Through the Garden Gate--October 2024

Throughout October we have so much enjoyed seeing the changes in the garden. We have seen the leaves change colour on the trees, not just in our garden but in neighbouring gardens. The rowan is a particularly good tree for autumn colour. The leaves go red and the berries are yellow. The birds have had a great time eating the berries. The garden is dying down but there is still interest amongst the borders.

Walking round I can see more than I can looking out the windows. The hardy fuchsia is very colourful it seems to be a bit later flowering this year, its red and purple  flowers brightening up a dark spot in the front garden.

The Liquidamber tree is the star of the back garden,  its leaves turning a beautiful dark red and orange.

The grasses provide some bright spots and structural interest. I should have been out with my camera more as some grasses and plants took on lovely bronze tints before they turned straw coloured. I missed taking the photos, but to name a few, there was a lovely Miscanthus grass which looked amazing with the morning sun on it, Rodgersia and Hostas too. Still hanging on with a few flowers are hardy geraniums, roses, Japanese anemones,white lysimachia.

It was my birthday last weekend and my daughter and I went to RHS Harlow Carr. It's only a few weeks since I last went and how it has changed since then with the most breathtaking colours. We had a walk through the arboretum, we love a woodland walk especially in the autumn. There were interesting seed pods, plenty of fungi and of course carpets of golden leaves. We went in the bird hide and were lucky enough to see a woodpecker on one of the feeders.

I am linking this post to Sarah's blog at 'Down by the Sea ' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' post.

Through the Garden Gate--October 2023

October is one of my favourite months, not just because it's my birthday month but I just love Autumn and the changes to the garden and countryside. Last weekend we went to visit our daughter who lives in Bedfordshire. It was my birthday weekend and we hadn't seen them for ages. I got garden vouchers from them, so I can look forward to a day out soon to somewhere garden related to spend them, probably RHS Harlow Carr. We had a shopping trip to Hitchin where more things were bought and we had a lovely lunch. 

Back home on Sunday I was struck by how the garden seemed to have changed in just a few days. Autumn had definitely arrived.  Leaves had fallen and there seemed to be much more autumn colour. Where we live there are grass verges outside the houses with trees, mostly flowering cherry type which go a lovely colour at this time of year.

In the garden the grasses are now taking over from flowers. This one is Hakonechloa. It's not a tall grass, so it's good for the front of the border, under trees or by a path. It forms a clump and has lovely arching leaves. It changes colour from yellow to a lovely russet colour in the autumn and then through the winter it goes more straw like. 

This one is a Miscanthus but I've lost the label so I don't know its full name. It's beautiful at this time of year. It grows lovely dark pink flower heads which later go fluffy as they open up. I picked some recently to go in a flower arrangement and they lasted well without dropping bits.

The Fatsia  produces really unusual flowers at this time of year.

I let the hostas show their autumn colours before I cut them back for the winter.

The Liquidamber tree starts to change colour in late summer.  It gives us plenty of interest as the leaves change and they are always late to fall.

Early on in October I potted up loads of Hyacinth bulbs for forcing. Hopefully some will be ready by Christmas. Our local garden centre has been full of cyclamens in beautiful shades of pink. I can never resist buying some for autumn container arrangements.

I am linking this blogpost to Sarah's blog at 'Down By the Sea' for her monthly 

'Through the Garden Gate' post

Through the Garden Gate--October 2022

 

Throughout October I have watched the garden gradually change colour, it now has a lovely mellow look to it. The Rowan has been lovely, its leaves changed colour from green to red quite quickly and I looked out the window the other day and there were no leaves left, just the yellow berries. When did that happen, I wondered. The berries are still there and show up quite well on their own, but I'm sure the birds will soon discover them. The Crab Apple is heavy with red fruit and the silver Birch leaves which were completely green at the start of October are now yellow.

 

The grasses which are turning yellow and bronze are brightening up the borders now most of the flowers have finished. It's always good not to be too hasty in cutting back as many of the perennial border plants although finished flowering and starting to wilt take on some lovely autumn tints.  The sedums are still dark pink and I will leave their seed heads on through the winter for interest and as a home for insects.

The Liquidamber tree has been slow to get growing since it was planted five years ago, but this year it has decided to grow and has shot up. It looks beautiful now in autumn with green, yellow, red and maroon leaves.  I am enjoying watching it change colour.

I emptied all the summer bedding plants from their containers and have bought some autumn bedding, mainly cyclamen and violas. I will probably buy more, they do brighten the place up.

Last week it was my birthday and we had a day out to RHS Bridgewater. This was the third visit since it opened last year. 

The herbaceous borders in the Welcome Garden were colourful with grasses, dahlias and asters. 

The walled garden is quite a big place with a community garden, vegetable garden and The Paradise Garden. It takes some walking around.

The Paradise Garden is quite relaxing with the water features.

The Chinese Streamside Garden is a favourite with us.  This area is to be developed further with Chinese influences; we're looking forward to seeing the garden develop more with all the future plans.

I am linking this blogpost to Sarah's blog at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 

'Through the Garden Gate'   post

Through the Garden Gate--October 2020

 

We have enjoyed watching the garden change colour in the last few weeks. I do love October with all the changes in the garden and the countryside. There is still a lot of colour and interest to be had in the garden, even though the leaves are falling. We can see a lot of trees beyond our garden so we are still able to enjoy the changes in nature even after our own trees have dropped their leaves.

In the garden we have yellow from the silver birch and red from the liquid amber and rowan. 

The grasses are now more visible in the borders as the other plants die down, some of them having lovely autumn tints. The Rowan has yellow berries which contrast well with the red leaves and look like little fairy lights.  The crab apple seems to have even more fruit this year, those are red. last year the Rowan berries stayed on the tree well into the new year, but I don't think they will this year as I saw some blackbirds having a feast on them this morning.

In the borders, the pink sedums are a welcome late flowerer along with the rudbekia.  I haven't done any cutting back yet as I like to see the seedheads of some of the dead flowers and how the foliage changes colour. You can miss so much if you cut back too early. I have seen blue tits and sparrows balancing on tall stems trying to eat the seeds from the dead flower heads. This is all the more reason for not cutting back too early.

I have been busy in October making up patio pots with autumn and winter displays.  There were so many lovely colours of mini cyclamen at the local garden centre, I couldn't resist buying some and then going back for more!

The antirrhinums I potted up in the summer are still looking good so I have left them in their containers, they look as good as the cyclamen.

We have had a lot of rain recently so I haven't been out to do any gardening.  I am hoping for some fine days soon so that we can go out to visit one of the large gardens in our area to take in the autumn colours.

I am linking this blog post to Sarah's at 'Down By The Sea' for her monthly 'Through The Garden Gate' post.