August : Autumn Approaches

The sun is getting low in the sky. It’s not dark until 7.30ish, but it has that warm rich glow of autumn.

The new cream paint on the brickwork at the back of the house is a big improvement. The reddish bricks always had a mismatched look about them, and the new paint looks clean and warm and complements the decking.
The planters are at their most luxuriant, with variegated foliage trailing down to the deck, and a generous arrangement of fuchsias – last year’s chuck-outs from my favourite nursery- now big healthy plants. There was a time when I would have been disdainful of the more exuberant, frilly fuchsia varieties. Now I just don’t care, and we have a wide selection from double pale pink, to scarlet and cerise. Big blousy tarts the lot of them!

The herbaceous borders are still very colourful without me needing to infill with additional plants. The 6 foot tall perennial sunflowers are in flower already, and hide the Judas tree completely.

Both crab apple trees (Malus ‘Golden Hornet’) are full of fruit. The tiny apples stand out from the foliage now in abundant lime-gold clusters. The blackbirds will be in for a real treat when the winter comes.
Our new addition, Malus‘Gorgeous’ lives up to its name. Two years old now and 6 foot tall, it has filled out well and is heavy with deep crimson and red apples, packed closely together.

Next to it, and behind the vivid yellow Catalpa is a big Lavateria’Barnsley’, thick with palest pink and white candy floss blooms.