At last - Autumn Colour
Monday, October 31, 2011
What an amazing month. No frost, the first time in many years we
have got through October without one, and on the 2nd, 27C the
warmest day of the summer! All this has seriously confused the
plants so we are having extended flowering, repeat flowering of
plants like campanulas, some plants flowering out of season
(hellebores and spring flowering viburnums in particular) and
hardly any autumn colour in trees and shrubs until the last 7 days
or so.
A busy month here with the start of putting the garden to bed,
getting in all the tender stuff, gathering seed in between the
showers, taking half hardy cuttings, completing sawing up firewood
for winter especially one large air dried ash tree 4 feet across
and continuing with garden talks. We have also had the builders in
as we start the preliminary work for the conservatory to be built
next spring, removing part of the pergola and repairing the
verandah in this area onto which the conservatory will be built.
Weather
We have had warm sunshine, rain, wind, nights when the minimum
temperature has not dropped below 15C and a few cold days mid month
when the temperature overnight was low enough (min 3C) for a ground
frost. No damage done anywhere in the garden though. Because
of the building works by the house there hasn't been any room to
sit outside and enjoy the balmy evenings!
Garden update
The mild conditions and absence of frost have created the most
marvellous growing conditions for a wide variety of plants, some of
which should have switched off until next year. We even have a grey
bearded iris in full flower, normal flowering time May/June.
Nicotianas affinis, Lime Green and sylvestris still sending up new
flowers daily, and the silvestris in various parts of the garden
now an impressive sight at 5 feet tall and much branched stems.
They are perennials but don't take too kindly to our winters - if
they did one wonders how large they would get next year. Their
scent is beautiful on warmer evenings and they produce so much seed
from one plant that the whole of the country could be growing them
in their gardens next year.
Brugmansias flowering like crazy in pots giving out their exotic
scent in shades of white, yellow and pink. Now is a great time to
take cuttings to ensure 6 foot flowering plants by this time next
year. Yes honestly they are that amazing!!!!!!!!
We have started taking into the tunnels all the tender plants in
tubs and borders and taken many cuttings for next summer. Trying to
remember where all the tender plants are is a big problem and even
now we come across plants we have forgotten! Space is already at a
premium in the tunnels especially as all the tomatoes are still
cropping well. When these are finished (30 plants) we will have
room for the 3 year old hellebores in pots which will be for sale
next spring (not taking any chances this winter!)
The lawns have come on very well since the vigorous scarifying
last month and application of autumn feed. They are still very
green and when the weather permits need mowing regularly. The
borders look so much better when viewed across a healthy lawn.
We are starting to consider the borders and what plants to move
and split. It is also the time to consider changes to planting
combinations as borders do become tired if they are not regularly
made over. Quite a task with our 50 metre long 7 metre wide Paddock
Garden borders especially as we have no help in the Gardens. I have
already removed some dense clumps of ligularia dentata "Desdemona"
which have seeded around too much. Just think every surplus plant
removed means more planting opportunities for new plants and
yes no surprise there I do have a few waiting in readiness!!
October is a good time to review the year in the vegetable
garden. I consider this to have been our best year since 2005. No
real failures with lots of successes. Potatoes in 7 varieties, a
teriffic crop of large clean potatoes, an almost carrot fly free
crop of carrots, best variety "Nigel", some superb brassicas and
the biggest sprouts we have had from the variety "Brilliant", heavy
crops of runner beans. "Moonlight" a new one did well but I still
have a lot of regard for "White Lady" which continued to crop well
from an early sowing long after other later sown varieties had gone
past their best. Sweetcorn "Swift" in 2 successional sowings kept
us in lovely sweet cobs from late July to date:yes really lovely
corn in late October. How great is that?
If the mice hadn't have eaten the later pea sowings they would
have been great too given the huge crops of "Hurst Green Shaft"
from the first 3 sowings. Pests and disease as always of course but
nothing too serious except for onion white rot which affected all
the onion tribe especially the garlic with crops at only 50%. Part
of this is a reflection of the wet summer but mainly my own
shortcomings in not giving 7 years between onion sowings in the
same ground on a 3 year rotation. More care needed next spring!
Whats looking good?
Autumn colour from trees and shrubs has arrived at last. There
was a time when I thought there wouldn't be any but in just the
last 7 days this has all changed dramatically. Euonymus alatus has
just started its pink phase being the first point on the journey to
fiery red by late November. Next to it a liquidamber (variety
unknown) is a brilliant deep burgundy and darkening all the while
The viburums especially the form plicatum mariesii is in a lovely
shade of rusty red with some unexpected white flowers as an added
bonus. Cercis canadensis "Forest Pansy" is the cornerstone of the
red border vying with cornus kousa for top billing. Best of all
though is a superb sorbus "Olympic Flame" with intensely red large
leaves that stay on the tree for a long time
Viburnum plicatum mariesii
Sorbus commixta "Olympic Flame"
On the shrub scene there is some terrific late flowering on
Hydrangeas especially the serrata forms including "Blue Bird". H.
"Preziosa" is sending up late flowers which start cream white, then
to cream, then spotty red before ending its cycle as a brilliant
magenta pink (if that is a colour!!) It also has some good fiery
leaf colour as added bonus. Best of all though is the jewell like
flowers of hydrangea "Merveille Sanguine" with dark almost black
leaves.
Hydrangea "Merveille Sanguine" growing amogst the shy
but complementary coloured flowers of impatiens arguta a bone hardy
perennial
On the subject of the species impatiens, I have frequently
enthused about another impatiens in previous news items, the 7 foot
tall scented tinctoria which is still flowering with white scented
flowers. There is however, another choice species to rival it which
has taken 2 years in a pot to flower. Called flanaganeae at about 4
feet it isn't quite as tall as tinctoria but has large pink flowers
and good red veined and stemmed leaves
Impatiens flanaganaea
There are some choice perennials for this time of year including
various forms of saxifraga fortuneii, serratula shawii (now
seoanei) a late flowering cornflower realtive , aster lateriflorus
"Lady in Black" is at its peak now, a very late clone that
often gets hit by frost before it flowers, dahlias sending up new
flowers daily, and dare I say it again the tender Salvias in 10
varieties flowering their heart out all over the gardens but good
old "Jimi" steals the show again with its generous display of
intense red flowers. (see September news for more info on this
magnificient clone)
Saxifraga fortuneii which loves shade and moisture
retentive soil and flowers into November if there are no
frosts
Serratula shawii. The pic doesn't do it justice as
the knaphead flowers are a much deeper shade of
purple.
A half hardy member of the bromeliad family fascicularia
bicolour, hardy in some choice spots in sharp drainage (you can
guess this rules out our part of Wales!) is grown here in a large
pot and set outside for summer. It has intensely coloured red
leaves in autumn and china blue waxy flowers and is just reaching
the end of its brilliant display in our plant which is over 10
years old.
Fascicularia bicolour
Wildlife and Countryside
Some otter activity in the Paddock Pond on the evening of 7
October. Tell tale signs of fish scales on the bank, up tipped
waterlily baskets and spraints, droppings left by the otters.
A low electric fence should keep them at bay.
Other fish predators this month have included kingfishers heard
around the Paddock pond but not seen yet, and sighted last week
flying overhead Cormorants!! Two snipe yesterday in marshy ground
near the river
Recently there were some lovely berries on one of the large
hawthorns near to the river. Then in the mid month colder spell
a party of Redwings, thrush family members, alighted on the
trees and stripped them bare in just a few hours! I expect they
were hungry after their long flights from Baltic States.
A large party of long tailed tits seen 3 weeks ago in the shrubs
around the pergola, busy little birds chirping away to each
other, one of their most endearing qualities, and an easy means of
identification.
Autumn colour from native Britsh trees snd shrubs including
oaks, beech, field maple, wild cherry and larch has come just in
time
Visits and talks
With our friends Sylvia and Tony from Gloucestershire staying
for almost a week in mid month we had time for a few outings, none
more memorable than that to the Devil's Bridge and the Vale of
Rheidol near Aberystwyth. Only 50 miles away, I am ashamed to say
it but we have lived here for nearly 36 years and had never
previously visited the area with its stunning landscapes and
magnificient waterfalls. There is also a tropical butterfly and
moth attraction and exotic plant collection nearby which is well
worth a visit too. Go to www.magicoflife.org fro more info.
Butterflies and a large brown moth
One of the magnificient waterfalls at Devil's
Bridge;after heavy overnight rain this one had a good fall of at
least 200 feet with further waterfalls lower down the
valley.
Hergest Croft Autumn Plant Fair and RHS Apple Day was a good
event but sadly the autumn colour was disappointing, usually one of
the seasonal highlights of Hergest. Talking to some of the
stallholders who live in "border country" Herefordshire,
Shropshire, and Gloucestershire we discovered that their summer had
been vastly different from ours with under 20" of rain recorded for
the year to date, a fact reflected in the range of plants for sale.
We were however well pleased to be able to purchase from the superb
nursery at Hergest a large specimen of acer palmatum dissectum
ornatum at 3 foot wide and tall for a very reasonable price to
replace a large daphne odora marginata which like many daphnes had
succumbed to two severe winters.
Acer palmatum dissectum now planted at
Cilgwyn
The talks season continues with several talks given in a 60 mile
radius of Cilgwyn Lodge. We are really pleased how the new talk
"Gardening with Perennials - Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden"
has been received and are sure it will become a firm favourite into
the future. We still have some free dates until April 2012 so
please get in touch if you would like us to give a talk to your
club or society. See elsewhere in this website for our full range
of talks.
Bojo
Some late very sad news; we had to call in the vet today, 3
November, to put to sleep our beloved cat Bojo who had advancing
kidney failure and worsening cancer. He was much loved by our
many visitors to Cilgwyn and will leave a huge gap in our lives. He
was only 10 years old but he now has a special permanent place
amongst the roses along the terrace at the head of the Red Border
looking over the garden and countryside he loved and knew
intimately ( he was born just a couple of hundred yards away).
RIP Bojo
Bojo in happier times in his favourite spot in the
sunshine on the heather bank near the pergola
