For a few days last week we had a bit of an Indian Summer, or that’s what we call it over here, a spell of unseasonably warm weather in late September early October. I’d just put my summer clothes away too so I got some out again when it was 20 plus degrees!

I spent the good weather in the garden, starting the autumn tidy-up. Sometimes I look at the garden and think it got away from me again, but then realism steps in and I have to admit that it probably took over six months to fully recover from the nasty wound infection I had last Christmas, so actually it’s not too bad!

I’ve started in the patio area down by the conservatory. The garden arch had gone rotten and was pretty wobbly, I was just waiting for the clematis to finish flowering before I cut it back a bit so I could remove it’s support. The rose on the other side (Teasing Georgia) hasn’t been good for the past few years, getting lots of blackspot and generally not thriving. It was one of the first David Austin roses I planted so it’s probably 15 to 20 years old, anyway I decided to dig it out, replenish the soil and buy a new rose.There’s always concerns about rose sickness when you dig out one rose and replace it, I’m hoping that removing the soil around it and adding lots of compost the next one will be happy. I’ve ordered Wollerton Old Hall as a climbing rose, it’s bare rooted so it won’t arrive until next month…plenty of time to build a new arch!

The whole bed where the rose was needed sorting as it was overrun with huge geraniums and astrantia, I love both plants but they were getting a bit much. So, I’ve dug up and moved lots of plants, I’m sure I won’t have got it all so there will still be geraniums there…just not as many! It also gives me chance to improve the whole bed, this bit has the worst soil in the garden with very heavy clay, so I’m putting lots of compost in and some pea shingle to help break it up.

Once that area was cleared I carried on tidying up the beds, cutting back perennials, weeding and thinking about what needs moving or splitting. The birdbath and the wire goose have re-emerged from behind all the foliage, the birds love to sit on the goose’s head when deciding which feeder to go for, or eyeing up the worms! There’s still lots to do but it’s already looking better,

The roses are still trying hard to put on a show, dead-heading throughout the season does help to prolong the flowering. This little pink one is down by the conservatory, I think it’s called Fairy,I needed a short rose there so it doesn’t block light into the conservatory and this one works perfectly. It’s still got lots of buds hoping to bloom…

Up by the summerhouse at the top of the garden the cotinus coggrhia is a gorgeous mix of reds and oranges. As you can see I haven’t started tidying this bit yet! The sedum is a lovely shade of dark pink at this time of year, it really needs splitting when I get round to doing this bit. It’s flopping in a huge circle and apparently that is a sure sign that it’s getting over crowded.

I really enjoyed the warm days in the garden at the weekend, we’re back to the usual October temperatures now, so it’ll be big coat time in the garden! There’s lots to do out there 🙂