The second week in September and Summer is still gracing us with her presence. Hosta’s have been a big success for us this season, the foliage has been fantastic and the flowers on their long stems just beautiful in colour and form. But their season past over a month ago and they are all dying back and now providing a feast for the snails….all that is apart from one plant. I mentioned it a few months ago, it is a miniature Hosta, small leaves, short wire like stems and delicate blooms. Well this one plant is doing its best to flower once again……..
But this second display of blooms is even smaller than the first…a real mini bloom. The flower head shown above is no more that 2.5 inches or 6cm from tip of the flower head to the drop on the last florets…small but beautifully formed.
Now last week I posted an image of Geraniums. Janina (http://jmnartsy.com/) spotted a small pink flower behind the display and enquired as to what it was.. I did reply to her enquiry and explained that it was a hardy border member of the Geranium family that over winters and returns each year to grace us with a mass of either Blue or Pink flowers…alas I did not have the name and I regret I have still not identified the variety. But I do have a close up of the delicate flower head and like the Hosta described above this is also a second showing. This time round it forms single flower heads where as in the summer they are grouped together to form a multi flowered head….
One welcome sign that autumn is approaching is the re-appearance of some wild Cyclamen, they self seeded about 5 years ago in our gravel path, each year the clump spreads a little more…….
But so far the most autumnal signs are to be found at one of the ponds we pass most days. the slow decay of what has been vigorous growth has now begun….
That, and of course Blackberries on the Brambles a sure sign that the year is changing….
9th September
© David Oakes 2013
DAVID OAKES - IMAGES. 