Autumn
“The
spirits of the air live on the smells
Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves
round
The gardens, or sits singing in the trees,”
Thus
sang the jolly Autumn as he sat;
Then
rose, girded himself, and o’er the bleak
Hills
fled from our sight: but left his golden load.
William Blake
The fine weekend prompted a
frantic tidying session.
The greenhouse is now empty of
all except chilli peppers and tender over-wintering geraniums. The summerhouse
is full of garden furniture, including my lovely new bench and all seat
cushions have been aired and stored in the garage.
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| Pablo cat enjoying the flowers |
The small front garden has had
its lawn edges sharpened and the dead foliage of day lilies etc have been cut
back to stop slugs and snails taking refuge there. The few roses have had an
early prune and the fruit of the ornamental quince is beginning to fall, reminding
me to harvest the rest and consider making Sarah Raven’s delicious quince and
apple cake. Quinces smell wonderful and I recommend adding some to a bowl
of pot pourri to help lift the spirits
during the dark days to come.
Pablo’s garden is beginning
its autumnal clearance. I no longer cut everything back, preferring to leave
some foliage to dry naturally and leave seed heads both for the birds and to self
sow in situ. This works really well with foxgloves, honesty and aquilegia and I
give the stems a good shake to distribute the seeds each time I take a wander
around the garden.
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| Use for a home-grown pumpkin |
Drying autumnal garden foliage
looks wonderful arranged in a vase together with a few stems of honesty. You
don’t need many flowers to make an eye-catching arrangement as witness my
allotment-grown pumpkin surrounded by
a few flowers and foliage picked from the borders of Pablo’s garden.
Happy Hallowe’en
Beautiful pumpkin and flowers!
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