Torrential rain, thunder and lightning and gales kept me out of the garden at the beginning of the week, but on Thursday the sun shone again and the sky was blue though the temperature had dropped 6 degrees from a mild 17.5°C to a mere 11°C. Only one more week of BST to enjoy before the clocks go back and darkness descends at 5pm. Meanwhile the autumn colours deepen as shown on the Virginia Creeper on the front of the house. I really need to get someone in to clear the gutters and cut back the climbing hydrangea too.
(1) It’s a time of year when textures and patterns become more noticeable. First up is this Heuchera ‘Coralberry’ which also provides warm colour.
(2) Another beautifully patterned leaf is this hardy Cyclamen coum which resides under the Kilmarnock willow tree. The flowers have now disappeared, but the rounded heart-shaped leaves form a lovely carpet.
(3) Still adding colour to the beds is Osteospermum ‘Tresco Purple’, though this particular clump grows from the Cornish hedge in the ‘Wild’ part of the garden. As you can see there are lots of flower buds.
(4) More purple comes from several Verbena bonariensis plants that self-seeded around the gravel garden (and in pots), late to flower it is still looking good, swaying in the rather strong breeze. Last year Goldfinches descended on the large plant I had and devoured much of the seed so I was more than thrilled to see some seedlings appear in the summer.
(5) The only plant that really shows good autumn colour is the Bittersweet vine which turns from green to a lovely buttery yellow before the winds finish it off. Sadly mine is a male plant so does not produce those lovely berries I was hoping for.
(6) Finally, a view from the gravel garden towards the Zen patio. This photo was taken before the recent storm which has reduced the number of flowers on the Gaura. The ox-eye daisies are still going strong though.
Several of the tender plants such as pelargoniums, echeverias, aeoniums, agave and Crassula ovata (jade plant) have been brought indoors before the heavy rain. Pots of bulbs popped underneath tables and benches. If the weather remains dry over the weekend I have several jobs to complete – cutting down the jasmine and pulling out the sweetpeas and pruning back Nelly Moser clematis as she has gone a bit wild.
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 
I love the vine covered wall. You need a roof cleaner too 😉 We are so over rain and cloudy Auckland days, hopefully some sunshine will appear in the next day or two. The gardens always appreciate the rain and look healthy.
Haha… all the roofs here are covered in lichens!
Except for the plunging temperatures your weather at the start of the week was just like ours. Storms, hail and blowing a gale.
What a pretty wall in your introductory picture. We didn’t have nearly as bad weather as you this week, but today may be rather wet. My verbena boniarensis has been good since early summer and spreads all over the place. I’ve sorted WordPress out, I think, so should be able to comment when appropriate.
Glad to see you have sorted WP out. They are always changing something! I think we almost always get the bad weather first unless it comes from the east. OK today though rather chilly.
Your photos all have an autumnal glow about them, Jude! Sorry to hear about your atrocious weather earlier in the week and hope you manage to get those jobs done this weekend
Well it is dry today and even a bit sunny, though a chill wind. I might just manage to cut the jasmine down!
At least cutting something right down is a relatively easy task, but still satisfying once it has been done I expect
Cutting it right back stops it flowering, but if I don’t it is just too rampant. I’d like to remove the whole thing but it is impossible to get to the roots.
That’s a pain, when you can’t get at the roots of something to remove it – I have tried to extract a cyclamen (to move it to be a more sensible place!) tucked up against a post and a low wall, but can’t get the corm out, even with taking bricks out of the wall! 😁
Yes, this is between a breeze block wall and a granite ledge – no way is that going to be moved! I have thought of using some chemical, though I am not keen on poisons usually.
I’m glad you found so many reasons to be cheerful despite the gruesome weather. The Zen patio looks lovely and summery despite it all.
The patio does look nice, but it is a bit too chilly to sit out there now.
The Osteospermum is a lovely colour. I bought an annual one this year but it stopped flowering quite a while ago. Not sure if it’s worth trying to keep it. Your patio’s looking great
I have a couple of the annual ones – one yellow and one orange which didn’t flower all that well. I’ll leave them in their pots and see if they survive, some violet ones lasted a good three years!
The front of your house looks stunning with the creeper growing on it! Sadly, we cannot let plants grow too close to the house here for fear of termites entering and chomping through the wooden structure of the house. I love the Zen garden too. Hopefully things will dry out weather wise for you soon!
Hi Jude, Thank you for sharing these cheerful fall colors and plants! 🙂