Autumn days
AUTUMN IS finally making an appearance. We had a blissful heatwave to send off the summer, and while it’s still warm out there in the fullness of the day, there’s a noticeable snap in the air in the mornings. Spider webs are decorated with dew, the grass is damp underfoot first thing, and the night draws in around 7pm now - a shock to the system after those endlessly warm, golden evenings of summer. In your gardens, there’s plenty to do. It’s almost like you need to do a kind of review or audit of the garden at this time of year - what’s finished? What needs to come out, and what is still rocking but needs a bit of tidying or staking? I talk about it all the time but deadheading is a surefire way of making blooms such as roses or annuals like cosmos keep on trucking into these more tempered months. If the flower finishes, the plant puts all its energy into making seedheads or hips. But by removing the flower head, the plant redirects that energy into producing more flowers. ...