"Youth is like spring, an over-praised season ......

.....more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes.

Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits."

- Samuel Butler

Oh yes its THAT season

Back to my favourite type of painting

This is the first painting I've done since 25th July thanks to house moves, decorating and variousotherthings.

If you are on my Christmas card list you might get one of these this year

Oh yes, I'm planning ahead for THAT season

As I’ve been doing the last of the propagating in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been putting the flowers from the stems I’ve used into this vase. As its sitting outside the oldest flowers have been there at least two weeks. Included are: Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail', Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Rosea', Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Alba', Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm' and (Symphyotrichum) novi-belgii 'Jenny'

This is the first ladybird I've seen this year! Spotted it as I headed down to the lower terrace to plant some climbers. I'm sure when I was wee (ahem, a few years ago ) we saw them all the time.

Autumn glory in the nursery gardens this week

Acer griseum

Cornus alba 'Sibirica'

Euonymus alatus (2)

Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' and Eupatorium

Rosa rugosa

Rosa spinosissima (Burnet Rose)

Tagetes 'Honeycomb'

Teasels

Woodwardia unigemmata

Today's big autumn task was to get the orchard grass strimmed, no pressure to get it done before the weather worsened and the rain came on, but we did it. A run over with the lawn mower to take of the long bits that got missed and job done

Thankyou again to David for all the help

As the weather was forecast to be dry and sunny I set aside my day off on Monday to make a start on sorting out the front garden. The top left quarter needs the least industrial work done on it so I decided to start there, its also the area I see when I sit at the dining table for meals so for the past two and a half months I’ve been planning it in my head

I had previously lifted the canopy on the existing forsythia to make it more tree like so I could under plant with some of my favourite shade loving plants. Most of which have been in pots for 8 years since I moved from my last garden at Easter Mosshat! So good to get them into their new home at last

I remove 8 sacks of gravel from under the forsythia which I will use elsewhere in the front garden, then lifted the ground cover fabric and forked over the ground underneath, Can I just mention how excited I am to have a garden with proper, lovely dark soil for the first time in 30 years!

A quick trip up to Harbro (3 mins up the road lol) to buy some sacks of topsoil to bring up the level of the border. I didn’t lift the gravel under the holly tree and it doesn’t have landscape fabric underneath to inhibit planting and I want to vary the look.

Now for the exciting bit, planting. In these borders I have planted:

Brunnera 'Emerald mist'

Helleborus x hybridus Ashwood hybrids white

Helleborus x hybridus White spotted double

Helleborus x hybridus own seedlings

Hosta 'Praying Hands'

Hosta 'Sum and Substance'

Narcissus cyclamineus 'Jenny'

Narcissus 'February Gold'

Scopolia carnicolica ssp. Hlandnikiana

Triosteum pinnatifidum

Once this area under the shrubs was done I dug out the ferns along the bottom of the wee retaining wall and I planted in my lovely Rhododendron ‘Little Ben’ which has also been in a pot for 8 years! It is sitting on top of the wee raised wall along with Campanula cochlearifolia, Erigeron glauca and Hedera helix 'Sagittifolia' (already planted). I also planted an acer in the larger gravel area. This was in a pot in the garden when we bought the house, so I am hoping it will make a lovely wee tree in time. Yes I am excited to have a more sheltered garden where I can plant an acer

Not content with my achievements so far, I crossed to the other side of the path to deal with the rampant crocosmia, man I’d forgotten how much I hate that stuff . So again I heightened the crown of the old weigela and removed a lot of dead wood. Then I started digging out the crocosmia. 5 rubbish sacks later I’d discovered a slab path we didn’t know we had and that the border was in fact two borders under the weigela dissected by the path! At that point the rain came on, so I cleared up and I will contemplate what to do with this area. I will definitely remove the slabs and make one border with lots more of my favourite shade plants. But I will need to make sure I have all the crocosmia corms out first, otherwise I’ll be digging them out for ever more!

One happy, contended sore gardener off in search of wine and chocolate.

Explored another new to us walk from the house on Tuesday morning, weather was dry and calm and warm for October. We headed up the John Buchan way path from our road, following foot paths and roads until we headed up the hill towards Cademuir. Turning left just after Tantah we followed the woodland path aroind the hillside and down towards Bonnington Road and then onto The Cut which took us down to Glen Road and back home. A circular route of about 4 miles in beautiful country side enjoying the autumn colours. I love autumn. I did a diversion to the high street to the bank, some shopping and picked up some lunch from the Fat Batard.

Love a walk way like this

Love autumn

Walking up past Tantah

Looking towards Glentress

Look at those roots

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