This Monday I wanted to share something a little different with you and Cathy. Our host Cathy asks us to bring something in from the garden to enjoy close up. I am taking this a bit further in that I have collected pretty things and then flattened them in a heavy book.
Autumn leaves
These were collected on a walk around RHS Harlow Carr plus three of my favourite leaves from my Forest Pansy.
No chance of putting them in a vase but I hope you will agree they are pretty enough to warrant including them here.
I hope you have a good week wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
Here we are, blogging from the confines of the second Lockdown, sharing our six from our gardens with you and our host The Propagator
We have had a couple of proper frosts this week and the garden has dropped leaves, the dahlias have blackened. Last week I shared Harlow Carr with you, this week I am back in my own garden, observing the last gasps of Autumn.
Penstemon Garnet
Penstemon are borderline hardy in my heavy clay soil. These are growing in a raised bed to aid drainage and here they thrive. The richness of the jewel like colour is a tonic on grey days of Autumn. I do not dead head these, or tidy them up for winter. I leave all the top growth, no matter how unsightly they become, only cutting back once new growth is emerging and the frost risk has passed. As extra security I take a few cuttings which usually strike very easily.
Aster lateriflorus Lady in Black
I planted a row of these asters to form an informal edge to the path. By midsummer the foliage is dark, almost black and looks strikingly handsome, repeating the darker foliage of Cercis canadensis and Sambucus Black Lace nearby. By Late Autumn they open zillions of tiny daisy like asters , creating a haze of flowers. A real sight when everything else is bowing out.
Aster lateriflorus Lady in Black
I mention the Forest Pansy so often I realise and that is because it gives such beauty. Here it is again.
Forest Pansy detailForest Pansy Cercis canadensis
Gardens are beginning to take on their winter scene and it is a good time to asses the parts you might want to change.
Garden scene
There are leaves to clear, roses to prune to protect against wind rock which is a big concern on my exposed garden. There are still roses but now the frost has touched them I shall prune them hard.
Rose Brother Cadfael earlier this week
Lastly I will share some Autumn images taken at the garden where I work. Tree work has begun and on milder days mulching is order of the day.
Tree work can begin.
I hope you can have a great weekend in your garden wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
I managed to visit Harlow Carr for the first time this week. The weather was chilly and there were some short sharp showers, but as you know, us gardeners are undeterred by weather.
The place was reasonably busy thanks to half term holidays but as it is spread over a significant site it did not feel crowded a key concern at this time.
Harlow Carr
The six I am sharing this week with lovely you and our host The Propagator are my highlights from the garden at RHS Harlow Carr.
Standout foliage of Bergenia and Maple
I love this image, the ruby red of the fallen maple leaf looks so vivid against the emerald rich green of the Bergenia.
2. The trees at Harlow Carr are exceptionally beautiful at this time of the year thanks to Japanese Maples and Liquidambar. The variation in colour and texture is incredible. I don’t think I have ever seen so many varieties at this the peak of their Autumn season.
Planted at key points around the garden the foliage literally sings out.
3. Outside the booth for Bettys’s Tearooms there was a fun cage for leaf collecting.
(Tea) leaf collection
4. There is a vegetable garden area which is as you would expect is an arrangement of raised beds and veg but the part I really liked was a bobbly hedge of Malus Evereste. This looked very attractive.
Bobbly Hedge
5. In a corner there is a lovely Exotic garden full of luscious leaves and bright shining dahlias.
Dahlia, Canna and Salvia Pink dahlia and Melianthus
6. Around a beautiful tree is a circle of hedges of yew and an exquisite bench.
Circular rings around the treeYew hedges hugging around the tree
I love how the hedges enclose the area around the tree. The beautiful bench around the mighty trunk, the views enclosing and opening the surrounding garden, as if protecting the tree.
My six from Harlow Carr. I hope liked this snap shot. Have a great weekend wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
A warm October day is promised. Hoorah. This is the early sunlight illuminating grasses in my garden this morning.
If you look carefully you should be able to see birds in flight, as if forming an orderly queue, heading to the reservoirs nearby. Canada geese perhaps?
Bulb planting. Leaf raking 
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