Tag: Cosmos

Calm, Sunny, Beautiful

Published on by Catherine23 Comments

This final full week of September has been glorious. The sun has shone its heart out and the winds have been calm, barely there. Still, it has been cool enough for only a lightweight jacket in the mornings, and just warm enough to throw it aside in the afternoons. You might think that I have taken advantage of this week of joyful weather to work like a Trojan in the garden, but you would be wrong. I’ve done little more than check in on a few cuttings, pull a few weeds, and remove most of the Cosmos. I have though, been doing other things.

The Cosmos plants would have continued for a few more weeks, but they were starting to look a little scrappy, and I needed their space for spring bulbs that were delivered yesterday. They’ve been wonderful this year, but it was time to say goodbye.

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Not Quite Autumn

Published on by Catherine28 Comments

There’s a distinct chill in the morning air and by 7:30pm, the day is slipping away and darkness is creeping in. Ahead is the season characterised by fallen leaves, nippy mornings, the aroma of pumpkin spice and tempting mugs of hot chocolate. I don’t mind rainy days as long as I know that sunshine will follow. I don’t mind misty mornings because the wind wont be blowing. Of course we don’t always get the weather or seasonal conditions that we want, but I’m already looking out warm sweaters and cosy socks, scarves and gloves. I’ve placed an order for a few seasonal pumpkin spice candles and perhaps, just almost, I’m looking forward to autumn.

The garden still has pockets of lovely strong colour, but on the whole, I can see it fading. By next month most of it will have gone and it will be time to prune, lift and divide perennials, and plant bulbs for next year. But for the moment, I can enjoy what’s in bloom and plan ahead for those misty mornings and perhaps a few lazy indoor days. However, lazy days are not happening right now, so here is my choice of six photographs for Six on Saturday:

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September – the Ninth Month

Published on by Catherine19 Comments

How fast the months have passed and how strangely the seasons have shifted, surely a reminder that change is a constant in our gardens. Whether you believe in climate change or not, it’s hard to ignore the signs in front of us when we step into our gardens. The plants in my garden are both protesting and celebrating the strangeness of the seasons. Some plants have surrendered to the heat and drought, while others have been more prolific and vibrant than I could have hoped for. Here, we had an abundance of rain early in the summer, only to be surprised by the heat and prolonged dry spells that followed later in the season. Now, in the ninth month of the year and moving into Autumn, it has been an unpredictable year.

What will autumn and winter bring, and how will I plan for next year’s planting? Will your planting plans take account of the changes to the seasons, or do you think this year was simply an anomaly?

But let’s forget about the year ahead for the moment and get on with this week’s Six on Saturday.

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Colourful July

Published on by Catherine25 Comments

I’m back again for Six on Saturday now that my visiting family have returned home. The house is quiet except for the whirring of the washing machine as it deals with the mountain of towels and the heaps of bedding outside each bedroom door. I’m doing my best to ignore it all, because the garden is calling me back.

The garden is heavy with colour right now, but individual plants, and in particular, the roses, are damaged by the heavy downpours of the previous week. I haven’t had the time to get round everything with pruners to tidy them up, but before my family returned home, my daughter and my 14 yr old grandson son spent an afternoon in the garden deadheading the roses. Alas, more heavy rain has thundered down since then and now I’m having to repeat the process by myself.

Here’s my selection of six photographs for Six on Saturday.

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Autumn Glory

Published on by Catherine28 Comments

I hope no one objects, especially our host, Jim, but I’m combining two weeks of six photos this week. One should have been posted last weekend, but in life, things happen. With me, it was a recurrence of a neck problem. Photos were ready, but I wasn’t.

I’m combining both because this will be my last week of Six on Saturday posts until next year, either in late winter or early spring, I expect what happens in the garden might decide. I hope to continue to post when I have anything worthwhile to show and say, you never know – I might even manage to get a few more photography posts online. That category has needed attention for a long time.

I have a growing number of projects to complete at home over the next few weeks, then during the October school holidays one of my daughters and her family will be arriving for a visit and finally during November through early December, I’ll be flying off for a few weeks, visiting another of our daughters and her family in the US.

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