The seasons are moving on

Time to pick the last fruits of the vegetable plot

We only have a very small vegetable plot for the two of us. However it is amazing how much can be grown and all the freezers are full to bursting withe the produce.

Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco beans.The green house haul. Tomatoes, Aubergine Bonica, and Cucumber Cucino. Now its time to clean the glass inside ready for seed planting.Last but not least the Winter Squash Barbara Butternut.

Putting the garden to bed for the winter

As well as sorting out the herbaceous plants the other significant work is pruning climbing roses.This is Rosa Madame Alfred Carriere in all her spender.

Pruning complete

Pruning started

The first autumn clear up done.

Looking forward to 2017

Its October and time to get out the garden notebook and order plants that we have noted down and need to fill out gaps etc. This year I am planting my clematis now to take advantage of the warn soil. Normally I forget and buy them in a mad rush in February! I have been buying from Thorncroft Clematis and here is my list with links to the plants on their website. The Brief Overview also comes from their website.

Name	#	Brief Overview
Ernest Markham	1	The light magenta-red blooms have a deeply textured surface and beautifully crimped margins. A fabulous companion to climbing roses and, if hard pruned can be grown in a patio container.
BURNING LOVE ‘Vitiwester’	1	The glorious vibrant red flowers have a textured surface and gently recurved, twisted tips. Their distinctive crown of contrasting yellow stamens adds to the attraction of this outstanding performer.
Venosa Violacea	1	(syn. viticella ‘Venosa Violacea’). The eye-catching flowers have broad deep purple margins that merge towards a white bar which has rosy-purple veins running through it. A lovely crown of stamens further enhance the striking effect of these blooms. Awarded RHS Award of Garden Merit.
SEA BREEZE ‘Zo09063’	2	A huge abundance of flowers that have a fresh pale violet-blue colour become almost white at the centre of the tepal and surround a dark ‘eye’ of anthers in the middle.
Blekitny Aniol (BLUE ANGEL)	1	The gorgeous pale, mauvy-blue flowers have a pretty satin sheen across their deeply textured surface. Its crimped and wavy margins taper to pointed tips. At dusk the flowers become almost luminous. Beautiful! Awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
Victoria	1	The gorgeous deep pinky-mauve semi-nodding flowers have a rose-pink flush along their central bars which fades as the blooms mature to light pinkish-mauve. A wonderful companion for your climbing roses. Awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
Étoile Violette	4	The dark bluey-purple flowers have beautifully contrasting pale yellow stamens. An outstanding performer that adorns gardens across the world. Awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
The President	2	This handsome old clematis has deep purply-blue star-shaped flowers with slightly paler bars and attractive beetroot-red stamens.
Dutch Sky	1	The pretty bluey-white flowers merge to light blue margins and tips. The reverse has the same colouring with distinctive purple ribs. It is exceptionally free-flowering.
Abundance	1	The pretty semi-nodding pinky-red flowers have a deeply textured surface and crimped margins. Aptly named, the blooms are indeed produced in great abundance.
Mrs Cholmondeley	1	The wonderful light mauvy-blue flowers have pale coffee-coloured anthers. A fabulous old cultivar which, if hard pruned, can be grown in a patio container. Cholmondeley is pronounced Chumley. Awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

I plan to plant many of these so they can scramble through established roses and some on existing obelisks in the Italianate garden which is having a make over as the pond is repaired.

The other big planting at this time of year is bulbs, mostly for spring and summer displays. I normally buy these from Parkers. Here is this years list.

Aconites	100	Eranthis Hyemalis
Allium	20	Schubertii
Anemone	20	Anemone Nemerosa Robinsoniana
Crocus	100	Chrysanhus Ladykiller
Crocus	100	Siberi Tricolour
Eremurus	10	White Beauty Favourite
Lilium	20	Rosella’s Dream
Lilium	20	Inuvik
Lilium	20	Elodie
Lilium	10	Miss Lily
Narcissi	100	Tete-a-Tete
Tulips	100	Flaming Purissima
Tulips	100	Triumph Tulips Mixed
Tulips	100	Red Impression
Tulips	100	Doll’s Minuet
Tulips	100	Purple Blend
Tulips	50	Hageri Splendens
Tulips	50	Humilis
Tulips	50	Turkestanica

Many of the bulbs are to supplement existing plantings. I have taken photographs to identify where there is a shortage; maybe due to bulbs not returning or maybe they provided dinner for some animal! We do not lift our tulips as we have very sandy loam and they come back each year. However, we can look forward to a lot of bulb planting over the next few weeks.

Gardening Hours
This week	Total since June 19th	Average per week
31	313	20