October has come to and End….

October 31st and Spring memories fade, whilst summer memories linger. In a normal year autumn would have been well underway. Even so November, with its dark nights and a drop in temperature always marked for me the start of Winter.

But this has been far from a normal year. After a long wet winter, Spring was late to arrive in our little corner of the UK. When it did arrive, the usual cycle of events didn’t seem to work this year. Early flowering bulbs were late, lates were early… but for the most part they seemed to all blend together…

Summer also provided a rethink of time scale and the order of succession. The long dry days and several heatwaves proved a challenge for both the garden and for me. Watering was needed, but also mindful that it was a precious resource. Roses have never been a strong point in our garden, but this summer they have given us a rotation of blooms.

Herbaceous and shrubs suffered. Some grew like topsy others struggled. Some flowered themselves out, dried and looked dead, but careful cutting back, did allow some to regenerate in what we would normally call the start of autumn. Despite all the difficulties they had to endure a colour full display, though fragmented was pleasing…even though green was the dominant colour

As for autumn, not really happened as yet, true the bulk of summers colours have gone and green dominates. Some Autumnal colour is showing, but not a lot, the recent October storm has brought a crop of leaves down, but nowhere near as one would have expected. The star for me has been the Castor Oil Plant, to say it has grown this Summer is an understatement….so maybe the best of Autumn is yet to come.