"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace
as I have seen in one autumnal face"
- John Donne
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| View across our valley to Barzan |
The eight cygnets are still feeding at Robert's lake most days, but have now learned to fly and go out on daily excursions to explore the coastline and waterways.
From our garden we can hear the frantic batting of wings as they drive a path through the still water, testing their strength in preparation for a flight.
If we're really lucky, we can be there at the moment of departure when all eight line up under the watchful eye of Papa and then take to the skies, calling to one another as they swoop above the water and then disappear over the treetops.
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| Cygnets in flight |
On nights when it's still warm enough to leave the bedroom window open, you can occasionally hear that unmistakeable wing-beat and imagine their white shapes passing nearby, ghostly against a moonlit sky...
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| A young tree frog (Hyla arborea) sheltering in an echeveria |
At a more down-to-earth level, the sociable tree frogs in our garden have also been providing us with photo opportunities.
This little fellow, cunningly inserted between the padded leaves of an echeveria, is not much bigger than my thumbnail but manages a sizeable croak when in the mood.
Damp weather in particular seems to rouse them and we hear them calling lustily to one another across the garden.
Cyclamen hederifolium
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| Cyclamen hederifolium - glowing bright amongst the falling ash leaves |
The pink ones seem to have spread more rapidly than the white but they're now starting to commingle rather prettily, catching the early light on a dewy morning.
It's amazing how they thrive in such inhospitable areas and go on to seed themselves quite liberally.
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| Amelanchier lamarckii - vivid red leaf tones |
This little tree, also known as Snowy Mespilus, was one of the first to produce colourful leaves in our garden this year.
I've sung its praises before when enjoying the lovely creamy flowers back in March, followed by a host of attractive dark red berries which are small but tasty - why isn't this tree grown more often, I wonder?
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| Dahlia 'Bishop's Children' - just one of the red/orange varieties available |
Ordered from Chiltern Seeds in April, I sowed half of the packet into a tray which I pricked out and grew on in May, getting about ten sturdy seedlings to pot on.
Planted out in early July, these all developed beautiful bronzy red foliage with strikingly bold flowers and I was looking forward to lots of blooms for bringing indoors.
Well, that did happen to some extent but - after a very hot dry spell - several of the dahlias succumbed to mildew that soon discoloured most of their foliage. Those that were planted in damper, more shady areas managed to survive without ill-effect and, because the flowers were so fabulous, I'm tempted to keep their tubers to grow again next year.
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| A late-summer vase showcasing orange and red dahlais, yellow Rudbeckia hirta, blue caryopteris next to Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue', and the wine-red leaves of Cotinus coggygria |
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| Polianthes tuberosa 'The Pearl' |
It's unusual to find much scent in the garden during October but last year we came upon this deliciously fragrant lily flowering in pots at Ham House near London.
For our friends' special anniversary, we ordered some rhizomes and potted-up three for them and three for us, crossing our fingers that they would produce more than just foliage...
Sadly, that was literally all they got from their plants, which was rather embarassing - although, being gardeners themselves, I think they are used to Nature's vagaries!
We had a 50% success rate with ours and one rhizome resulted in the mass of flowers seen here, whilst another produced about half that number. Their perfume is strong, reminscent of gardenia, but not as pungent as some exotic fragrances.
Care instructions say you should give them plenty of water and make sure they receive lots of hot afternoon sun... (Memo to self: try harder next year!)
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| Aster amellus 'Veilchenkoenigen' |
Another 'find' from our trip to the UK was this striking little aster from Beth Chatto's, which forms a neat clump about 45cm high and flowers for several weeks.
It's an established type of Italian aster - despite a German name - and is called 'Violet Queen' in English, just to complicate things further!
(Interestingly, whilst mildew might have been a problem when we grew asters in England, it's never bothered us here - although that may be down to the particular species we've planted.)
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| Taste comparison - a plate of 'white' and black figs |
The grape harvest began in mid-September this year, the earliest we've ever known it happen here.
Our fig season also seemed to start earlier and go on for weeks... those dark, jammy figs we call 'black' (which shrink in size the longer you keep them) giving way to the more bready, textured 'white' figs (actually green) which I prefer as they're not quite so cloyingly sweet.
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| Oh, and guess who found the walnuts ...! |
Talking of which, we find that now is the best time to cut back most herbacious plants and weed the soil, before spreading home-made compost all around. (Any later, and those falling leaves will have covered everything.)
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| Smooth landings have to be practised too! |
