Over the last couple of days the weather has gone distinctly autumnal, we really could have done with lighting the fire last night, but it’s still August so we just stuck an extra jumper on instead! There were a few comments on facebook about people putting their heating on!
The rose hips on the briar roses are huge this year, like rosy tomatoes! We’ve got a hedge of briar and hedgehog roses along the back fence, so there’s lots of hips to see at the moment.
The foliage plants are starting to come into there own now, whilst I was photographing the hips I noticed this eunonymus and pulmonaria at my feet almost underneath the rhodedendron bush.
In the Amber & Amethyst garden the echinacea are still looking good, the colour looks great next to the deep blue of the veronica spires and the turning foliage of the pieris, the red leaves are looking lovely.
Over in the rose bed opposite the summerhouse I noticed the Pheasant berry (Leycesteria formosa or Himalayan Honeysuckle) was flowering, these are unusual flowers, more like bracts really, the birds love the berries that follow.
The sedums around the garden are starting to come into their own, this one’s reasonably upright, once they really flop then they need dividing in the autumn…two for the price of one!
The cotinus coggyria or smoke bush is just starting to get it’s autumn colour, the outer leaves are quite red. I love this bush, but the colours never seem to come out on a photograph, imagine all shades of red wine!
Hopefully this week I’ll manage to do a bit more tidying up, starting to get the garden ready for the winter!
thecraftycreek 
Wow! It really is setting in early this year – am green with envy over your fire-lighting vs. another jumper quandary. The garden is really coming into its autumnal glory!
Starting today we’ve a week of summer temps with humidity pushing the feels like temps into triple digits, rain in the afternoon – still proper tropical.
Sigh…
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As always, I enjoy meandering in your garden. Such a variety!
The weather turned Autumnal last night here, too, and I am also resisting the urge to turn the heat on!
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Electric blanket is very tempting… 🙂
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It is difficult for me to think autum when it is 90°F and humidity even worse. That is SW Indiana for you during August. Your smoke bush is gorgeous. That is one I have often fancied yet have never gotten around o planting one.
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Fire lighting time is approaching is it? – don’t tell my husband as he will get a fire going before you can say ‘knife’ – it’s a man thing. We are making up for our month of rain in June when the U.K. was basking in sunshine and are continuing to have lovely weather so I’m still kicking the sheet off me in bed at night and wearing shorts and a t-shirt during the day. We had friends round on Saturday, ate dinner outside and it wasn’t until around 11p.m. we reached for a cardie. We need to order the winter logs but it’s hard to remember to do it while it’s still hot. Your garden is looking lovely – I have a love hate relationship with sedums as they look so miserable when they have ‘gone over’.
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They keep promising us the summer will return, el nino apparently, it doesn’t feel like it at the moment but it will probably wait til the schools go back – that’s when the weather changed, school hols
We’re hoping for good weather for our big walk!
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As always, I love your garden meanderings. Your garden is so lush and looks like a great place to relax.
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It is lovely to wander around someone else’ garden. Thank you for the tour.
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Something is definitely up, our pumpkins have started to turn, and the tomatoes are calling it quits too. Your late summer flowers are so beautiful! Hope a little more summer returns!
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