Ten Favourites for September.

Just in the nick of time I am joining Chloris at The Blooming Garden with my Ten Favourites for September. You can see what others have posted by visiting Chloris Here

Number one in Our Garden@19 is a flower on the Ginger Lilly, I have been waiting two years since I was given them for one to flower. This year one did!

I have had a soft spot for Morning Glory since growing them as a child, this one is from a late sowing of mixed colours.

I purchased Kirengeshoma palmata after seeing it look so wonderful in Beth Chatto’s garden, I now grow it in a pot on the patio, where I can keep an eye on it due to the slugs loving it is much as I do!

You cannot help but smile when you see the Cyclamen growing in all the inhospitable dry areas where little else will survive. Here along the shrubbery it is joined by…

…the Arum, whose main attraction is its leaf markings earlier in the year. I usually sow some of the berries each autumn to increase my stock.

Arum italicum subsp. italicum ‘Marmoratum’

Mentioning the shrubbery, the shrubs are adding colour to the garden just now, not least the Fuchias

This one has such elegant flowers compared to the more blousy ones above.

One of my favourite shrubs ever since I first saw it in Rosemary Verey’s garden is the Leycesteria, especially the yellow leaved one here along the shrubbery walk, lit up by the September sunshine.

September is Michaelmas time and this is a favourite, you can call it a Daisy, Aster or as the famous victorian gardener, William Robinson did ‘Starworts’ or whatever the botanists have now decided. ‘Little Carlow’ is a good reliable one which doesn’t suffer from mildew, the sad fate of so many.

I pair it with this well behaved Golden Rod with its arching flowering stems.

We inherited many Nerine bowdenii from my Great Aunt’s garden, I shared them with my brother, sister and daughters. They are in Our Garden@19, also here, in the allotment cutting garden I share with our youngest daughter. They are a beautiful flower of September along with a reminder of our Great Aunt who had them growing along the south side of her house. She used to sell them by the bunch at the door.

IMG_0001 (1) — Nerine bowdenii in the allotment.

Those are my ten for September, I hope you enjoy them.

A ‘Charm’ in the rain.

On Thursday here in sunny Worcestershire the day turned into a very wet one.

One thing I have observed over the years feeding birds in Our Garden@19 is the feeding frenzy that develops during wet weather.

I predominantly feed sunflower hearts, which all species of birds enjoy…

I also feed Niger seeds especially for the seed eaters.

I have included this picture below despite the reflections in the window. It contains I think 18 Goldfinches, there is interestingly an adult feeding a young one through the bars. The Goldfinches love the sunflower hearts, I think this is why we have so many visit the feeders. I enjoy seeing the adults bring the youngsters along during the breeding season.

A ‘Charm’ is the collective noun for a group of Goldfinches.

How many can you count?

I took the photos through the dining room window using a Canon 18-200mm lens with the flash turned off.

I know many bloggers feed the birds in their garden do you?

Signs of Autumn.

Walking around Our Garden@19 the other evening there were some notable signs of autumn, not least in the temperture.

Some of the plants are starting to develop their seasonal colours. Please join me on a short walk through the garden.

The first to catch your eye is the flowering cherry tree between the patio and the oriental garden…

…wherein you will find the first Acer to change into its autumn coat..

Walking up the garden via the shrubbery path you pass a large arching Cotoneaster lacteus, this can look wonderful either trained flat against a fence or wall or, as here, left to grow freely at the back of a border…

…from there you arrive at the banana bench overlooked by the Green Man who is surround by The Boston Ivy.

After a rest on the bench in the autumn sunshine if you follow the never ending woodland walk you pass the Rose glauca, with its slaty blue leaves and bright red hips.

Further along, providing colour all year round is the Prunus serrula…

…with its beautiful tactile bark.

While Autumn can be a little depressing due to its heralding oncoming winter, the plants brighten up our days with their fiery colourful, leaves, berries and bark.

What is brightening up your autumn garden?