Six on Saturday - 18th October 2025

We are so lucky that it is past the middle of October, and days have still been mild, washing has dried outside, and the garden is still a place to enjoy and to spend time in, even to sit and enjoy a cuppa in the sunshine.  I'm joining in with a few blogging friends writing about six items from the garden, we congregate over on Jim's blog. 

 1. Autumn colours have started in the back garden, whilst in the front garden the Amelanchier trees are now totally devoid of leaves.

The little Acer 'Wakaranai'.  Its 'Godmother' is my gardening Sis who came up with its name as its label was lost.  It has grown very much over to one side but is far too long in my opinion.  Advice gives the dormant period as being the best time to prune the acer, so one not frosty day I shall have to pluck up courage and decide how to approach the task.

2. There is still a lot of colour and other plants are just starting their flowering.

Out in the front garden, despite the drought, the Nerine bowdenii are in flower.  Last year I was given this big clump by my friend Hilary. They were so hard packed together it was impossible for me to divide them, so they went in just as they were.

3.  Bulbs full of promise?

This week I potted up the bulbs I had received from Pottertons:

2 pots of Fritillaria Michailovskyi, 5 bulbs in each

4 pots of Fritillaria Meleagris alba aphrodite, 5 bulbs in each  

2 pots of Fritillaria Meleagris, 5 bulbs in each

5 pots of Tulipa sylvestris, 5 bulbs in each

You may well wonder why not plant straight in the garden?  Good question, I can't exactly say where the snowdrops and other spring flowers are, so I have put the bulbs in plastic pots and in the spring when spring beauties are coming up, I shall be able to guage where best to site them.

4. More autumn colour

Ginkgo biloba 'Mariken'

5. This is the season of spiders and spiders webs, but I saw no webs yesterday when I spied these two sunning themselves on Chrysanthemum blooms.

Pisaura mirabilis

6. Yesterday morning during breakfast Mr S started to enquire about the flowers growing just outside the conservatory window, 

I bought these as very little plants and could not have known how tall they would grow.  Here there are different coloured flowers on separate stems. Further along the bed is a much taller plant, even taller than me with Magenta coloured blooms:

Then over in the bed alongside the gravel garden this is the first of three large Cosmos plants that is yet to flower:

It just goes to show that for less than a cup of coffee ie £2.00, half a dozen little seedling plants from a charity stall can give one such late beautiful colour, blooms and so much pleasure, in a garden. From a seed to flowers in one season, the wonder of annuals.

Last weekend as I sat after a pleasurable spell of work in the garden, I took a rest and listened to the Twin Doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken discuss the scientific findings regarding the question: Is nature good for us?  It included some interesting aspects regarding being out in nature and gardening and was well worth a listen. Of course those of us whose happy place is outside in the garden would have already felt the benefits they were talking about with Baroness Kathy Willis, Professor of Biodiversity at Oxford University.

Six on Saturday - 11 October 2025

We have had dry days on the whole, and fairly warm for this time of the year.  What I have noticed especially is the shortening of the days.  For more Six on Saturdays Jim's post is the place to go to.

1. 

Serratula tinctoria var. seoanei 

The Serratula tinctoria var. seoanei had been divided and moved early this year and placed separately in different parts of the former vegetable bed.  However, I came to appreciate from visits to different gardens this year, than a bold statement of several plants does work much better.  Last week the separate clumps were reunited albeit several inches apart, and the effect has worked out far better.  This is a plant that I know from experience, having left the ones in the front garden unpruned,  have attractive  dried seeds heads throughout the winter.

2.

Germinated between a wall and paving stones

A few years back I had a row of cyclamen hederifolium in pots along a boundary wall where it is shady and cooler during the summer months.  Those are now in the ground around the garden, but here are some seedlings at the foot of the wall: crosses make by bees and scattered by ants.  Who would have believed that the narrow gravel patch could support such beautifully leaved plants.

3. 

Pelargonium Salmon Angel

After a good trim a few weeks back, when I also took some cuttings, this lovely Pelargonium has sprung back and is in flower again.  I have two pots each with  three rooted cuttings in each to use next year.  They will stand in the shed unless we enter a long freezing period, and they will then come into the conservatory.

4. 

Chrysanthemum Chatsworth?

Chrysanthemum Chatsworth wins the medal for being the longest in flower.  I showed it on 28th June this year when it had already been in flower for about two weeks. For some reason this season it is much more golden than previous years.  However did I get its name wrong? Maybe I should just call it the golden yellow chrysanthemum?

5.  The ginkgos are turning buttery yellow.  The one in the background is one of my original Ginkgo 'Mariken'.  In front of it is an unnamed Ginkgo what I picked up at a bargain price from Rocky Mountain Nursery.  Its leaves are more elongated, and is described as ideal for making into a bonsai. 

6. Sitting in the conservatory in my line of sight sit this little splattering of  violet-blue flowers of  Crocus speciosus ‘Oxonian’. Up close when they are open their deep orange pistils seem to glow.

 

Crocus speciosus ‘Oxonian’

It is coming through the self seeded white flowering Omphalodes linifolia, which I grew for the first time last year.   

In a Vase on Monday - after the storm

For beautiful and interesting flower arrangements you can head off to Cathy's post and also view what other gardeners are posting in their vases this Monday. 

The first storm of the year called Amy has now past. We had little serious damage apart from tall plants being broken off,  however on the plus side we have had rain, which was very welcome. The Cosmos photographed yesterday evening were picked before the storm. As a cut garden flower they have surprised me by how well they have done, even though these plants have only just started flowering. 

For the first time I have grown Cosmos in this garden.  My blog search did come up with some cosmos in my old garden in 2015 which was featured in an early IAVOM but this time I have observed them more carefully.  Last week knowing that the storm was arrivings and having already had a couple of the very long stems break, I went out to cut all the flowers that had opened.  The main stems below these cut flowers are around four to five feet high. These cosmos were bought as small unnamed seedlings from Wells Bishop's Palace.  

As many of you know, I rather like the form of dried flowers, twigs or seedheads. With the dry summer many of the plants set good seed and several weeks ago, I decided to cut these to arrange albeit with a view to collecting the seed to share, or sow later in the year or in the spring time. Also because they are pollen free can stay around with no effect on our allergies. All the larger and some of the medium sized vases are now stood around the house but mainly in conservatory offering some interesting silhouettes especially in the lower autumn light such as this Phlomis fruticosa.

Phlomis Bourgaei seed heads

I shall show some of the other seed heads in the coming weeks.  

 

In a Vase on Monday - End of September 2025

 
I haven't posted for nearly a month, but that does not mean I wasn't bringing material into the house.  Mostly I have been cutting seed heads from a number of plants, in order to collect the seed to share.  I'll post about the seeds in case you would like some in a week or so. Today's vase includes a number of new to the garden this year flowers. This is post is linked into Cathy's where you may also see and enjoy a number of interesting arrangements from our garden grown plants. Cathy mentions that it is Michaelmas Day today, so I am quite out of sync for not including those today, but I seem to be out of sync with my posts for IAVOM, so maybe it was to be expected, and I hope I am forgiven.   

The Snapdragons and the cosmos were bought as young seedlings from the Bishop's Palace and are unnamed.  They were simply labeled without a cultivar or colour details.  In a way it was a easy way to enjoy the unexpected.  The Cosmos have grown to over 4 feet in height before flowering, and what large flowers they have. The snapdragons have a preponderance to lounge around hence their curved shape in the vase. 

Both the white Dahlia and the pink Dahlia Karma Sangria which doesn't quite live up to the online pictures or description of being floriferous and more apricot in colour, have been somewhat disappointing.  On the other hand the lovely white phlox also new to the garden this year, is a pass along from my friend Maggie.  It was a plant left in her garden when she bought her house, and has no name, but is really charming.  Finally the purple Verbena bonariensis is self seeding over the garden. I am cutting the flowers from the better plants and planting them in a clump.

We are enjoying some fine autumn weather, and have escaped frosts so far.  We are yet to need the heating on, but the wool dressing gowns were unpacked yesterday.

Pot holders - Sewing Project

The story of how I came to make two sets of pot holders this Saturday afternoon.

I am not a sewer; yes I can sew on a button, make a hem, enjoy a little hand sewing, but am not a machinist.  I usually have to get out the instruction manual for 15 year old Singer 7463 to check on how to use the machine.  More and more I have been watching demonstrations on line, and this year I joined a group set up within my WI to help us novices get to know our way around our sewing machines and tackle a small project.

After the summer break, I had no idea what to make, and suddenly necessity came to my aid.  I am a knitter, and really enjoy that craft.  However the cotton threads of the first set of pan holders I made in 2008 were beginning to fray, and not really fit to hold hot dishes or bread tins from the oven.  The second set made in 2014 are in better condition.  Considering each set is washed fortnightly they have lasted well.

First I went through my stash of cotton yarn, and didn't have sufficient to knit a pair. I was on the point of ordering some double knit cotton, when I had a lightbulb moment: I might be able to sew some.  I went on line and found a good tutorial.

Easy Pot holders with Carmen Geddes

Having watched that, I knew I had some heat resistant batting which I bought over 10 years ago, and of course I had some left over fabric from some of the sewing projects I was tutored through by the wonderful Kay at the Kenilworth WI weekly sewing group. 

I never quite got into patchwork, although have tried, and in this instance I thought to bypass making a patchwork side and just use fabric on the theme of green to match accessories in the kitchen.  I had fabric left over in sufficient quantity from making my Pen Roll for my calligraphy pens and brushes.  

I haven't even opened the boxes with the stash of fabrics or sewing things for some time, and to my amazement came across a few trial patchwork pieces that I had made up at a county WI workshop in Warwick.  So the potholders would be made as per the video after all.

I had a few problems with thread bunching up on the bottom of the fabric, a couple of broken needles etc, but I remained patient.  I was quite pleased with the effect of sewing in the valleys type of straight quilting.

I am learning about different sizes of needles and which to use for different fabrics etc.  I was meant to keep this as a project to do when we meet up, but I was on a roll, and just got on with finished two sets yesterday.  Today one set was used and I am delighted with them. Whilst I cooking I can use the drawer knob to hang them from, but after that I prefer to put them away in the drawer.

It would have taken me several weeks to knit two sets, so all in all, these are excellent use of existing material and time.

There is probably a few years left in the newest of the knitted pot holders, so they will continue in service for a while.

Using the old pot holders to guage the size

Now I need to understand more about needles and order some more.  It was interesting to read the price on the ones I bought years ago, with hand written price and those available now!

Since first posting this I have had feedback and advice from my sewing guru Kay:

"The thread bunching, known also as birds nesting, can be caused by uneven tension.  I have found on more than one machine this happened but have cured it by using Guttermann sew all thread.  For some reason sewing machine are very fussy about thread spools.  You could also use try cleaning out the spool area. Lint and dust accumulate after a while."

"The thread in the shuttle should be the same as the top thread.  Older threads tend to be hairy to aid hand sewing so it is well worth investing in a couple of neutral coloured sew all threads."

Sewing machine needles