Autumn, a season of transition and Colour

I won't lie, this hasn't been an easy week. A week has passed already since we had to let our wee Bracken go. Yet every singular day has felt like wading through treacle. The house is so quiet and even Poppy his nemesis doesn’t know what to do with herself, there is no dog to wind up. Having the electric blanket to myself is a first, no doglet roasting him self on it and gradually pushing me aside. No charging up and down the hall way in random daft moments, no hysterical barking when the hoover is in use. No barking at everything that dared to pass the house or draw breath in a 10 mile radius. No doggy kisses, wee feet that smell of digestives, velvet ears, waggy tail, cuddles, fuzzy snuggles, unconditional love (as long as he is warm, comfortable, fed, loved, spoiled) and that unwavering faith in you as his owner and pack member that as long as we are together the world is a good place. No demanding cheese, sausages, what ever you are eating he should have it too, treats (no he wont have the one he really liked last week he wants a different one). Just a huge doglet shape hole in our lives as we step forward into a winter that won’t be brightened by a wee small dog in a bright red coat trotting along taking on the world in his singular doglet way as only a Jack Russel can.

In the nursery the weather and the plants have turned vey autumnal, the colours are lovely this year but I've not been in the mood to try and capture them in photos. I am getting all the wee jobs done to tidy things up before we close for winter. The stocktake is done and now I just need to get it on the data base. We are gradually tying up all the loose ends to do with the fallen tree. I can't fault our insurance company, they have been great in getting everything sorted, payments made and covering almost everything. The remains of the tree still standing will be taken down in the next week or so as its too much of a risk to leave and the rest of the fallen tree will also be removed. We re-potted all the plants, the roof of the office will get fixed when the roofing company schedule us in. We have the use of one of the farm polytunnels over winter so all th eyoung plants that were in the crushed tunnel are again undercover. The best news is that because I knew the make of the greenhouse, turns out they could sell me the replacement parts for the pieces damaged in the tree fall. So the frame has been reconstructed and I'm just waiting on the replacement glass being delivered and I can get that fitted. Meanwhile the plants are all back in and it is wearing a very fetching plastic covering and bubble wrap though we are fortunate the weather has been unseasonably warm so far. So my greenhouse will live to grow again :D

Autumnal nursery entrance

Autumn in the nursery gardens.......so much colour in flowers, leaves and grasses, keeping the interest going right into winter.

Autumnal entrance

Hosta and Carex

The railway garden, Asters and grasses rule

The winter garden

"Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen."

– Orhan Pamuk, author of My Name is Red

Gunnera in the stream garden

Jobs in the garden for this week -

Net your pond, this prevents as many leaves as possible from going in. If you allow leaves to fall to the bottom of the pond they will rot, releasing nitrates and noxious gases into the water harming fish and plant life,

Cover your gunnera to protect it from the cold in winter. Cut all the leaves off at ground level and then create a tent with them. Place them over and around the edges of the plant, upside down and keep it cosy through winter I did this while David was fixing the fence. This made access much easier for a change.

A quick walk around the nursery gardens in between stocktaking today. So much colour still around, though the leaves are getting blown off the trees super quick this year.

Achillea 'Walter Funcke'

Anemone x hybrida 'Königin Charlotte'

Aster (Symphyotrichum) novae-angliae 'Badsey Pink'
 and Sedum (Hylotelephium) 'Herbsfreude'

Aster (Symphyotrichum) novae-angliae 'Badsey
Pink' and Sedum (Hylotelephium) 'Herbsfreude'

Aster × frikartii 'Mönch'

Fungi in the wildlife garden

Rosa spinosissima (Burnet Rose)

Rudbeckia fulgida var. Deamii

Scabiosa caucasica 'Perfection Blue'

Winter stems of Euphorbia palustris 'Walenburg's Glorie'

An autumn wreath from the nursery gardens.

Willow stems for the wreath

Beech leaves

Acer leaves

Rosa rugosa hips

Rosa canina hips

Helianthus 'Morgensonne'

Fragrant Friday - Rudbeckia subtomentosa ‘Henry Eilers’ - A new twist on an old favourite, named after the well-known nurseryman and prairie specialist who discovered it growing wild! Numerous fragrant clusters of finely quilled, light-yellow petals, surrounding brown central cones above strong, upright clumps of scented foliage. Great for late season colour in the garden.

Bonus big task done today which we didn't expect to get done, the bottom wildflower banks strimmed. Thank you David for doing the strimming We love the wildflowers here through the year, once its strimmed in autumn, it changes the look of the nursery gardens yet again. The middle terrace opens up and the structure and layout of the gardens becomes more apparent. We've left the Miscanthus which is flowering for the first time, yay. I might plant some more in here, hmmmm, off to do some planning

As well as amazing textiles, antiques, paintings, mirrors and curios, you can also get great dog therapy with Blue and Blackie at Junkshopantiques

On Monday we took the train from Tweedbank (our local station) to Edinburgh. Something we've been going to do for ages. Interesting to see the countryside we know from a different perspective, letting the train take the strain. A wander around the old town, exploring closes and shops and a lovely tapas lunch. The town was heaving with tourists. We visited the new St James centre with its golden turd roof . Then David actually did some clothes shopping, good job we'd both had a drink with lunch and managed to get through that shopping experience fairly unscathed

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