Blog: What a washout this month has been – I’m miles behind!
October’s not been a great month for any of us, gardener or not, which my garden in pictures will make blindingly obvious!
The bulbs I was going to plant up in pots haven’t been delivered yet, I’ve been ill for a couple of weeks with some gastro-intestinal bug (other viruses are still available), and my website went down for three days. Like everybody else, the soil has been absolutely unworkable due to the heaviest rain I’ve seen for many years, so no daffodil planting. (should have got my finger out in September).
One high point this month was early on when I cleaned and redecorated the conservatory, so all the tender plants are in, apart from the cannas and dahlias.
What can you glean from all this? Try not to beat yourself up if you’re prevented from getting outside by forces beyond your control. It’s hard not to be frustrated or anxious, but a few dry, bright days will see us catching up. The worst is that it will look a mess (to you) – as long as you have tender plants indoors, nothing too bad’s going to happen. OK, here are the month’s plants… and a big thanks to Vanessa, who provided a lot of these when I wasn’t up to going outdoors!
My garden in pictures – Ornamentals
The asters have been the stars of the show (bought at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show), but the labels blew away. Luckily, I found one months later – they’re the variety Barbados!
Autumn foliage
October is the best month for leaf colour, but the wind and rain have battered many – my new Acer shirasawanum Jordan started beautifully only to be virtually bald in a fortnight! Look back on my garden in pictures February to see the new bed.
My garden in pictures – Edibles
The tomatoes have finished, and the chillies have been cut back for overwintering – they’ve had a good season. There are yet more apples on the Red Falstaff tree, and the kale has rejuvenated itself after being stripped by cabbage white butterflies. Autumn garlic really needs to go in too – I’ve picked the last of the carrots, finally.
Exotics
It’s looking uncannily neat in the conservatory, but the greenhouse is still a tip, so no change there!
