October in the garden

Lots of good things going on in the garden.

Abelia grandiflora

Euporatium rugosa 'Chocolate'

Geranium 'Rozanne'

Aster latiflorus 'Black Prince'

Calamagrostis

Gaura lindheimeri 'The Bride'

Gaura lindheimeri 'The Bride'

Geranium

Anaphalis triplinervis

Self seeded Verbena

I took these photographs at the weekend when the weather was still warm. Temperatures have now dropped with the first frost of the season forecast for tomorrow.

wedding show flowers

Last weekend I exhibited my new business at my first wedding show. I thought I would share the flowers with you here.

 

 

Cosmos and Clary from my garden for my own stand

Preserving with Glycerine

As requested, here is how I preserve leaves in glycerine.

Glycerine (or Glycerin) is available from chemists and pharmacies. I bought mine from Boots for 89p.

I used one part glycerine to two parts water. I used cold water but it would probably dissolve better in warm. Give the mixture a good stir to dissolve it.

It is a bit late in the year for deciduous leaves but these rowan leaves from the base of my tree are quite green so I thought I would try them.

Cut the stem on a slant and put straight into the mixture. I recut the stem after I had finished photographing it.

I had to make up more mixture to make sure the cut ends of the stems were covered. Now all you have to do is wait around three weeks.

The leaves will turn brown as they absorb the glycerine.

This is a branch I did in September. The leaves have turned a lovely chocolate brown and I'm glad I left the berries. None have dropped off. 

I added acer and a cotoneaster twig to see if they would work but the acer just shriveled up. I am optimistic about the cotoneaster.

I am preserving more oak leaves. If I have enough,  I will show you how I made the hoop in last weeks post

Good luck.

Flowers in the House

Jane is kindly hosting Flowers in the House today.

This the jug of flowers from last weeks blog. My north facing kitchen no longer gets any sun; the flowers are lasting much longer. My kitchen only gets early morning sun for about three months a year but I didn't think it would make so much difference.

Also on the windowsill are these leaves, berries and hips. They are in a glycerine solution to preserve them. The oak leaves are some I found after the wind last week. A lot of the leaves were too dry but these are taking up the solution. The Rowan leaves are from the tree in my garden. I have no idea how the berries and rose hips will turn out.

This is a hoop I made from oak leaves preserved in glycerine last year. It has lasted really well, I shall be hanging it again this year.

Mid September

I have spent several pleasant hours in the garden this afternoon. I hadn't planned to do any work today but the weather was warmer and drier than forecast so I thought I would make the most of it.

Last week I wrote about changing this border. I had removed a couple of roses and cut back the clematis. The remains of Hurricane Katrina flattened the sweet peas. They are leaning against the fence on the right.

I

I've removed the sweet peas.The honeysuckle and virginia creeper had grown too big so they have been cut back and some pieces of root removed. I have reduced the height of the daisies which I'll be moving later. It look a bit sad but I will be sowing hardy annuals next week.

I'm still picking flowers for the house, although I don't think there will be many more. The white cosmos has been pulled out. The clary has been deadheaded for its seeds, this has made it flower again. The mint has been in the jug for about three weeks; it now has roots.

The last of the sweet peas and asters.

Lupinus 'Pink Fairy'. A small lupin type flower with a powerful scent. I bought the seed from Sarah Raven. It was difficult to propagate and has struggled in the dry border. I have left it to set seed and I'll give it another try next year.

Preparing for 2012

This area is the sunniest part of the garden. It cannot be seen from the house so feels very private and hidden. I always wanted it to be surrounded by flowers but have always struggled with the bed in front of the hedge which is so dry.  I am making some changes by putting in another small path for easier access with a pot of mint at the end. I am replacing the planting with drought tolerant planting.

The bed by the fence has been cleared of the roses 'White Gold' and 'Aloha', these have both been very disappointing. The sweet peas have done really well, they are coming to an end and will be removed soon. I am going to sow some hardy annuals for some early flowers next year.

Back to this year. These scabious are very close in colour to Aster 'Little Carlow'. One of them will have a new home.

Cosmos 'Dazzler' has done really well, better than 'Purity' which I planted in the dry border.

 These are asters bought in the supermarket. Possibly something to grow next year.

The last of the Nigella seedheads.

Some of you might be interested in my other new blog called 'Cotton and Roses'. I am making and selling bunting, hearts and other cotton decorative items which will be available in my Etsy shop soon. The blog is charting my progress.

Rain at last

Flowers on the windowsill

Garden is looking much better after some much needed rain. It has become cooler, the days seem to be shortening rapidly. It's all feeling quite autumnal.

Selinum wallichianum

The Selinum pictured above was planted several years ago and has always looked good with its ferny foliage and white cow parsley flowers. It has been suffering in the dry weather, I have had to water it a lot. It will get a new home in the autumn.

I have noticed that the taller flowers in the garden, such as the aster and gaura below, don't seem to have grown as tall this year. Perhaps this is due to the drier conditions?

Aster 'Little Carlow'

Gaura lindheimeri 'The Bride'