The end of Act 1

November garden

The garden is starting to change. The first act is coming to a close and I can see murmurs of the second act. Roses. But more on them later. For the moment foxgloves still dominate, although they are starting to turn to skeletons of their former self. All of this change doesn't stop the bumblebees. They buzz about the place. There is a constant aggravated zzzz at my side as I garden from bumbles stuck inside a foxglove flower. Do they buzz for a reason? Is it for pollen? I must investigate further. I wonder if they are trying to turn around and their reversing skills are just as bad as mine. The foxgloves are spires in the garden with most of the lower blooms gone. They still stand tall and dominate the garden but I know it won't be for much longer. I shall miss their stature in the garden especially the beautiful peach pink one that the other half suggested for the garden, along with the cranky little buzz of the bumbles.

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Seed heads are beginning to form in the garden. The aquilegia are fading fast and forming seeds pods. I must decided what I want to stay in the garden for the coming season. There was a beautiful crimson pink one last year that I hoped would return but I have not seen it. I understand that aquilegia do not remain true to their parents. This year there has been an abundance of blue which has matched beautifully with the blur of purple from the flowering sage. I planted a dark black (well as black as flowers get) in a few corners and wonder if it will return and if so what format. Hopes for the next season are already being sown.

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I have been an obsessive photographer this year. First it was daffidils, then the ranunculus and now poppies. All the current flowering poppies are self seeders which I love. They have spread and appear in all corners of the garden. There is the fucshia pink and white poppy is in the old part of the veggie garden. The bright red one has set up shop in the same bed as the blue cornflower - I love the contrast and then the deep purple one has seed prolifically where it was planted last year. Thankfully they are everywhere in the garden. With our unsettled weather they seem to flower one minute and are a seed head the next. So I love that there is a lot of them. I might look at planting some new ones just because I want to keep taking pictures of them. It would be something lovely to revisit later in the season.

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I look out the window from the sunroom and there appears, almost each day a new rose starting to bloom. I am so excited to see them return and hunt out a book of rose drawings, maybe I can duplicate some of these images with my camera in the garden? Today's rose is a beautiful soft apricot actually more orange than pink. How do you describe the colour of a rose? I forget it was there. I also forgot the bright vibrant white one that has appeared almost from nowhere, secretly hiding within the small white open bloom bush rose that smells so beautiful I want to stand underneath it all day.

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I've been quietly working away on a new project and I wanted to share it with you first. It is called 'Haven: a place to grow" and it will be a paid newsletter focused on gardens, photography, and creativity. For me my garden is my haven. It is where I find solace and comfort and, aside from Sunday when Eos stole plants and dug a hole in the garden bed, peace. I wanted to create a space where I share what I learn from my garden as a gardener, photography and a person. The newsletter will be monthly and will focus on a central theme, flower and colour which I hope you will find inspiring and help you create your own creative haven. Updates regarding Haven will start to appear in the next week or so and I do hope you come and join me.