Still Flowering (and a very tall Yacon)!

Whilst we know it's autumn and parts of the garden are looking very autumnal with the leaves changing colour

some plants don't seem to have realised yet.  Fuchsia Hawkshead is still in flower

as is the honeysuckle

several roses (this one's Aloha)

and a penstemon.

I'm especially surprised at the penstemon as it's very close to the Yacon which is showing signs of being frosted.

It was given to me by Fiona earlier in the year and has grown to well over 6ft!  I need to look up how to harvest and store and cook the tubers now.  It's not something I've eaten before, have any of you?

Autumn's Arrived.

Autumn appears to have arrived.  It's not my favourite season.  I do love the colours that it brings, but what I don't like is that it heralds the dark, cold days of winter.

Today though was all about colours.

The Snake Bark Maple looked as if it was just starting to turn into its fiery autumn colours,

but then I looked more closely.  It's not the leaves that are turning red, it's the seed pods.

I've never noticed them do this before.  The tree is absolutely dripping with them this year.  Is it because its getting older, or is it to do with the weather?  I don't know, but they are magnificent whatever the cause.

In the front garden the verbena is also full of seeds.  They are snuggling underneath the flower, again I'd never noticed this before (maybe I've just had my eyes closed before?).

And the clematis seed heads are wonderful as always,

as are the skeleton leaves on the hydrangea.

But I'll leave you with a close up of those amazing pink maple seed pods.

Isn't nature wonderful.

Odd Things

At the end of the summer when I was showing my Dad some photos I'd taken in Aldeburgh, he looked at a picture I'd taken of a piece of rusty metal on the shingle beach and said "What on earth did you take a picture of that odd thing for?" I tried to explain that I liked the colours and the texture.

Today, as I was taking more 'bizarre' photos, I was thinking about him and what he'd think this time.
This is the view from my sofa through a lovely little internal window into my dining room.

I took it because I love the lines and the patterns that the light makes on the lines.

And these dahlias are well past their best and really should be confined to the compost bin but I'm fascinated by the shapes they're making as they decay. The way the petals are twisting and how they are changing colour and revealing their yellow centres is so far stopping me from binning them. They look so very different to how they are when fresh.

But I'll leave you with this picture, taken earlier in the year at a local garden centre.  Not of a plant as you might expect, but of the lichen and rotting wood on the fence!

One day I might use one or more of them to inspire some textile work.

I hope I've not left you thinking that I've totally lost the plot - I just like pictures of odd things!  I wonder if any of you do the same too?

Total Opposites

I have two clematis flowering in my garden at the moment, one extremely tiny, and one big and blowsy!  They're rather late and I'd nearly given up on them both.

Clematis Rubromarginata

The tiny one is Rubromarginata - supposedly scented, but I think it must be a very faint scent - and is about 1cm across the flower.  I thought it had died earlier on in the year so I was most surprised to see it in flower at the weekend, tiny, subtle and very very delicate.

Whereas this one, just shouts "Look at me!"

Clematis Jackmanii Superba

It's Jackmanii Superba and was another one I thought had died.  It's the first time it's flowered as last year it developed wilt.

I also spotted these fennel seed heads at the weekend,

I love the shape of them and the contrast with the blue sky.  I'm sure I can translate them into something textiley at some point, but for now I'll enjoy looking at them!

Thanks for all your lovely comments about my textile on the last post - I'm very excited to tell you that I was asked if I'd sell it, and so it is now residing in a new home!  Buns for tea then (if you've ever watched 'The Railway Children' you'll understand what I mean, if you haven't then you really must, it's my favourite film!).

A Textile for Aldeburgh

I know I've told you before that one of my all time favourite places is Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast.

A mosaic of Aldeburgh loveliness!

A few weeks ago I wanted to something textiley and I decided to try and reflect Aldeburgh.  Not an actual representation, more of a memory of the light, the textures, the movement and the colours.

I kept to a very limited colour palette, but used a variety of different fabrics and threads.

I did some free motion embroidery, some hand embroidery, half hid some mother of pearl buttons and made some rust like holes through the layers of fabric with a solder iron.

I added some shells and a small piece of drift wood.

A Textile for Aldeburgh - 35cm x 24cm

(click on the picture to enlarge it)

I'm not sure if it does reflect Aldeburgh, but I don't know whether that really matters.  I enjoyed working with the limited colours and at the moment I quite like it.

A Bit of a Do

We've had a bit of a family 'do' this weekend.  It involved a cake (made by a friend not me)

a new dress (which involved hours of alterations the night before, nothing like a bit of last minute panic to focus the mind!),

some 'adapted' shoes, which several people thought were rather nice (but I did admit to having to add the silk ties as I couldn't walk in them as they were!),

and a home-made card.

No, not my birthday - I have a few years before I hit 50 (although not as many as I'd like!), but my parents' Golden Wedding anniversary.  50 years ago on 8th September 1962 they got married in St Martin's in the Field in Trafalgar Square, London.

And yesterday they celebrated with family and friends and cut another cake to celebrate.

Congratulations Mum and Dad!

A Funny Old Year

It's been a funny old year in the garden hasn't it?  Some plants that are usually stunning have struggled just to survive but some have done really well.  Some of the roses that got so damaged by the rain in June and looked quite appalling are now on their second flush and looking much better than the first time.

Sceptred Isle

Lady Emma Hamilton

Mutabilis

The dahlias also seem to be doing well with year, although a little slow to get going.

Cafe Au Lait

Unknown pink bud

Nuit D'Ete

It's been a mixed year in the veg garden.  After a slow start I am now picking courgettes, beans, cucumbers and tomatoes.  The yakon, given to me by Fiona, has loved all the wet weather and I'm hoping that all the top growth means there are lots of tubers below...

Yakon

The biggest winner this year does seem to have been the slugs though, huge great big brown ones - YUK!  It has been a constant battle between me and them, one that I think I might just be winning (those of you that know me in real life know I HATE to be beaten by anything!).

But rather than end this post on such a yukky topic I'll leave you with this detail from the centre of a Mutabilis rose - just beautiful.