October

October was a funny old month. It felt warmer than September and despite the evenings drawing in we still spent some time out in the garden. We took a week off work at the beginning of October to do some tidying up in the garden – just starting to get everything ready for Autumn. We had a few really nice days and we got a lot done. I decided to get some Autumn colour so we added some chrysanthemums and winter Pansys. The cosmos still seemed to have no idea the seasons were changing and were flooded with buds and flowers.

These are my favourite colours in the garden, the oranges and yellows of Autumn.

A couple of evergreens were added and we started to tidy away the annuals that were looking a bit straggly. Some of the foxgloves and spring flowers needed a good pruning and I gave the buddleia a bit of a haircut too.

I pruned the poppies back really hard at the end of September and this seemed to give them a new lease of life, even producing some new buds and a tiny little flower. The lilies were definitely on their way out and I added another rescue plant in the shape of a 75p dahlia – very much in its death throes but I’m hopeful I can resurrect it next year. It’s my dahlia experiment – I’m going to leave it out all year and see what happens. The other dahlias will be taken up later in the year.

The hydrangeas started to lose their leaves in October – all turning those glorious reds and greens as they shed their summer colour.

The garden is starting to slow down. Only the very hardiest of plants are still defying the shorter days and lack of sunlight. The cosmos are probably my favourite things that we’ve grown this year. Even in October they are glorious – so many colours, so many flowers – just dancing away outside the window. Even on the days when it wasn’t dry enough to be out there I could see them from my desk, flitting around in the wind, making me smile and remember June.