I took our dogs for a walk down the back lane on Saturday and the colours were so lovely I went back with the camera. It looked even better when the sun tried to shine but of course it gave up by the time I had my camera. I love walking through woods at this time of year with the deep earthy scent and the rustle of the leaves.

One of my favourite views along the lane, looking over the farmers gate towards the Chevin.

Even the brambles were doing their best to add to the autumn colour.

It did make me appreciate the colour in our garden a bit more when I returned, the hostas and the iris next to the pond didn’t look quite so sad when I appreciated the colours. At WI two days earlier we had a flower demonstration and she used crocosmia stems with their seed heads in an arrangement..and I was just about to chop mine down for the compost heap!

The cotinus coggyrhia is looking beautiful at the moment, almost crimson in places.

The evergreens are beginning to take their place in the garden again as well as perennials such as brunnera Jack Frost which has lovely variegated leaves. It does die down eventually but not for a while yet.

There’s still a few roses doing their best in inclement weather at the moment, this one is Lady Emma Hamilton, it looked beautiful with the early morning raindrops, the foliage is a lovely bronze colour too which looks wonderful with the orange-pink flower .

There’s still a couple of perenials in flower, these rudbekias give a splash of colour in the Amber & Amethyst garden.

The view over the garden from upstairs still looks pretty full and interesting. I’ve spent several hours over the last few days starting to tidy up, digging up lots of weed roots, moving things around. I can’t say I’m getting there, but I’m definitely making progress!