Hips, Berries & More

It’s almost mid-October and perennials in the garden are slowly melting away. Several have tucked themselves in for their winter slumber while others are beginning to change their colours and drop their leaves. Garden jobs continue and bulbs are about to be planted in the borders; I expect there will be more to say about that in the coming weeks.

It has been a miserable start to Autumn and there’s no word that describes recent weather better than ‘dreich’. Last weekend’s storm is past history; it howled through the garden and left no damage this time. My sisters and sister-in-law were not so lucky, with damage to gardens and/or their homes. But on Thursday, the clouds rolled away and the sun put in a welcome appearance with forecasters assuring us that we will now have settled, rain-free weather for the next 10 days. Hopefully a change is underway, just in time for mid-Autumn walks in the park with crispy, vibrant coloured leaves beneath our feet. I can dream, can’t I?

But right now it’s time for Six on Saturday!

Continue reading “Hips, Berries & More”

Rose Hips

Last month I headed into the garden determined to bring my wayward rose bushes under control before winter arrived. Many were out of control with long, floppy stems, waving around in the wind like they had a mind of their own. I was late in getting started with this job, it should have been dealt with weeks before but they still had to be tamed as winter damage to the stems could result in damage to the whole plant.

It was a chilly, but sunny morning, and the sun was in my eyes. Mostly I was looking downwards and I didn’t notice, until I lifted my head, that I was cutting off stems with gorgeous big, fat, rose hips. Oh dear.

Continue reading “Rose Hips”