Tag: autumn

My Garden Journal October

I began my October journal entries by writing about the signs of autumn and I noted that, “October really does feel like autumn with changes in leaf colours on shrubs, trees and a few perennials. Fungi are another indicator that autumn has definitely arrived in the garden.”

I then shared a gallery of photos taken in the garden.

On the next page I featured another autumn happening which we look forward to so much even though it is a busy time for a while. “This is the time of year when plants are thinking ahead and ensuring their genes carry on in the form of new plants by setting seeds either as simple seeds or as seeds hidden inside fruits or nuts. These can be apples, elderberries or seed pods on trees such as Cercis siliquastrum or chestnuts.”

Below I put photos of fruits and seeds.

Next up was another of my 30 second sketches, the subject being a leaf and berries of an Hypericum.

On the opposite page I featured persicarias, where I wrote, “Persicaria amplexicorus varieties are really strong perennials for autumn when they show us the wide varieties with flowers of different shades of purple, red and pink with tints of orange and other sunset shades.”

Here are some of our persicarias currently flowering in our garden.

Another painting took up the next page, a watercolour of a short length of a branch off a Cercis siliquastrum on which grew two different lichen and a pair of seed pods.

On the penultimate page for October I shared a look at gardening tasks for October. I wrote, “The weather remans good enough to garden almost any day we want to, except for a couple of days when another named storm, Storm Amy, came to attempt to blow us away. Luckily there was no damage to the garden or gardeners.”

Picking apples has kept us very busy after bumper crops.

We have taken rose cuttings and put bubble wrap up to insulate the glasshouse. Ian our garden help has tidied up some of our climbing roses.

The final page for October showed how our shed was progressing. Here I wrote, “Mid-month and the shed has moved on well. We now have a recycled tile roof and part of the cladding fixed to the outside, even though our four-legged foreman slept through part of the time.”

We have reached the end of my journal for October. The clocks change this weekend meaning we gain an hour’s sleep. Then we can see what November brings.

Tags autumn, flowers, garden, gardening, plants

Uncategorized

My Garden Journal 2024 November

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 14, 2024

In my Garden Journal 2024 I have reached November, where I began by writing, “November is all about leaves from its beginning, leaves turning shades of yellow, orange and red, leaves falling creating multi-coloured carpets covering the bark paths.”

Then I shared eight photos of November foliage.

Then we have a double page spread featuring one of my quick watercolour sketches of hypericum berries as they begin to go over, a few already being glossy black. On the opposite page I celebrate those plants that still give colour through their flowers.

“All these beautiful varied hypericum berries are slowly turning black so I decided to sketch the last berries still showing colour.”

I wrote, “In November it’s easy to concentrate on leaf colours and bright berries but we must not forget that many plants are still flowering.”

I then showed nine photos of just such flowers.

Over the next double page spread I take a look at some garden tasks and then consider grasses.

I wrote, “As the weather becomes drier but colder we remain as busy as ever. We finished off Arabella’s Garden and pollarded the quince.”

“Grasses come into their own as the light levels are lower. Our many grasses provide highlights of biscuit, ginger, brown and ivory in their seed heads. The top three photos below show different cultivars of miscanthus.

Panicum “North Wind” (left)

Molinia caerulea ssp. arundinacea ‘Transparent’ (Right)

Hackonechloa macra ‘Nicholas’ no name Stipa tenuissima

Over the page we have another double page featuring more autumn coloured foliage and opposite we look at surprise weather which covered the garden.

I wrote,“In the second half of the month the rich colours of autumn became much brighter.”

The weather is the subject of the final page of my November entries in my Garden Journal 2024.

I noted that, “Within a week of taking the photos on the previous page, the stunning colours were hidden by a fall of snow, first of the season.”

“The garden turns monochrome.”

Hopefully the snow will be short lived and we can defy cold temperatures and get outside again.

Tags autumn, flowers, garden, gardening, nature

Uncategorized

My Garden Journal 2024 October

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 8, 2024

When starting my garden journal for October 2024 I wrote “October is when autumn really gets going and evidence of the new season is all around us in our garden and in the countryside. The most obvious changes to look out for are changes in leaf colour and ripening fruits.

The main fruit for eating that we pick this month is the apple. We have 20 different apple varieties in the garden, 4 trained over arches, 4 stepovers and 12 cordons.”

“Crabapples are in our garden for their decorative qualities, but they also help desert apples to get pollinated effectively.”

“Autumn colours are starting to develop early in the month.”

Onto the next page where I looked at some of our sorbus varieties all in berry. I wrote, “Sorbus give the garden so many different coloured berries and autumnal leaves all together. They are closely linked to our native Rowan or Mountain Ash.”

On the page opposite I looked at other berried trees and shrubs where I wrote, “But it is not just sorbus that have coloured berries. There are plenty more – cotoneaster, lonicera, hypericum, holly and arum lily

Next page featured some of our hardy fuchsia and I noted that, “It’s amazing how you can discover plants that you have ignored for years. This is what happenedto us when we started to grow fuchsias again. This happened when we found plants F. “Thalia” and F’ microphylla at Stocktonbury Bury and Croft Castle respectively.”

The final photo in the set above we grow mostly for its unusual blue-grey foliage. It is almost worth growing just for its long name which I can never remember the whole of! Fuschia microphylla ssp. hemsleyana ‘Silver Lining’.

On the page oppsite the fuschias I feature roses! I wrote, “In some years some roses seem to keep flowering out of season, usually to the end of December. Hips are now getting fatter and redder. Sadly October’s strong winds snap off whole branches loaded with flowers and hips.”

Then I shared six photos of late flowers.

Next page ,which is the final page for this month, shows some of the garden tasks we found time to do. I noted that, “October has been a very difficult month with so much rain that the ground has been saturated. We had several jobs planned and then delayed by wind and rain. We had to repair wind damaged branches and tie in wild shoots. In the first photo Jude is tying in a wild rose branch. The other photos show us emptying and re-planting the Prairie Garden.”

I finished off the October entries into my garden journal with the words, “We now have to wait to find out if our work has been successful.”

Tags autumn, garden, gardening, nature, plants

Uncategorized

A Monthly Wander Around the Gardens at Oakgate Nursery and Garden – October

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 29, 2024
2 Comments on A Monthly Wander Around the Gardens at Oakgate Nursery and Garden – October

Mid-October and we visited Oakgate Nursery and Garden in order to purchase a few new plants, asters and grasses for our Prairie Garden which we are currently revamping.

It was so good to see salvias still looking so floriferous. They seem to grow really well in the garden here. We were hoping to see some early signs of autumn so we looked out for shrubs and trees showing early rich coloured foliage. We also hoped to see plenty of flowers around as every month manages to produce some flower colours.

Around the outdoor seating areas for the cafe, autumn had arrived with Acers and Cornus contraversa ‘Variegata’ commonly called ‘The Wedding Cake Tree’ showing extra colour on their foliage. Hydrangeas were still flowering well!

A general view across the first part of the garden showed how foliage colour can add so much interest, while looking downwards just in front of our feet this lovely circle of cyclamen was flowering well.

On our October visit we also witnessed several shrubs and trees displaying berries, such as Callicarpa bodinieri and Euonymous alata with its startling orange and deep pink berries

And berrying trees are performing well this year especially Sorbus. Each cultivar has its own berry colour.

Other shrubs were showing that autumn has arrived by developing their leaf colours into yellows, oranges and reds and occasionally pink.

Taking a small path through a wide border and then a coniferous hedge we realised how the orchard trees were full of fruit, mostly apples but also a medlar.

The Rose Garden presented us with a surprise as there were so many roses in flower and bud. There were a few other flowers around giving welcome colour to the border.

A good way to finish this look at Oakgate gardens is a gallery of photos showing autumn foliage colours.

Tags autumn, garden, gardening, nature, plants

architecture autumn autumn colours buildings River Severn sculpture Shrewsbury Shropshire townscapes trees

Walking the Shrewsbury Loop

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 13, 2020

Our county town, Shrewsbury, sits neatly and comfortably within a loop of the beautiful River Severn. Our hamlet, Plealey is just six miles south of the town, a very convenient distance for us as we are out in the South Shropshire countryside but a short distance by car to our county town.

As we came out of lock down, we decided to have a day off from gardening and go for a walk along the banks of the Severn, starting at the Welsh Bridge following the loop around to the English Bridge and back into the town centre.

We entered the riverside Victoria Quay passing a plethora of ugly signs and followed the quay with its rather gaudy hanging baskets and planters on the riverside fence. It is from the quay that The Sabrina, a pleasure boat, gives trips down the river for tourists and locals alike. On the left are fashionably popular eateries, including one of our favourites, The Armoury. A very popular riverside public house, The Boathouse sits on the opposite bank just before the first bridge that we pass.

We were surprised to see that the children’s playpark had been updated along a Charles Darwin theme, as Shrewsbury is the town of his birth. Along side the park was a new outdoor cafe with seats overlooking the Severn, so obviously we were tempted by takeaway coffees and cookies. Shrewsbury is famous as the home not just of Darwin but also Sentinel steam lorries and here we found one serving snacks and drinks to walkers passing by. We walked further along the bank-side path enjoying views through the bankside trees and hedges. Some of the willows have been sculpted by pollarding by previous generations who trained them in this way to get long straight whips of willow for basketry, a very important craft at the time.

The final picture in this set shows a lady pulling a canoe on a trailer, who we first spotted on the Welsh Bridge on the same route as us. We couldn’t work out why she was pulling it so far with a beautiful river alongside her. It was obviously hard work as she stopped frequently. It kept us amused!

Signs of an early autumn, golden dried leaves at the bases of the lime trees in the lime avenue, were prevalent As we walked further from the park we found these beautiful apartments in a converted brewery – what a view!

Shrewsbury boasts so many bridges of varied style and age.

The oh so ugly railway bridge!

Our riverside walk was full of surprises, such as a clay tile piece of craftwork created by a local school, a beautiful modern building sat above the ancient town walls, the oh so steep St Mary’s Water Lane and a determined rose bush!

We enjoyed finding this piece of philosophy on a brick wall, before we reached the weir which was our point of walk’s end. Here we turned back and made our way back into the town for a well-earned coffee.

Although we have followed this route many times we still find it of interest!

Tags autumn, River Severn, riverside, riverside walks, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

autumn autumn colours birds colours flowering bulbs garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden wildlife gardening gardens grasses hardy perennials light quality ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs water in the garden

My Garden Journal 2019 – November

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 5, 2019
4 Comments on My Garden Journal 2019 – November

I started my entries for November by commenting. “November takes us deep into autumn, the red hot colours of foliage dominate but little gems of flower colour provide spots of colour that attracts us. This November the dominant colour has changed to yellow by the end of the first week.”

On the second page I continued, “We continue to be busy revamping areas of the garden and began the month reworking the Rill Garden. We cleared the borders and rill and pond of all herbaceous plants. After clearing out the rill it was replanted. In the Winter Garden to the right of the rill we added a new selection of shade-loving plants.”

The two Brunnera are B. ‘Alexander’s Great’ and B. ‘Little Jack’ and between them is the unusual shade lover, Azara splendens.

Two epimedium have been planted in the renewed border in the dappled shade, Epimedium ‘Spine Tingler’ and Epimedium ‘Mandarin star’

“We had a new stable door fitted which we needed to protect with coats of yacht varnish.”

“Half pots we planted with dwarf bulbs and top-dressed with horticultural grit.”

“General views around the garden show just how much colour there still is to enhance the look of our patch.”

“Wildlife is full of surprises as we still see and hear so many bees feeding on our mahonias, fatsias, and ivies. Whenever we garden buzzards and kites entertain us with their acrobatic displays in the sky overhead. Migrating starlings, and thrushes fill the sky with gossip.

“There are usually a dozen or more blackbirds in our patch who gorge themselves on the berries we grow for them, especially our cotoneasters, of which we grow several species and cultivars.”

“We continue to be busy whenever the weather allows, re-developing the two gravel circles in the front garden.”

So that is my garden journal for November 2019, and now we are waiting to see what December brings by way of ending the year.

Tags autumn, autumn berries, autumn colours, autumn gardens, berried shrubs, berries, cotoneaster, gardens in autumn, gravel garden, the garden in autumn

autumn autumn colours colours garden design ornamental grasses Shropshire South Shropshire Uncategorized walled gardens

Seasonal Visits – Wildegoose – Winter Weekends

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 2, 2019
1 Comment on Seasonal Visits – Wildegoose – Winter Weekends

We were so pleased to get the opportunity to visit Wildegoose Nursery Garden this weekend a time when it is usually closed but two special “Winter Weekends” have been arranged. We arrive in fog which added so much to the atmosphere of the walled garden borders. We felt calmed by the muted sound that fog and mist gives us.

The borders were full of seed-heads of perennials and grasses and even a few rogue flowers. Tiny raindrops hung from every seed and stem, giving plants extra life.

Sometimes in gardens especially in winter it is the tiniest details that are the most beautiful, spidery stems, individual seed-heads and even out of season blooms.

Euphorbias are loved for their chartreuse, lime and lemon coloured bracts and tiny flowers but when these fall in the autumn they reveal the brightly coloured stems which brighten winter borders.

Sedum varieties have the same powerful coloured stems as their seed heads turn black and purple.

I shall share the rest of my photos below – I hope you enjoy looking at all the pics as much as we enjoyed our misty winter garden wander.

It will be a few months now before we next get the chance to explore Wildegooose Gardens and Nursery, as it stays closed now until April.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, autumn gardens, autumn plants, gardens with nurseries, grasses, nurseries, ornamental grasses, seed heads, the garden in autumn, Wildgoose Nursery, Wildgoose Nursery and Garden

arboreta autumn autumn colours colours garden design garden fun garden paths garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public grasses hardy perennials National Trust ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography shrubs The National Trust Wales water in the garden woodland woodlands

Seasonal Visits to two very Different Gardens – Bodnant Gardens

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 22, 2019
1 Comment on Seasonal Visits to two very Different Gardens – Bodnant Gardens

Following on from our seasonal autumn visit to our smaller garden for 2019 we took a drive up to north Wales to wander around our larger garden, Bodnant Gardens. Join us as we enjoy the signs of the new season on its trees and shrubs.

Within the first ten minutes wandering we had discovered so many interesting plants and plant combinations. We were slowly making for the Winter Garden, one of our favourite parts of the garden. A first for us was a wall trained Gingko biloba which was really striking, as were the glossy indigo berries on this Dianella.

Of course The Winter Garden excels in its season but puts on a pretty good show in the autumn too.

From The Winter Garden we wandered through the open woodland towards the Acer Glade. All along the way trees were warming up the day with their hot coloured foliage and with some the added splash of colour provided by berries. I hope you enjoy my short gallery of photos below.

The woodland paths of gravel and sometimes grass led us to the predominately orange and red Acer Grove, which was busy with photographers and grandparents escorting their grandchildren picking up selections of their favourite leaves, natural jewels of the glade floor.

We left the Acer Grove and made towards the stream which we crossed by a wooden bridge and went upwards into the wooded slope of the dingle, so that we could wander along the many paths and look down into the dingle itself. We found more acers and other colourful deciduous shrubs below the giant conifers. Follow our journal be enjoying this gallery.

And so our day of wandering around the wonderful gardens at Bodnant came to an end, but as usual as we walked towards the gate we had a look at the Hot Garden alongside the stone wall. There is always something worth a second glance here whatever month we visit.

Perhaps one more visit to our other garden Wildegoose to go and if tempted another to Bodnant before the year is out!

Tags acers., autumn, autumn berries, autumn colours, autumn leaves, berried shrubs, Bodnant, Bodnant Garden, deciduous trees, garden in autumn, gardens of North Wales, gardens of the National Trust, National Trust, North Wales, ornamental grasses, viburnum

autumn autumn colours garden photography gardening gardens hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs

My Garden Journal 2019 – October

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 3, 2019
2 Comments on My Garden Journal 2019 – October

Here we are once again delving into my garden journal this time looking at my entries for October, the first real autumnal month. I began by writing, “October tasks, which we have been planning during the time our garden was open for the NGS, began in ernest as the new month begins. We start by clearing the lavender edging to our front garden, where all the plants had become too woody and impregnated with self-seeded perennials and weeds from seeds dropped by tractor tyres. The shrub border behind the line of lavenders also needed a good revitalise.”

Replacing old lavender edging with new and revitalising the border behind.

Giving our mixed hedge a trim.

Resowing grass paths damaged by many visitors’ feet!

Revitalising planting in our vintage zinc galvanised tub, and planting miniature asters.

On the page opposite I carried on, “The leaves on trees and shrubs are slowly changing colour at a slower rate than usual.“

“Berries are colouring up too, adding extra oomph to our patch, cotoneasters, sorbus, malus and hollies.”

Over to the next double page we see photos of colourful flowers of October. I introduced the photos with the words, “October flowers still add plenty of colour to our patch.”

And so to the final page of my October entries in my garden journal, where I wrote, “Further into the month grasses and perennials begin to show autumnal colours. Some like the hostas colour up and then turn to mush so we clear their leaves away before they attract slugs. Others remain firm and upright for months.”

That is my journal for October so just 2 months left to report on for this year.

Tags autumn, autumn berries, autumn colours, autumn leaves, garden in autumn, garden in October, lavenders, October

autumn autumn colours colours garden design garden photography gardens gardens open to the public lakes landscapes light light quality ornamental trees and shrubs pathways Powis Powys shrubs Wales woodland woodlands

Gregynog Part 2 – the woodland walks

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 25, 2019

Here we are back at the NGS garden, Gregynog where you left us just starting out on our exploration of the park’s woodland. We wandered past the rose hedge along the gravel drive before turning off to the left along a gravel track which took us past mature trees, both conifers and deciduous, with an understorey of shrubs. Autumn colours were beginning to show in their foliage.

Acers beneath the tree canopy provided bright splashes of colour.

We soon found ourselves having to cross over the driveway to enter the woodands and almost immediately came across the lake. We began to meet several other couples and families taking advantage of the weather and the woodland trails, as well as a few more serious runners using the “Green Gym”. We took the path that took us almost all around the lake and then took a side track, grassed underfoot, into the woodland itself. We walked beneath mature wrinkled Birches which let plenty of light through to allow an understory to grow away happily.

After walking half a mile into the woodland the pathsides were a mass of tall growing golden leaved brackens. The tallest were the same height as Jude, the Undergardener.

On the wood floor beneath the trees a carpet of colourful fallen leaves gave a soft surface for us to walk on.

A final surprise were the dens built around and against the tree trunks by young visitors enjoying the special woodland atmosphere.

Leaving the woodland we could see the hall through the trees, and then we discovered the “Green Gym”, where wooden gym structures awaited the fit and healthy visitors.