Autumn Colour

Before the garden beds down for the winter, I thought I'd share with you the remnants of autumn colour in the border - proof that there is always something to delight the eye. If one looks for interest and charm in a garden it will always be found.

Glorious grasses - even in decline

I usually cut these grasses down severely in late autumn as they start to look untidy, but this year I've left  them to die back of their own accord to provide extra cover for insects over the winter.

magnolia stellata in autumn colour

This magnolia stellata is a delight in the early part of the year. It has both beautiful flowers and stunning perfume.

But it also has beauty in its decline. Witness the glory of the leaves which contribute so well to the colour palette of the rest of Pablo's garden in the autumn.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

quince tree and rose Tess of the D''Urbervilles

This quince tree complements the colour of the magnolia wonderfully, placed as it is behind the summer house. Last year it produced no fruit at all. This year it fared better and I picked a large bowl full of the golden fruit - said to be the actual fated 'apple' from the Garden of Eden.

Quinces are terribly difficult fruit as they take forever to cook  but they do smell delicious so this year I merely left them in a bowl with cinnamon sticks and dried oranges studded with cloves - Christmas personified!

Acer preparing for winter

             

Every picture tells a story

             Frantically busy trying to fit in garden tidying with many other calls on my time currently.

The entrance to Pablo's Garden

Progress is being made - thanks to lots of help from my sister, Heather and friend Elaine. Still got a way to go but we'll get there in time for the NGS Open Day on Sunday 6th July 11.00am - 4.00pm (apparently the same day as the Men's Final at Wimbledon - oh dear!)

The glory of the rose

Delicious scents in the garden at the moment, heightened by the warm days. My 'literary' roses are  bestsellers - Jude the Obscure, Lady of Shalot, Tam O'Shanter, Brother Cadfel, A Shropshire Lad, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and newcomer Heathcliffe who is being his temperamental self and sulking  at the moment. However he has potential.


The Philadelphus is glorious and is blooming slightly earlier than usual due to the mild weather. Fingers crossed that it will have retained some colour for 6th July. Again, the perfume is delightful and it is a pleasure 
to be working in the garden, surrounded by such a blossoming abundance.

Philadelphus

A new departure is the stumpery which almost looks as if it has been there forever. It still needs some work on it and I've just been to my favourite nursery at Eggleston Hall to buy a few new additions - mostly ferns - of which more later.







                      The borders are filling up after the demise of the bluebells and forget-me-nots.

I hope that you will travel with me on a walk around Pablo's Garden on 6th July. There are many buttercups and grasses amongst the flowers and shrubs for it isn't a pristine garden with perfectly managed borders and manicured lawns but it is a garden that our late-lamented Pablo, a cat who loved nature, enjoyed and we hope you will too.

Take a walk through the garden gate ...