Late summer flowers

There is a feeling of autumn being just around the corner in the garden.  The stalwarts of late summer are busy flowering, along with a few hangers-on from earlier.  Japanese anemone 'Bressingham Glow' (I think) gives a burst of bright pink.

 The agapanthus I bought last year came through the winter in the shed and has rewarded me with four flowers this year.

Clematis Blue Angel has been lovely,

 

Crocosmia 'Emily Mackenzie' has made a lovely contrast with the blue of the agapanthus. 

Hibiscus BlueBird reliably flowers throughout August, the exotic looking flowers belying its hardiness.

 My favourite hardy geranium, Rozanne, with the white centre and dark anthers.

 Helianthus Lemon Queen has not been happy this year and the clump has diminished a lot.  Perhaps I need to dig it up and split/replant the best bits.

 Another hibiscus - Woodbridge, I think.

Another shot of the fiery orange and red from the crocosmia.  Still a lot to enjoy, including blueberries and raspberries.  Chris has said he'll make blueberry jam, so that will be interesting!

Autumn colours

On the last day of October, there are some lovely colours to be seen in the garden.  The star at the moment just has to be the blueberries - Goldtraube and Northland which has the most glorious autumnal shades in their leaves.

 Just beautiful.

 However, there are still the vestiges of summer too, as can be seen by geranium Rozanne...

...cosmos...

 ...and a clematis, Princess Diana.

Inside, Chris has been busy with his jam and chutney making and this beautiful orange-coloured jelly is made from crab apples, with a hint of lavender.

The lights just didn't do justice to the golden tones.  He is also making quince jam/jelly at the moment too.  Autumn colour is all around me at the moment!

Purple in the garden

 

 The vibrant colours of the tulips have gone, to be replaced with delicate shades of lilac and purple.  Above, Clematis Ice Blue starts to unravel its petals, showing just the faintest hint of lilac/blue.

 The alliums are in flower and looking wonderful (they always seem to flower for Chelsea Flower Show week!)

 They are amazing in close up too...

These alliums (Christophii, I think but am not sure) are just starting to explode into life.

 Reliable and beautiful geranium Rozanne (complete with a coups of aphids - yuck- which are plaguing my roses and pretty much everything else at the moment.

 Here's a more tropical flower.  It's more on the pink side than purple, but I am delighted because it is flowering for the second time!  I am not that good with house plants, so when my Mum gave me this orchid, I was rather concerned.  I put it in the bathroom because I thought it would like the humidity and I think it does.  It probably needs a bit of food now though.

Nothing to do with actual flowers, but I was intrigued by the pattern the sun made shining through the net curtain this morning. It has been lovely to enjoy the sun, but all my pots now need watering!

Autumn colour

I must admit that there hasn't been as much Autumn colour in my garden this year as I would like.  Leaves seem to have just fallen, without changing colour.  There are a couple of exceptions - hydrangea above and Prunus incisa Kojo-no-Mai below.

 This photo was taken last week and since then, all the leaves have fallen off the Prunus...

 ...and the hydrangea is looking like this, with more yellow on its leaves.

 The little geranium 'Rozanne' plants, which have featured before, are still flowering away in a sheltered part of the garden.

 Magnolia Stellata has lovely yellow leaves.

 Still, there are a few surprises, like this Campanula 'Iridescent Bells' (I think) which has decided to flower, even though it is nearly the end of November and it is still a young plant!

There are also a few glimpses of colour from the Fuchsias - this one is 'Lady Thumb' I think.  It helps that they are sheltered but it is lovely to be greeted with some colour, even if it is not necessarily autumnal!

Comfort (and joy)

 Now that the clocks have gone back and the evenings are slowly but surely getting darker earlier, I feel the need for comfort.  As tea and cake are one of the best sorts of comfort I know, I just had to get baking. This is the Yorkshire Parkin Sponge/Yorkshire Sponge Parkin recipe which is one of the easiest cake recipes I know and one which I turn to time after time.

 How inviting does that look?  Tea and cake...you can't beat it!  For the recipe, please see here.  I do now use baking parchment to line my tins, ever since the Dis...arrrr...ster cake see here.

 Speaking of comfort, here's how to really do it, as demonstrated by Scruffy on my knee two evenings ago.  Not terribly elegant, dignified or even decorous, but totally relaxed and comfortable!

So what is the joyful element of this post?  Well, apart from the cake, these geranium Rozanne plants (my favourite geranium) are just coming into flower and are bringing a lovely splash of colour, making me feel very happy in the process.  I bought them as young plants earlier on in the year and they have just been sitting, albeit with nice green foliage, for quite some time.  However, they have rewarded me for my (sort of) patience by flowering now.  I hope we don't have frosts too soon as it would be so nice to enjoy them for a little while longer. 

Late Summer Colour

 To cheer us up after these rather dull, grey and definitely autumnal last few days, here is a nice burst of colour from the garden.  I must admit that I took these photos last weekend, when the light was better, but the flowers are all still going, though looking a little more bedraggled now.  Above is an annual dahlia, grown from seed, which I shoved in a pot and put outside the front door.  As it turned out, this is the best plant because the ones in the back garden have been decimated by snails!

 White cosmos, again grown from seed, also in the pot at the front door.

 A geranium versicolour showing beautiful veining.

 Rose Mary Rose, with the slowly opening buds of caryopteris.

 Crocosmia 'Honey Angels' with a shot of yellow to enliven the border.  This is a great plant, not too tall and it has come through the last winter or two beautifully.  I have ordered a couple more of these.

 A sugar pink phlox flower, bought as part of a a bare root collection earlier this year.

 My favourite geranium, Rozanne, which has been voted plant of the century by the RHS members. (I voted for it too!)

 Another cosmos, in a pot in the back garden.

 Clematis Crystal Fountain, showing the stages of the flowers.  I like the pom pom left after the petals have fallen.

 Hydrangea Endless Summer 'The Bride'.

 A pretty fuchsia 'Thamar', which is also in a pot and which came through last winter.

 A recent addition bought from Barnsdale; Helenium 'Ruby Tuesday' which is a compact variety, again in a pot. 

Beautiful rusty red flowers.

 More hydrangeas - Endless Summer 'Pink'.

A relatively new hydrangea, with blue flowers but no name.  I'm not sure how hardy this will be, but I couldn't resist the delicate blue/purple flowers.
The colours have definitely brightened my day and I hope you have enjoyed them too.