Flooded Fields

This morning the sun is shining, everything is bathed in a golden light, with strong, cold wind.  We decided to pay a visit to the Wistow Country Park where there is a garden centre and bought lots of bags of half price bulbs.  The surrounding area is very low-lying and the fields have suffered flooding as a result.

All the sheep have been moved to higher pasture, but the ducks and gulls have taken full advantage of all the extra water around.

It is almost like living in the Lake District, water, water, everywhere.

Some trees have managed to hang on to their leaves despite the strong winds.  Everywhere looks beautiful in the sunshine.  More rain to come I expect, some roads are flooded, making it rather exciting to travel about.

Hellebores flowering - surely not!

A Hellebore flowering already - surely not!  This one just couldn't wait till Spring - a bit like me really ...

Some flowers just don't know when to stop flowering

double feverfew

One of my favourite plants ...  they have been flowering since the Spring ...  non-stop.

scabious

Grown from seed ... still masses of buds to open ... will they make it?

rudbeckia

The rest of the Rudbeckia plants have died back ... only the seed heads are left ... but this one just doesn't know when to give up.

hypericum

Lots of flowers ... lots of buds ... lots of seed heads.

coreopsis

Lingering on ...

california poppy

Self seeded ... seems like I will have this plant forever in the garden ...

The Waiting Game

This poor old Penstemon waits patiently in its pot, bought in the summer, and still not planted out.  Will I ever get round to it?

Strange but Beautiful

It has been such a wonderful autumn day today - sun all day long - no grey skies and no wind - perfect for a little trip down to our local reservoir.  Binoculars at the ready  but no camera, AGAIN, we spotted lots of coots, a couple of dozen Canada geese, grebe, mallard and gulls.  I even saw one gull sweep down and try to pinch a fish out of a grebe's mouth.   The crafty so-and-so, but the grebe was too quick and dived again before the gull had a chance.

A very bad phone picture taken long distance of mum and dad swan and their three signets, having a good wash and brush up (notice the big piles of poo on the boardwalk - yuk).

The reservoir was smooth as silk and beautiful in the autumn sunshine.  I saw these beautiful garlands of bryony berries

but other berries seemed very scarce, no sloes, not many hawthorn - the poor birds will be short-changed this winter I fear.

At the end of the reservoir road there was a bush that caught my eye, so unusual - I have no idea what it is, perhaps you could help with identification.  I have a feeling it is a domestic garden escapee.

Aren't they just beautiful.  Can you help?

On a freezing cold day I am so glad I have a greenhouse to play in

The temperature has dropped rapidly overnight - much too cold for me (a fairweather gardener).  So I did the next best thing I pottered in the greenhouse.  A bit of harvesting, tidying up plants with dead leaves and getting rid of container plants that have finished.

The sun came out and it was quite pleasant in there, although my feet were still cold.  Above is a batch of tomatoes that have ripened, there are still quite a few small cherry tomatoes that are green, not sure if they will come to anything though.

I picked the last of the dwarf beans, the container can now be emptied, not sure what I will plant in it - maybe some oriental leaves.

The peas that I sowed a couple of weeks ago are now pushing through

and the pot of carrots will soon be ready for picking as baby carrots

I will be thinning these chard plants and using the thinnings  in a mixed salad.

Salad leaves are coming along nicely, I'm hoping to sow a couple more pots shortly to keep the supply coming.

The greenhouse is also sheltering some of my tender geraniums

I am going to be taking cuttings of these for next year's supply of plants

and a late sowing of Nasturtiums are still flowering bravely giving a bright welcoming spot of colour. 

No one can accuse me of not using my greenhouse to full advantage, and it makes me feel that I can still do a bit of gardening even when it is too bloomin' cold outside.

Saving the best till last

My Cosmos plants in the front garden are still flowering beautifully.  One particular plant has dozens of buds on it and the flowers have only just decided to open.

All the plants were put in the ground at the same time, so why this one has decided to hang on before flowering right at the last moment,  before it gets killed off my frost, I don't know.

A rather nice autumn surprise.

There isn't a lot going on in the rest of the garden, the trees are stubbornly refusing to change colour, but the Hydrangea Petiolaris on the back wall has turned a gorgeous yellowy-orange.

Once the leaves start falling we put a net over the fish pond to save having to scoop them out every day.

When the leaves are green I consider it quite a boring plant, except for when it flowers, but in autumn it earns its place in the garden.

And the Viburnam has sprung into flower, always a welcome sight, these flowers last well into winter, before they turn into berries.  It has been pruned hard twice this year when it threatens to take over the border, but still it comes into flower, thank goodness, as there is very little else.

And finally, the Cotoneaster tree in the front garden, it is full of berries this year, I hope this isn't a bad omen for a hard winter.  We get lots of blackbirds and redwings coming to eat them when the weather turns cold, I sit and watch them from the bedroom window, gulping the berries down like there is no tomorrow.