Hues

keep on keeping on

The weekend starts with a frost conversation - the outdoor wooden table glowing white, the air still and silent. Dogs snuffle about hunting smells from adventures had in the garden overnight. I do wonder what stories they are told and never share. A morning frost brings with it two things. One, a sunny day which is always welcome. Two the prompt that the time to complete Autumn planting should really be done. So once the Saturday morning chores are completed and Chocolate Hazelnut pastries have been consumed I am out, trowel in hand, weeding corners of the garden to plant a few little treasures that need to have roots in the soil before it becomes too cold.

The array of plants are the most recent purchase from Hands in Dirt and a few Salvias that I brought from the local botanical gardens. The salvias which are blue/black, are planted where I have planted salvias before - I am determined that the two new additions will survive. The area where they are planted seems to be a space the dogs like to trample through for various reasons so I will need to keep an eye on them to ensure success. Across the path I add some of my Hands in Dirt treasure. A couple of Potentilla Nepalensis - Roxana. Potentilla are a new to me plant for this season. Two deep red Potentilla were planted in the spring of 2025 and were beloved by bees which in turn made them beloved by me. I also added a Salvia Nutans and note that I should get a support for the collapsing Cafe Latte Dahlia who is still flowering. Imagine how stunning she would be standing upright next summer.

I move to the bed that runs along the path by the house and add sprouted sweet peas to pots that sit hidden amongst the thyme and then weed the clover, replacing it with a pale pink aster from another bed that I hope will creep and mingle with the thyme and become a carpet of bee friendly flowers. The bed itself is a tapestry of things that I have been adding over the summer - I figure that it will sort and settle itself over the coming months so why not add a few new treasures. Lychnis Chalcedonic Carnes and Catananche Caerulea - I write these lovely latin names but in my head it is the blue floaty thing and the pink pretty up right thing and they are planted with the soundtrack of “I wonder what is going to happen with these guys’ in my head.

The mood of the morning changes and I realise I have done enough. The green bin is filled and the kettle is boiling, my mind thinking I will move the plant later. I will pick up the errant cabbage fronds scattered on the lawn later. I will leave the remaining few cosmos and dahlias to flower and seed. The roses I am grateful that they are having another flush. I am smile with amusement at the overgrown riot that is the small pale pink Chrysanthemum that should have been chopped back earlier in the season but I didn’t and now it is a mass of crazy blooms. The garden sinks further and further into it’s hibernation each day as the temperatures drop. I feel ready to step away and let it go. Missing the flowers that were but knowing that without a winter there can be no true and full appreciation of summer.

with much love

Mel