.Its quite ridiculous how quickly this month of September is going, almost gone, which means our stupendous summer is just almost out of time and bounds. This year's Christmas season is bearing down on all of us, with alarming speed.
However, never fear, there's still masses of work to be done in the garden - when isn't there? Like pruning, scything, chopping-up, clearing away and cutting down. My globe artichoke heads and stems are still standing, and my mugwort (aka Artemisia) stems still tower about the middle of my flower site.
My autumn fruiting raspberries are drying-up and dying before my very eyes, yet ever spreading , beyond their border space. This is happening so greatly, I shall have to carefully dig-up the rambling raspberries, healing them temporarily into large terracotta pots and keeping them safe until I may replant them in my vegetable site, for more raspberry delight next year.
The marrow heap is glowing with verdant lushness and, what's more, far too many huge marrows. Even the courgettes are too large to be thus named and horribly buried beneath a mass of wavy green foliage.
Beans, both runner and French continue their determination to go on growing for as long as possible, which is fine, especially if they keep their tender status. He indoors loves to pick huge beans for the pot but I do not, my homegrown beans must be young, tender and toothsome and picked freshly every day.
My Calendula are in great want of deadheading. This is not a task or a great chore for me for my marigolds are one of my chiefest delights. Their stunning colour brightens my darkest hour, their vibrancy gives life to my very site.
The central area of this flower site is full of blue borage flowers which have been much favoured and enjoyed by the numerous visiting bees this summer. However, they have also hovered constantly, in season, over my purple sage blooms and dive-bombed the lavender.
Poppies, evening primroses, violas, yarrow, corncockle, dahlias, ox-eye daisies, pansies, nepeta, cosmos, curry plant and fragrant artemisia along with verbena bonariensis have filled my summer with heavenly colour and summer beauty. Their loveliness will return again, next year hopefully and the garden will buzz freely once more with a fresh multitude of bees My list for next year also contains sunflowers, wallflowers, more dahlias, more centranthus, more rosemary and yards of lavender.
The bees and I will swoon with ecstasy and its all going to be absolutely wonderfully glorious - all over again. I simply can't wait !!!
Margaret Halstead
Halstead © 2018
