Woke up to a frost this morning, only a light one but enough to have to scrape the car windscreen, but oh what a beautiful September morning. A morning to cherish with that slanting light through the trees, I was up early to go for a run and the canal was all misty and mysterious. A beautiful peachy glow.
These mornings are precious, you have to make the most of the calm, clear mornings when everything seems to sparkle, god knows we have enough gloomy grey days when the rain pours and the wind blows. So its a good start to the day and I’m planning on a bit of time in the garden. Its the September tidy, I’ve already sorted my potting shed, yesterday I cleared all the tomatoes in the greenhouse and gave it a good brush out. Making space for when I bring all the Dahlias in and also for the autumn sown seedlings. I’ve been doing my autumn sowing as and when I’ve had a moment and already the Cornflowers and Calendulas have germinated. I finished the rest yesterday and hopefully this sunshine will give them some warmth in the day. Here is my tidy and organised potting shed, how long will this last I’m not sure! 
But I’m very lucky to have this space in my garden where I can just potter away to my hearts content, as you can see its next to my greenhouse so perfectly placed. Its a home-made shed, made my the previous but one owner of our house and its sturdy though we are getting a new roof out on soon as it has sprung a bit of a leak and it needs painting. Its a bit rustic but I love it.
Its where I while away many hours and has a lovely view of the garden.
The cutting garden is being wound down now, I’ve already dug up the Zinnias as they were just woeful for me this year. The sweet pea trellis has come down and I’m getting beds ready for planting out the biennials and the autumn sown annuals later in the year or for next year. In fact I managed to plant out my wallflowers and Sweet William today. I’m trying to get ahead this year and this weather is perfect for getting cracking. But I’m still cutting from my patch, especially the Cosmos ‘Apricotta’ which have been fabulous this year.
Here with the beautiful Aster ‘Little Carlow’, Ammi visnaga, Panicum ‘Frosted Explosions’ and Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’.
However that frost last night probably means that the Cosmos flowers days are numbered and the Dahlias will be getting cut back soon. So just enjoy this seasonal colour and here is the last hurrah of the best seasonal flowers in my garden.
The Amaranthus Red hasn’t been quite as voluminous as in previous years with the dry summer but I just love its vibrant colours with the dark Dahlias and it contrasts nicely with the peachy Dahlias and more Cosmos ‘Apricotta’ and Helianthus ‘Ruby Eclipse’.
Its been a satisfying couple of days in the garden but I’ve also taken a bit of time while sorting my garden and cutting patch, I’ve been assessing what has been successful and of course what has not. How I might do things differently next year. Do I want to try any new varieties? I’m already planning what I’ll be growing next year and the autumn sowing has been great to get me started with that. Plus it will soon be time to sow sweet peas for an earlier harvest next year and I’m already starting to select varieties that I’m going to grow for next year. But that will be a mid October job. The seasonal cycle continues and thats one of the things I love the most about gardening. So the day is drawing to a close, and its going a bit chilly, back to shutting the greenhouse each night. Just made a big pot of soup to keep me warm at the nursery tomorrow. But the clearest indicator that the weather is changing is the fact that we start seeing more of our cat, Jed as he starts to need the warmth and find the cosiest spots in the house. Here he is in his current favourite spot on the back of Martins chair just above the radiator!
Enjoy the last of the days of September and being in your garden on these gorgeous sunny days.
Higgledy Anne
(I’m on Instagram anne_hinks if you fancy a follow)