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 can have 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.