I’ve been accused elsewhere of being creative. In the spirit of creativity I offer my six for today. I’m going to be like the BBC – a few repeats. But then others have done that already; I’m just following in their (eminent) footsteps. I’m getting retrospective.

As usual, thanks go to The Propagator for thinking up and hosting this meme. If you want to join in, there’s a link to his helpful instructions in the sidebar on the right. If you want to see other contributions, head over to his SIx on Saturday post – other contributors post links to their blogs in the comments.

I’ve been staring out of the breakfast room door at the hoolie that’s blowing outside (we have a weather warning of worse wind for tomorrow so I’ve cancelled take-away curry night tonight), waiting to dash out with the camera when the rain stops. And I started to think “What ISN’T in the garden!” I’ve cut back/down (as you prefer). The once lush vistas (as if) of flowers are now un-lush vistas of, well, nothing much. But amidst the gloom, I still have Alstroemeria in flower. Not as prolifically as in the summer but still in flower. And still lots of buds showing promise.

 

 

Repeats. Repeats. Mel Brooks would probably have a phrase for that. But this isn’t quite a repeat. I’ve planted the Trachleospermum I’ve mentioned before. The operation involved some strengthening the fencing (replacing the horizontals behind the fence with stronger ones and adding a bit of concrete here and there around the Metpost spikes the posts are hammered into). The support grid is actually wire “stock fencing” and is attached to the fence using U-clips. Should outlive wooden trellis which, in any event, wouldn’t have fitted. Why is it that my fence is metric and trellis is imperial? Two metres versus six feet? The two plants have been in the greenhouse for about a week and I’ve been surprised at the amount of growth they managed in that time. I’m hopeful they’ll grow away quickly now and provide more flower power than Sweet Peas.

And Chesney, nestled in the photo in front of the left-hand fence post and behind the empty plant pots, is about to flower again. A tough little chap is he!

 

 

We’ve had some storms in the last few weeks, including one named one. The side of the garage became a wind tunnel. High up on that wall I have three planters containing trailing fuchsias. The morning after the night before they looked ragged. But somehow they’ve recovered as if they were trying to beat Lewis Hamilton in a Grand Prix. I’m featuring them today as the winds here are due to swing to westerly tonight and increase in strength. Which will mean another wind tunnel up the side of the garage.  And probably the end of these fuchsias for this year. I haven’t got round to taking cuttings this year so my plan is to try to get the parents through the winter in the greenhouse.

 

 

I probably don’t need to get a press yet as there’s not enough for a bottle of wine but the grapes here are now ripening properly. Unlike the one at Hampton Court, my vine is entirely outdoors so I’m never going to get the abundance of Black Hamburg grapes that they can flog there. But a few bunches (there are about nine this size this year) will be nice to nibble if the leaves stay on long enough to protect their passage to full ripeness from the local blackbirds.

 

 

My Malus usually features in a different meme but I’m giving it an airing here. The fruits are now turning, through their orangey phase, to their autumn/winter red. In a month’s time I will be swearing at this tree and at every blackbird in the vicinity as the tree is stripped of its fruits with half-eaten ones dropped onto the car beneath along with the copious produce of the blackbirds’ other ends. If it rains, cleaning the car becomes a daily chore. If it’s dry I can put the cover over the car and let that take the strain. But you can’t cover a wet car when you get back from the pub supermarket. Around this time of year I wish that resident cat WOULD pay attention to birds and at least scare them off. But he stops sunbathing on the roof of the car in the winter. Although I suppose he wouldn’t be much good if he carried on sunbathing. Blackbirds regularly land on him; sometimes he turns his head to have a look.

 

 

And finally another repeat. This display of begonias is now giving me palpitations. I’m pleading with it to go over so I can dig it up without feeling that I’m murdering faithful friends. I’ve got about 50 wallflowers chomping at the bit to get in there. It’s a case of murdering the elderly or the babies. So I give you one final photo to record the outgoings for posterity. They will live on somewhere on the interwebs. And will, in due course, be reincarnated as compost.

 

So there we go for another week. As I continue the autumnal cutting back, I’m guessing that my next Six will be photos of stumps or earth, or the compost bins. I’ve been told I’m creative (and repetitive) so let’s see.

Carry on enjoying your garden till we meet again.