It’s always hard to choose just six garden things, but here goes.
- The little oak is looking fine, and seems happy in it’s little pot so far… This, and it’s bigger brother are both Quercus Rober – the common oak, collected from seeds in woodlands nearby.
2. Olive in the front garden seems content, she lost many leaves earlier this year when she was repotted, but is in fine fettle now.
3. The roses are winding down as the nights start to draw in, but Blythe spirit is still flowering brightly
4. The pond is crystal clear, and a wonderful spot for relaxation.
5. Wildlife highlights this week in the garden include a massive pair of ruddy darters and a close encounter with a hedgehog by the pond but these were not caught on camera. I did get a snap of this rather dashing hairy caterpillar on a lady’s mantle (alchemila molis).
And snapped this red admiral butterfly on the buddleia. However, it’s really worrying how few insects and birds there are around this year. It’s sad how quiet some places are, and how thrilling it is to see a flock of swifts or hear a hedgerow buzzing with life. That sort of buzz should be normal.
And finally a shout out to the asters, all these late summer daisies that just keep blooming and buzzing. The Michealmas daisies and Mexican daisies that catch the last of the summer sunshine are highlights in the front and back gardens.
This month we went to visit family in Scotland and Manchester, and we saw some fantastic gardens that have been giving us ideas. We definitely need more big swathes of plants, and inspired by my lovely husband’s mum’s garden we want perennial sweetpeas and massive clumps of rudbeckia and phlox next year… We are thinking of removing some plants and adding trees and being a bit bolder with the plans for next year. It’s fun to think forward 🙂
To see more garden goings on, visit the Six on Saturday gang at Garden Ruminations.
Have a lovely weekend,
J x
The olive tree looks lovely, it’s a beautiful shape. The lack of insects bothers me, too, they have been conspicuous by their absence this year. And this despite pretty much all the plants in my garden being good for pollinators:-(
Sound like lovely plans for some garden changes. Exciting!
Quercus robur is not so common for us. Actually, it is quite rare, and unavailable from nurseries. The few that I have worked with in old landscapes are quite stately, but more proportionate to and practical for such landscapes than the native valley oak, Quercus lobata. (Of the several native oaks, only valley oak is sometimes mistaken for English oak while young.)
I love it that you have taken an acorn and growing not a might oak but a bonsai from it. Yes there seems to be a desperate lack of birds in my corner of Somerset too.
That is a charming photo of your cat at the pond! Adorable. I’m just finding your blog from the SOS crowd and enjoying it! I don’t always post there because I can’t seem to keep myself to six things, but I love being connected to that garden community.