the wildlife visitors to the garden. This abundant harvest can make all the difference to the animals and birds who spend the winter months with us.
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Tagged Arum, Berberis, Cotoneaster, Honeysuckle, Horse Chestnut, iris, Ivy, Leycesteria, Lonicera, Pyracantha, Rosa glauca, Sambucus, Viburnum
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Life after death
Sculpture in the garden is provided by the many seedheads that are left when flowering is over. Sometimes the seedheads are just as interesting as the flowers and they last a lot longer.
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Tagged Acer, agapanthus, Allium, Angelica, crocosmia, Evening primrose, Fennel, Nigella, poppies, Stipa gigantea.Phlomis
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Natures Art Work
Nature provides its own art work in the garden all the time but after a shower of rain shrubs and flowers look so beautiful when they are glistening with rain drops in the early morning light
Late Arrivals
From the middle of August the woodland floor comes to life again with the flowers of Cyclamen hederifolium, some deep pink, some pale pink and others white. One of my white cyclamen corms is now huge, it was one of the first plants we put in when we moved here 20 yrs ago.
More flying colours
I spoke too soon when I said that we hadn’t seen any Tortoiseshell butterflies at the beginning of August. We are now inundated with them! As soon as we step into the garden clouds of them fly around before landing again, usually on various buddleia or verbena bonariensis.
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Tagged Brimstone, Cabbage White, Gatekeeper, Holly Blue, Ringlet, Small Skipper, Tortoiseshell
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The garden of Eden
We had a wonderful day out with our son and daughter-in-law at the Eden Project in Cornwall recently.
The weather couldn’t have been better and the flowers in what is now called the Outdoor Biome were bringing in the bees and butterflies in their hundreds. It was wonderful to see them all foraging for nectar and pollen. There were masses of sunflowers crawling with bees and hoverflies, it was a beautiful sight.
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Tagged Biomes, Eden Project, Mediterranean, Tropical
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