THE WEATHER -

A mixed bag of weather this month, with some bright but cold days interspersed with grey, wet, miserable days. Becoming colder as the month progressed, until around 20th when warmer weather arrived. Mild weather continued, but heavy rain and thunderstorms on the 21st. The 24th was a beautiful day, with relatively warm sunshine until late afternoon, when showers returned. Remaining relatively mild with a mixture of sunshine and showers until the end of the month. Maximum temperature 15°C (60°F). Minimum temperature 2°C (36°F).

I bought several varieties of the lovely Nerines last year, and they flowered quite well, but this year, Nerine "Stephanie" has really surpassed itself! It has quite large trumpet-shaped flowers in multiple heads at the top of a strong stem. This particular variety has beautiful very pale pink flowers. Nerines are bulbs which flower after the foliage has died down in autumn, and they like a warm well-drained spot. They are often grown in borders next to a south-facing wall. I have mine in pots, as my soil is rather heavy and it's not easy to find a well-drained spot!

Autumn is the time for beautiful coloured foliage. The colouring is dependent on the weather, of course, and is more intense with cold, dry weather than the cool, wet weather we have had for the last few weeks. However, one plant which is certainly showing splendid autumn colour is Cercis canadensis "Forest Pansy". This grows into a small tree eventually, but mine is still young, so is more of a shrub. It has beautiful heart-shaped purple leaves, with very tiny deep pink flowers in spring, which appear in clusters directly from the branches, rather than growing on a stem. Mine is displaying a lovely mixture of red, yellow, orange and green, as well as a few of its normal purple leaves.

A quite unusual plant in flower this month is Reineckea carnea. This is a low-growing evergreen perennial creeping plant, with narrow leaves, and pretty spikes of pale pink flowers. According to my book, this plant should flower in spring, but mine flowers any time from late summer to late autumn (as now). This makes a nice alternative to the more usual ground-cover plants, and will stand quite deep shade, and dry conditions.

Michaelmas daisies typify the autumn garden, and no-one should be without a few of them in the garden for the wonderful colour they give so late in the year. The two pictured above are amongst my favourites. On the left is the lovely blue Aster novi-belgii "Marie Ballard". This is such a beautiful colour that I couldn't be without it! On the right is Aster nova-angliae "Andenken an Alma Pötschke", a variety with vivid cerise flowers which really stand out in the border. Both these varieties are quite tall, and need to be staked to prevent them from flopping around in the wind. I recently read a book of articles by the late Vita Sackville-West, in which she talks about Michaelmas daisies, and recommends cutting them back by half in July, when they will bush out and grow to only half their height, making shorter but stronger plants. I must try this out next year to see if she is right!

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.

OCTOBER'S PARTY
George Cooper

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow,
At hide-and-seek they played,
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And then the party ended
In jolly "hands around."