THE WEATHER -

A reasonable start to the month, but turning very cold on the 10th, with the temperature falling to 0°C overnight on the 11th and 12th, and the the first overnight frost of the winter on the 13th. Milder weather returning by the 15th with some lovely sunny days. However, rain for the entire day on the 18th but very sunny on the 19th, and becoming colder again. Milder weather returning by the 21st, but turning very cold again by the 27th. Maximum temperature 12°C (56°F). Minimum temperature minus 2°C (28°F).

Looking round the garden one morning after an overnight shower of rain, I spotted a lovely surprise! My Tropaeolum tuberosum "Ken Aslett" was in flower! I've had this for a couple of years now, and it's never flowered before, although there's been loads of lovely foliage, and the plant has grown very big. I'm sure it would have flowered earlier than this if we had had anything like a decent summer this year, instead of incessant rain and dull days! The flowers are very attractive, with very long stalks, and the picture shows one of the flowers with the morning sun glowing behind it, showing up the raindrops all along the stalk. This is a herbaceous climbing plant which grows from tubers, as its name suggests, and isn't completely hardy, so it needs a sheltered position. I have mine growing up a west-facing fence, and I mulch it each winter with a thick layer of Oak leaves for protection.

All my varieties of Fatsia japonica and xFatshedera lizei are in full flower now. They all have similar flowers, which are very attractive, with lovely round clusters of fluffy white flowers on each stem. Not so very long ago, my Fatsias never flowered until around January, when they always got cut back by frost, so in fact I never saw them flower properly for years. Nowadays, winters have become so much milder that they now flower in November, a good three months earlier. Sometimes, they will also set black berries, although mine never have.

This is a very attractive plant in full flower this month, and it's called Saxifraga fortunei "Wada's Form". It is a herbaceous perennial which disappears totally over winter. It produces very fleshy rounded and slightly toothed olive green leaves which make the plant look as if it must be very tender, and should be in a greenhouse or conservatory. However, it is in fact very hardy. In late autumn it produces masses of delicate stems full of white starry flowers, the bottom two petals of which hang down longer than the rest. It makes a really good addition to the autumn garden.

In the conservatory, I've been very pleased with my Plectranthus "Cape Angel", which is a mass of flowers and has never looked so good! This is a tender upright plant from South Africa, with dark green leaves, and it always flowers from November right through the winter until around February. It comes in various colours - white, pink and mauve - and I have the mauve one. The flowers are borne in whorls, and are typically labiate, as it belongs to the family Labiatiae. It requires a lot of water, although it does not like wet soil, and needs plenty of light to flower well. However, it is really easy from cuttings, and these will root in water. My plant is about 2 feet high by about 1.5 feet wide now, and I really must re-pot it!

That's all for this month...... Happy Gardening!!

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Crow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Robin, Rook, Seagull, Starling, Thrush, Wood Pigeon, Wren.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army