Another week of wind and showers and intermittent sunshine. Temperatures dipping dramatically in the evening so the woodburner has come back into use. I try not to switch on the central heating until the last possible moment as we have oil here in the countryside not gas, and it can be expensive to run. Definitely autumnal now. The tops of the surrounding hills are brown as the bracken dies, but the rest of the countryside is still green.
So what, if anything, is still looking good in the garden.
(1) There are patches of colour around, but some you have to go looking for as in these Calendula officinalis, (the pot marigold, ruddles, common marigold or Scotch marigold) which are flowering happily in one of the raised beds. The herb bed actually, because calendula was historically used for medicinal and culinary purposes. Calendula oil is used in some beauty products and you can sprinkle the colourful petals into a salad. These were sown in June directly into the bed after I removed a dead Rosemary plant.
(2) Close to the herb bed I have several herb pots containing mint. This is Ginger Mint (Mentha arvensis) and I love the way this particular one flowers with little balls of blue at each of the leaf nodes.
(3) Another plant that can be considered a herb is St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum). This one seems to pop up all over my garden, but is easy enough to remove from where it isn’t wanted. At this time of year the black and red berries are nice to see.
(4) A few of my Hebe (Shrubby Veronica) plants are having a second flush of flowers too. I need to cut them back a bit now by about a third, so I wish they would actually stop flowering! These shrubs from New Zealand love it here. They usually flower in the summer months. There are many different species and colours and I rather fancy one of the darker leaf varieties and I am considering some of the dwarf varieties for containers in the courtyard next year.
(5) This hardy Fuchsia is also having a second wind after I removed the sprawling Buddleia in the summer. I have no idea what type it is, but it is a large shrub so possibly a magellanica . Again once it stops flowering I will cut it back for the winter and then cut right back in spring to try and encourage a more bushy plant.
(6) And last, but not least, are a couple of pots of Violas which somehow jumped into my shopping trolley. I will plant them on top of the tulip pots once I brave the chill to get my bulbs planted. Late this year, but I haven’t bought many bulbs as I am experimenting with the ones I bought last year and left in their pots to see if they re-appear.
Life is full of uncertainties right now, but gardens still offer some respite from the bad news. I have lots to do still in clearing beds of decaying plants and cutting back the Jasmine, but the French Open (tennis) has had me glued to the TV this week so I am hoping there will be some clement weather during the week to come.
(The header photo to the left is a watercolour effect of the sunset last night)
As always, if you want a peek over other people’s garden walls then please pop over to our host, the lovely Jon, AKA ‘The Propagator’ where you find links to many more wonderful garden enthusiasts from all over the world.
See here for the participant’s guide.
Cornwall in Colours 
It’s lovely to still have some colour in the garden. I’m down to the last few japanese anemone flowers and some fuschia flowers.
Those vibrant black and red berries make a real splash of colour. I intended to get a couple of Hebes, but forgot to put them on my list. Will try to remember them next time I go to the native nursery. I had them in the NZ garden and loved them. I do hope things come better for you over there. Such a worry
It’s a bloody disaster PP. I am just glad that I live in a very quiet hamlet and can avoid people!
Getting really busy here now too. Traffic and parking seems worse than last year. Fortunately we can walk to the beach and choose the occasional quieter times to go
Yes, I wish I could walk to a beach. Should be quieter now, though last week when we went out for lunch the car parks were very busy even though the castle was closed!
A close beach was a priority for Jack when we bought a house
I would have liked one, but they are so expensive close to a beach here. If the house in Penzance had gone through we could have walked to one, or caught a bus or train. Oh, well. We do have lovely views from here. 😊
Oh BTW I’m very impressed with the sunset effect. What do they call the phone filter you use?
The filter is on the phone’s own photo gallery and it’s a Huawei phone. Several great effects.
It’s a beauty
You will probably see more of them!
Nice garden. Also I definitely think I envy your weather. 😅
Thank you!
dont talk to me about accidental viola purchases. accidentally bought dozens of them the other day, reduced to something silly like £1 a tray of 24. is it weird that i partly bought them for the quite robust looking module trays? they’ll be excellent for sowing veg next year thought i. now i have to plant dozens of violas! tops of tulip pots, perhaps…
At that price how could you refuse!
Love the Hebes. Mine is also beautiful but very late flowering this year. I think it will have to have a trim in the spring
Mine flowered in the spring, but they often have a second flush in the autumn.
Wow you are green-fingered! My pots have been a disaster this year like everything else in my life!
But it’s nice to see that Cornwall is as beautiful as ever.
I am so sorry to hear about your loss and your own health issues. I hope you are feeling much better. Cornwall is still beautiful and we are very happy that we live here.
I am thank you.
A lovely look at summer’s last fling! And a great reminder that I must get into the garden and trim!
Indeed. We spend months getting a garden right, and then weeks clearing it all out again!