End of the season

A beautiful crisp autumn day to end the season- blue skies and sunshine with a brisk wind- and dry. We were up in the top field dealing with a huge old birch that has fallen through the bamboos and out across the boundary wall to Rowaleyn. Now the branches and top are cut off and neatly stacked for a bonfire, there’s just too much to leave to rot.

Quite a few late visitors calling in these last 10 days after a very quiet August and September. The leaves are starting to turn as the hours of daylight reduce- most noticeable in the more ornamental acers in the rock garden and elsewhere.

Splashes of late colour are provided by second flowerings particularly those rhododendrons related to R haematodes or nerriflorum, by colchicums, fuchsias and rudbeckias still looking good. The kniphofias are lovely, K caulescens beside the veg patch is humming with bees.

We had the dung delivered early and already most is covering the veg beds, protecting the soil from the winter rains. The courgettes don’t like the cooler night temperatures and will soon stop producing if the weather continues- but there’s still lots of French beans. We are feeding the bees and have all but one hive set up for the winter. Unfortunately there’s no honey for humans this year as conditions didn’t provide enough nectar- we’ve never known the sycamore flowers to fail before. Every year is different.