Thursday 23 September 2010

A not very helpful notice!

Couldn't resist letting you see this notice on our local bottle bank. We couldn't find any glass bottles big enough to take the ones we were trying to recycle!!


The garden is taking on a real autumnal look now and so many things have finished doing their bit but this little plant just keeps going. I think it is regarded as a weed by some gardeners but I love it. It starts flowering soon after the spring bulbs have finished and seems to keep on till the frost kills it, then up it comes next year. I don't know what it's called and must look it up.

These poor cosmos have been blown about a bit but are flowering their socks off. They are my babies as I grew them from seed and had no idea they could get so tall - these plants must be nearly 6ft. The ones I grew last year were eaten by slugs and snails, so I'm very pleased that these survived.


They look so delicate - I should have done a bit of deadheading before I took this photo!


This is one of the campanula family and I thought it had done it's bit for this year so cut it down about a month ago and it's already flowering again though much shorter than before.
It grows to about 2 or 3 feet.

This is another seemingly delicate plant - Clematis 'Bill MacKenzie' - whose stems are very brittle. We have to chop lumps off as it grows over an archway to the side of the house and in wet weather we get a cold shower each time we walk under it. It has spread over the pergola in one direction and over the boundary wall and up one of the council's trees in the other. I love the shape of the buds and the texture of the petals when they are open - almost like citrus peel - and those lovely silky seedheads. I managed to get them all in this shot.

I forgot to plant any dahlias this year. I am quite choosy and prefer the single ones. They are so good for providing a splash of colour at this time of year. I lost all mine during the very cold weather last winter.
I have been busy with the pages for my herb book but there are none completed yet to show you. I intended to complete each page as I went along, but that has gone by the board and I am adding bits here and there as inspiration strikes and materials and embellishments present themselves. I should soon have a couple to show you. Hope you have a lovely weekend whatever you are doing.

6 comments:

Jackie said...

Your garden is a picture even at this time of year. I love Bill Mackenzie.

Gill said...

Your plant with the yellow flowers is a corydalis - I think it's c.lutea
It grew like a weed in my childhood garden but I don't have it now

Linda Vincent said...

I was going to say the yellow flowering plant looks like parsley ;-) Thats a new one on me.
When we visited Hidcote and Snowshill it struck me that there were still so many beautiful flowers around in mid-September.
Your garden looks lovely Heather.
Linda xx
PS Re: your comment.. I remember the needlework shop in CC well. I drew it for an art exhibition I was involved in many years ago.
I wonder what happened to it?

Maggi said...

Your garden is looking lovely. Amazing how Cosmos withstand winds so well. I have seen the little yellow flower before too but can't remember what it's called

Heather said...

Thankyou Gill - as soon as I saw your comment I remembered the name. I used to have a glamourous blue corydalis but it wasn't as tough as this little yellow one.
Linda - the lady who owned and ran the CC shop wanted to retire and couldn't find a buyer for the business so just closed it down and sold the premises.
Maggi - I've just discovered that the wind has damaged a great chunk of my cosmos and had to cut it down.
Jackie - me too, and I have to defend him from my husband who only likes plants that keep to an allotted space and don't ramble, sprawl and climb about!

Totalfeckineejit said...

Such a colourful garden so late on .Your plants love you, you have not green fingers, but rainbows.