We woke yesterday to a thin layer of Frost on the car windscreen, the first of the season. We’re in the middle of autumn here in Scotland, always a season of contrasts: beginnings and endings, the last of the sun’s warmth and the first frosts, the glorious colour and texture of the leaves, and of course death and decay as leaves, flowers and insects all die back before winter.
There are still a few hardy geraniums (Rozanne just doesn’t stop), roses, nasturtiums and calendula all stubbornly blooming in our garden, though Storm Amy battered the sunflowers. There are also pots of cabbage, kale, chard and pak choi seedlings in the greenhouse that may or may not come to anything. I’m planting Meteor peas in the raised beds which are apparently hardy enough to overwinter. There are still daffodil bulbs to plant, as well as finding space in the long border for anenomes and michaelmas daisies, but I’m starting to feel the pressure now as winter is on its way.
We had lots of Red Admirals visiting the garden and feasting on our plums all through September, but this month we’ve found lots of Caterpillars in the garden much to the children’s fascination.
While most people are looking up at the trees, there’s lots to see at ground level too. Our little street is hidden beneath a carpet of beech tree leaves at the moment, and I’ve spotted a few Aminita Muscaria (or fly agaric toadstools) at the base of the trees. It seems like the world is full of reds, ambers, golds at the moment, all the fiery shades for the “ember” months.
As we move through the autumn months, life still feels hectic with no signs of slowing down and there are some big changes ahead, but I’m trying to ground myself in nature, enjoying pottering around our little garden and taking time to notice all the little wonders of nature at this time of year. Have a lovely week. X
Lovely and Grateful 
Many of the butterflies you are still seeing need undisturbed winter plants and leaf litter for their caterpillars to successfully overwinter. We all need a safe place to overwinter!
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Plenty of places for bugs to overwinter in our garden, I don’t usually clear the long flower bed, it’s all hardy perennials (I don’t have the patience for bedding plants or dahlias that need to be brought in over winter), and we let the fence line grow wild with long grass and wildflowers that we won’t bother clearing.
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Your photos are so gorgeous! I just got some similar geraniums from my local park yesterday – fingers crossed they will flower as beautifully as yours next year.
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Thank you. I love hardy geraniums, they’re great for pollinators, often flower from late spring right through to the first frost and are very low maintenance. Good luck with your new garden, it’s so exciting planning it all and then turning it into reality. 😊
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Many of our trees are still very green down here, some golden or amber but few have that deep red. The sycamores just have shrivelled dry leaves again…they hate this shift in weather with the hot summers. My cosmos have just gone wild and flowering profusely still…not though keep getting battered by each storm going over.
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It is hard to find plants that can survive the extremes and sudden changes, isn’t it? It’s a shame when flowers get flattened by storms while they’re still going strong, our garden is a bit wild anyway so I don’t mind much. ☺️
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Autumn is in full flow here in Kent, no frost yet but a definite chill to the mornings and evenings. I’m debating bulb planting, but with a very active grey squirrel population, I need to work out where to put them to give them a fighting chance!
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lovely pictures
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Thank you.
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