Changing Seasons

You can feel it in the air, the changing of the season. It seems to get dark quite quite early now. The stormy weather hasn't helped. The last couple of days the air has been so heavy. We were out on Sunday when the sky went so black. I think everyone was hoping for a good storm to freshen the air, but all we had was a very slight shower, then all the dark clouds were burned off by the hot sun. The garden is still flourishing, although the invasion of slugs and snails has been a complete pain. I haven't seen so may at once for years, and since the farmer harvested the crop of rape seed from his field adjacent to us we've had quite a few large spiders in the house too! It always happens but usually it's mid September before that happens. Luckily I don't mind them and can safely extricate them from the house, ( I'm sure they laugh at me and return the next day!) We're having a bumper crop of berries and dwarf beans, and there are some lovely juicy apples on the tree, ( keeping an eye out for little pests though) there'll be plenty for the grandchildren this year. The roses are just wonderful, there are still plenty of buds, I just hope that we don't get torrential rain when they're about to open, or they'll end up soggy. The Heuchera are just lovely.....

........I love the colour combinations.....

.....they do well every year, but this year they seem more vibrant.....

....I have my eye on a lime green one from the local nursery and I have a spot in the garden to put it! This is the first year for our hydrangea.....

....and we're more than happy with it. I'm doing my dad's trick of mixing some dried tea leaves around the base of the plant. It seems to love it. I love the colour and texture of leaves.....

....it's not just about the flowers......

....we've only have a small back garden but we like to pack in as much as we can ....

....in fact we're planning a few more changes, for next year, hopefully. But while we still have plenty of colour....

....we'll just enjoy it..

...after all, that's what we grew them for!

...enjoy your garden too!

More summer bounty

One thing's for sure, we still have some glorious colour in the garden. This is a picture of one of the roses on our patio....

...and here's another......

...and they just keep coming! Last week we went to visit our daughter in Wiltshire for the weekend. One the way back home on the Monday we did a detour and stopped of at Hidcote. I did post a couple of pictures on my last post, but here are a few more...

..it doesn't matter what time of year you visit, there's always something beautiful to see...

...I don't just mean bright vivid colours....

...I love the textures.....

....and shapes....

.....the hot......

...and the cool colours....

.....not to mention the scent......

...and this was at Hidcote Lavender farm....

...It was absolutely wonderful!