Flowers outside...

Now the weather is cooler and we have had a bit of much needed rain, some of my normally very reliable autumn flowers are putting in an appearance and bringing me some lovely splashes of colour. Above is Japanese Anemone Bressingham Glow.  It is much shorter and much later to flower this year.  

Here is Symphyotrichum (Aster, as it will always be to me!)) novae-angliae Mrs S T Wright.  This one has seeded itself from the main plant which is further down the border.

Here is Symphyotrichum (Aster) Little Carlow.  For the last two years this plant's leaves have struggled against mildew, as it is near to a big Buddleia.  I may need to move it (again) or improve the soil.  The flowers are very pretty though.

Helianthus Lemon Queen, again, this is shorter and smaller than usual, but still has zingy yellow flowers, loved by bees.

Even the miscanthus is shorter, but still elegant, particularly when the breeze ruffles its silky flowers.

Liriope Muscari, a very undemanding plant. The stem in front is a herbaceous Clematis, New Love.

The hydrangeas are taking on their autumn colours of old velvet.

Salvias are still flowering - this one is either Raspberry Melba or Strawberry Melba!

This little clematis 'Neptune' is flowering for the second time this year which is unexpected, but very welcome.  these are the flowers at the top...

...and the bottom of the support.  I am enjoying this gentle slide into Autumn very much.

A Bargain!

 We recently went to a Charity shop (or Op shop as they are called in other countries) which I had not been to before.  We were on the way home and I mentioned I hadn't been there as it was a little off the beaten track.  So we went. I am very glad we did. I found another few pieces of Beryl crockery by Wood's Ware (which was a ubiquitous design found from 1940, in a few colours, which was used in churches, villages halls, schools etc.).  I always liked the green version with its simple, functional design and lines of decoration but until I had some to look at closely, I didn't realise there were little art deco touches on the handles.  There is an interesting article and some good photos here (The Darling Academy - Beryl by Woods Ware).  It was still being made into the 1990s apparently, so there is still lots around, but prices on ebay etc. are going up. We have collected the pieces we have from charity shops. 

I also managed to get this bargain acrylic ink gift set by Daler Rowney.  It doesn't seem to be made any more, but as these bottles of acrylic ink are about £6.00 to buy, this whole set was amazing value for £2!  There is a pearl purple, a pearl which shines blue and a gold. There is also a pack of pencils in B, 2B, 4B, 6B, a paintbrush, watercolour postcards and a black canvas, all unused. I have yet to play with the inks, but I do use acrylic inks quite a lot in my journaling, so they are a great addition.  I do love a bargain!

A taste of Autumn

We recently needed to get a new fridge-freezer so took the opportunity to stock take the freezer drawers and discovered we had blackberries and blueberries from 2025 which needed to be eaten.  I decided to make a sauce with them.  I tipped a load of each into a saucepan, added 2 dessertspoons of icing sugar and gently simmered them.  When they were soft (about ten minutes-ish), I mashed them with the potato masher and then passed them through a metal sieve to get rid of the pips. 

I find that blueberries don't have that much taste on their own, but combined with the blackberries, it is a marriage made in heaven!  We have it over vanilla ice-cream and also swirled into natural yogurt, with or without a chopped banana.  It is absolutely delicious and a really good use for those berries. A real taste of late Summer/early Autumn.

Other cards this year

I like to post photos of the cards I make, as a reminder of what I sent to whom, as well as a record of what I have been making, so here are some more from this year.  Above is a simple stamped and watercoloured card. These clean and simple cards are often more tricky - all it takes is an inky finger print and you have to start all over again!

Easter cards are enjoyable to make and these were made using stamps, dies and stencils with pastel coloured backgrounds.

I made a couple of these for my cat-loving friends, using stamps and dies.

As this stencil and dies set from America cost me a fair bit in tax, I am determined to use it as much as I can.  It is a good one for using scraps and here there are embossed bits as well as scrap book paper.  

This one used some of the slow drawings I do on a Wednesday evening. I have amassed quite a collection of these little pieces, so it is good to use some of them.  

This one used embossing folder for the background, and some die cut flowers which I watercoloured.  The recipient is a teacher, so the letters and vintage book page number strip seemed appropriate!

I enjoy looking for themed supplies - hearts are a good one.  Here I used an embossing folder and a heart which had metal foil applied to it.  Simple, but effective, I think.

An embossed frame and stencilled image made this card.

I saw this inked technique demonstrated on TV and knew I wanted to try it.  I think it worked really well. The image is stamped onto watercolour card with Distress (or other water based ink) and then sprayed gently with water, just enough to react the ink and start it spreading.

Another simple card with a gel printed heart in the centre of the embossed background.

Finally (and well done for making it here!) is this card which uses one of the pieces I made in an online course I did in the summer. Lots of layers of paint and ink in this piece with a stamped butterfly as the focal point.   I have a couple of birthday cards to make for male family members and I find cards for men are a little more tricky but I have ideas of what to do, so watch this space.

Blogger, Compost and flowers

As you may know, if you have a 'Blogger' blog, it is not updating the posts from blogs we follow,  so we are all missing each other's new posts, unless we go over to their blogs from our reading lists.  Please keep visiting and I will keep visiting too.  Hopefully this may be sorted, but it has been going on for a while, so who knows?  On the whole, I have found Blogger to be pretty good, but this is first time there seems to be a major issue which isn't being resolved. 

On to my actual post.  

I have what is affectionately called a Dalek compost bin (the alien enemies of Dr Who - see here for further details), which has worked really well and provided me with lovely compost for the last couple of years.  I thought I had cracked the composting recipe and had been busy filling the bin with green and brown waste through the year.  It got very hot here and I covered the bin with a white sheet during the summer, to try to keep the temperature down a bit so that the worms wouldn't be cooked.  

It came time to empty the bin - a tricky task, as I don't have a lot of room for such shenanigans.  Unfortunately, this year something has gone seriously awry as I had slimy, smelly half- decomposed stuff all the way through the bin.  No nice, sweet-smelling crumbly compost for me this year.  So, I refilled the bin, aerating as I went, mixing in whatever brown waste (cardboard, egg boxes, paper etc) I had to hand.  

What have I learned from this experience?  Composting is an art as well as a science. I need to ensure I have 50/50 green and brown waste when I add some to the bin.  I also need to empty and then refill the bin in Spring, to make sure it is aerated, something I neglected to do this year.  Oh well, as we gardeners are so fond of saying, there's always next year!  

In order to cheer myself up, I took some photos of flowers in the garden, Above is Rose 'Eyes for You' which has been fantastic this year.

This is Anemone Ruffled Swan, with the frilly edge to its petals. 

Rose Dannahue, which has valiantly continued to flower, despite not enjoying the heat.

Helianthus Lemon Queen, normally really tall and with slightly thuggish tendencies in the right spot (it's fine in this garden).  It struggled with the heat too, is much smaller this year and has been slightly later to flower, waiting for the much needed rain we have had.  It is such a cheerful plant and I love to see it in flower.

Finally, a bee of some kind enjoying the pollen/nectar from the Helianthus.  

Changing season - welcome to Autumn

Thankfully, it is now much cooler and you can feel the season turning.  I, for one, am relieved, as I have really struggled during the heat of this last summer.  I enjoy Autumn, so look forward to greeting those plants which come into their own at this time of the year.  Above are cyclamen hederifolium, a sure sign that Autumn is here.  I have several pots of them on the shady patio and they seem to be happy there.  The flowers come before the leaves and the leaves have beautiful marble patterns. 

Here are some others.

Also in a pot on the shady patio are some japanese anemones.  I think this may be Pretty Lady Susan, but am not sure at all!  It is flowering away well.  My usually very reliable japanese anemone Bressingham Glow, which is in a border under a jasmine, has not enjoyed the heat and lack of water. It is flowering, but is a lot shorter than usual and with fewer leaves and flowers.  

This japanese anemone was sold as Ruffled Swan, but I think it is Wild Swan, as it doesn't seem to have the ruffled edges.  However, it does have pretty lilac backs to the petals.   

It used to be in a south facing position, but hated the intense sun, so has been moved. It does like to be well watered and is quick to wilt, but that is due to it living in a pot (and probably needing to be divided!).

On the whole, it is an undemanding and rather lovely plant, brightening up a shady area.

Another plant which has been doing sterling service and flowering for a long time is Clematis Wyevale, a herbaceous clematis, again in a pot.  It will let you know if it needs watering too, but just quietly flowers away, with a slightly soap-like fragrance on warm days. 

The hydrangeas have flowered but fading much more quickly then usual and the asters and helianthus Lemon Queen were also affected by the heat and drought, so are smaller than usual, but with the recent rain, they have perked up considerably.  There is still lots to enjoy!

Slow drawing - more double page spreads

I am still filling my slow drawing journal with patterns and here are some of the latest ones.  These are taken from the slow drawing lessons by Amy Maricle of Mindful Art Studio.  She usually has a lesson most Wednesdays from 6-7 pm in the UK (unless she is taking a break, in which case she leaves the most recent pattern available).  The videos are available for two days, unless you have a paid membership (which I don't).  The pattern above is called 'Bean' and I am considering whether to colour/paint in any of the shapes.

This is one of the most recent ones I have done (Botanical Watercolour for Beginners) and it was so relaxing - slow watercolouring, adding more water, then less water to the pigment as the shapes are layered up.

This one was inspired by one of Amy's patterns, 'Spirit',  but then I made it my own.  Cells? Tiny creatures? Seeds? 

Another one of Amy's called 'Grecian' but I started with one full circle and added the leaves/scales all around it. 

This pattern is called 'Prickers' and I love the complicated end result with the depth of the layers.  It was actually relatively simple to do and it built up quite quickly.  I still have a few single pages to go before the journal is full.

A little garden review - late summer

Considering how dry it has been over the last two months, there are some plants that have coped very well.  Above is the triple coloured hibiscus, although I think there are only two colours on it now.  It is in the sunniest part of the garden and has not been watered at all.  Below it is an agapanthus which has flowered really well but which is in a pot, so it has been watered.

Here is the hibiscus again, showing the pink flowers and some of the white ones.  

The other hibiscus, Syriacus Oiseau Bleu, in the north facing border, has done very well too, again, no extra water from me. This is one of my favourite plants and often features in my blog.  Roses in the borders have done well, with no additional watering but those in pots have needed a weekly and sometime twice-weekly watering to keep going.  My ferns in the north border have suffered a lot, despite me adding water bottles near them to try and help.  I am not sure they will come back but we shall see.

We have now had some rain and temperatures are a little cooler,  for which I am very thankful.   

In other news, my cosmos have finally decided to join the party and start flowering.  Hopefully they will go on into the Autumn.  Above is Cupcakes Blush which is one I haven't grown before.

I'm not quite sure what this one is - but it is pretty.

These are at the front of the house - Candy Stripe, which I think is pretty reliable.

Candy Stripe again...

...and again. I like that the flowers are all slightly different.

As all of us need to do, I am thinking about how to adapt what I grow next year.  Cosmos Candy Stripe and Cosmos Sulphureus Polidor have both done well considering and I think perhaps I need more verbena bonariensis. I have some white foxgloves seedlings coming along and have three teasel plants growing on.  

I have also just ordered some tulips - Finola for the front, Ronaldo and Princess Irene for the back. They should arrive September/October time.  

The other thing I need to do is cut down the number of small pots of things I have.  Lots to think about and always lots to do!