It’s hard to believe that the sun was shining regularly a few weeks ago. Now it’s October in our garden and the only thing that’s a constant is all the perishing rain. Not that our plants seem to mind. I would have expected more of a colour shift this month, but we’ve still got masses of beautiful and colourful flora peeking through a LOT of green.
What’s flowering in October?
Surprisingly, given the lack of that sunshine recently (except for the one day I got lucky and took all my photos), rather a lot. Starting with the fragrant jasmine and yellow rose by the front door, which both have new buds on them.
And moving around to the side of the house, some beautiful jewel-like pink dianthus have emerged underneath an old pot-bound clematis. Close by are my vibrant pink and blue salvias. I always thought salvias preferred dry, sunny spots, but these two seem very tolerant of wet, semi-shade. All plants have a strong instinct to grow, so I guess this is a good lesson about letting them find their own levels!
October in our garden is blessed with some spectacularly large and stunning blooms from our dahlias. I always used to think that dahlias were hard to grow but that’s just not so. Nearly all of ours are grown from tubers in Spring. And I never lift them before Winter either, just cut them back after the first frosts and then mulch them heavily. If they die (so far only a couple have) I can just grow some new ones 🙂
The first two dahlias I ever grew nearly five years ago are still going strong. On the left is my beloved Dahlia Roxy, and on the right is Blue Bayou. Both bee magnets, and both wonderful in the garden and as cut flowers.
Next up, on the left is my new-this-year fabulous pink Penhill Watermelon and on the right is the unidentified crimson firework. I have discovered this is a form of cactus dahlia, but if anyone can identify the actual bloom, please let me know!
Somewhat to my amazement, a few of our edible flowers are STILL flowering. Like the gorgeous orange calendula in this month’s cover picture, and the lovely little yellow marigolds below. As I’ve mentioned previously, the blue borage is a prolific grower and self-seeder. Once we get a few frosts, it will die off, but for now I’m going to leave the plants for the bees.
And Godzilla the sunflower in our vegetable bed is still putting out new flowers (albeit smaller than they were last month). As is another of our white climbing roses, which although not the most abundant bloomer, is definitely an example of quality over quantity, I think. Side note: I’m going to stop calling it the vegetable bed because I don’t actually grow any vegetables in it. Not even any seasonal pumpkins this year, just raspberries, blueberries, rhubarb and rogue flowers, haha.
What’s fruiting this October?
There are still a few pears to harvest from our Poundstore pear tree and I haven’t yet picked any of the little kiwis. I don’t think Waitrose needs to be too concerned though, the kiwis are tiny, about the size of Alan’s thumbnail!
As I mentioned last month, we have some quite large figs growing, but as they haven’t gone brown yet, I’m going to leave them in situ for a while longer. The grapevine is still clinging to the wall, despite all the recent high winds, so I’ll wait for the grapes to turn purple before we harvest any of them. They’re sweetly edible when ripe, although they do contain tiny seeds, which aren’t especially tasty when chewed. Still, it’s quite a novelty to be able to grow and eat your own grapes, don’t you think?! There’s far too many for us to pick, so the birds will be feasting on them too.
And we have some sort of weird fungi growing near the bottom of our new silver birch tree. It’s about 10cm long and 8cm wide, but I don’t know if it’s poisonous or edible – has anyone seen anything like this before?
October in the greenhouse
The tomatoes have finished now, so after harvesting the last few ripe ones last weekend, it’s on my list to cut them down and dig over the soil in due course. But the little aubergine plant is ready to harvest – it’s a pinstripe aubergine with ripe fruit about the size of a tennis ball. I’ve not grown one before, so I wonder what they’ll taste like…
Outdoor garden jobs for October
Another feature of all the Autumn rain is that the grass keeps growing. And growing. And growing. Much to Alan’s irritation, because he’s the one that has to keep cutting it every week. I tell him it sets off all our colourful flowers beautifully but I don’t think he’s that impressed. And I’m still deadheading as often as I can to prolong the flowering periods. My grown-from-seed snapdragons are a case in point – you can see the new buds growing on these plants already.
Wildlife
Although all the tadpoles have long since hatched, you can still hear the frogs croaking in our ponds from time to time. And Alan is keeping the bird feeders topped up, to build up their fat and fuel reserves ahead of winter and any migratory flights. One species that you might not like very much are spiders. They’re not poisonous in this country and they are far more scared of us than we need to be of them. They catch all manner of bugs and insects that prey on our plants, and I try very hard not to break their webs when I see them.
I wonder sometimes why there’s so much focus on #savethebees but none on #savethespiders. They’re quite amazing creatures really. Fun fact: spider silk is incredibly tough and is five times stronger pro rata than steel. It’s also very elastic and remains unbroken after being stretched 2-4 times its original length.
Flora’s garden
Flora’s garden is still looking very overgrown, I fear she’s lost interest now that the weather is on the turn… Her pond is still home to her three frogs though and looks very pretty surrounded by ferns and pansies.
And her beautiful pink Japanese anemone is thriving, lighting up the increasingly shady part of her little patch.
Do you remember when she used to get the Mud and Bloom subscription boxes? One of her last boxes contained some garlic cloves to sow, about this time last year. Well, we’ve now harvested it and it’s drying out in the greenhouse. Garlic bread is coming!
October in our garden
I mentioned last month that I’ve rather neglected our garden this year, what with one thing and another. October in our garden is continiung that theme. I don’t feel I’ve really done very much apart from keep on top of the deadheading and pruning. On my list is to order some spring bulbs from Gee Tee Bulb Company for our orchard. Between now and early November is the optimum time to plant these, so I need to crack on. I also have some tulips to plant up in pots, but these are best planted out after the last frosts so they can wait.
After complaining at length about the amount of rain we’ve experienced over the last few weeks (and which is hammering against the windows as I write this post), how’s this for a glorious reminder of the sun? A late-blooming sunflower in Flora’s garden, nearly as tall as our two metre fence. Simply stunning, don’t you think? And what better way to conclude this month’s garden round up.
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing what’s growing in our garden this October? What did you like best? And what, if anything, are you inspired to have a go at growing?
This is lovely. Reminds me of my grandmother. She always loved flowers and could have named everything you pointed out to her. Great post 😀
Ah, thank you, that’s a lovely compliment, it reminds me of my mother, she was the same. I have some way to go yet but I’m trying! 🙂
The flowers do seem to be lasting quite a while this year, despite all the rain, but it’s turned so chilly all of a sudden! Our garden is full of those spotty/striped spiders, but I don’t really mind them. And your lemony jasmine is such a delicate wee flower – quite beautiful! 😁
It is sooo cold first thing in the morning, isn’t it? I’m so pleased you don’t mind spiders either, I feel so sorry for them, they’ve got such a bad rep over here. Thank you – the jasmine was actually a rescue plant so I’m very pleased with her!
Oh God how beautiful… literally this post is the best post I have seen today so far… I love nature and flowers so much… although I am not very good in gardening but alway want to learn and want my garden to bloom like yours… I am wondering if it is like that in October how would it be in Spring?.. please attach a link if you have any post about your spring garden… beautiful pictures…keep it blooming…❤️
http://www.geniusenough.com
Oh my goodness, thank you so much, what a truly lovely thing to say! Honestly, I would never describe myself as a great gardener, I just read a lot of books and websites and plant whatever I fancy. Sometimes it works but not always, that’s the fun of gardening, it’s all a game of chance, haha. I write monthly garden updates and have done so for a couple of years now – if you click on the garden category tab in my menu (https://www.lisasnotebook.com/category/blog/garden/) you’ll be able to see them all! Thank you so much again for your wonderful comment! xx
I love your garden posts!
It’s always looking so beautiful 😊
Love Lozza xo
Aw, thank you so much, Lozza, that’s so kind! x
I love this time of year in the garden. There are still a few plants and flowers popping up to say hey before the long winter ahead.
I’m not a huge Autumn fan but yes, it’s lovely to enjoy all the colour before Winter arrives 🙂
Your flowers look so pretty! I’ve never even heard of an aubergine? Did you try it? What does it taste like! It looks like a funky fruit to me! Also, fresh garlic sounds heavenly. I love putting garlic in pretty much everything and garlic bread sounds delicious!
Thank you! Aubergines are also known as eggplants – they crop up a lot in Italian cooking, I think – but I don’t know what ours taste like yet! We’re not massive garlic fans but we do love garlic bread so fingers crossed 🙂
Ooh I love the blue salvias. I love blue flowers – they always look so striking. I didn’t realise you COULD grow grapes? For some reason I thought they could only be grown in some particular place or climate haha! x
Blue is one of the hardest colours to grow in the garden according to Monty Don but I don’t agree, our salvias and borage grow like weeds, haha. I think the grapes grow well because they’re against a very sunny wall but, like you, I was very surprised when I first saw them! x
Your garden looks beautiful every month. My pumpkin didn’t survive the infestation of flies and spiders, but my cacti and succulents are doing good
Thank you so much – and you’re doing far better than me, my house plant game sucks!
I guess we’re the opposite it that sense, all my outdoor plants died 😂
Aw, no, but haha, yes, we must be!
I love this! Those dahlias look gorgeous – I’m so jealous of your bountiful garden! Pinning this as well!
Aw, thank you so much, that’s so kind, I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Ohhh I absolutely love your gardening posts! I was so excited to get a garden when we moved this year, and I’ve loved seeing what we can grow, we have some dahlias too and I love them. Such gorgeous photos, your garden is clearly flourishing!
Hels xx
Thank you, Hels, and how exciting to have a new garden, the possibilities are endless! Dahlias are great, aren’t they? So rewarding for very little effort, my kind of plants! xx
Omgosh I love this post because I love flowers! And you manage to find lots for October! I love the detail and photography. My favourite is the pink Japanese anemone. I’m going to read your edible flower post now. Monica from http://www.thewongblog.com
Thank you very much, we’ve been very fortunate this October, I wasn’t expecting so much colour 🙂 And my Samsung Galaxy S6 must take all the photography credit, it’s just a point and shoot, haha!
Great post😊I love flowers, love gardening…going to miss it over winter time though😘
Thank you so much, I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
What a pretty garden! It is so different from a summer garden, as I always feel the colors fade though they are no less vibrant. The sunshine gives an entirely different vibe to the place. The salvias are so bright and happy.
Thank you so much, that’s very kind 🙂 I know what you mean about faded colours but there’s something about Autumn sunshine that makes them glow so beautifully, we’re very lucky!
🙂 🙂
You garden is so beautiful, I adore anything to do with gardening as it makes me feel like a little girl again and it’s really special to me – thank you so much for sharing lovely. I’m sending you all of my love! 💜
With love, Alisha Valerie x | http://www.alishavalerie.com
Ah thank you, Alisha, what a lovely thing to say, that’s so sweet of you! X
Wow your garden is amazing! It’s given me loads of inspiration, thank you!
You’re so welcome, and thank you vey much 🙂
I honestly didn’t think that England was warm enough for grapes, especially in October?! I love your ‘crimson firework’, so so so pretty. I love that your garden is still so bright and colourful in the cooler months too x
Sophie
Ha, well yes, the grapes are a welcome surprise! And thank you, we’re very lucky to have so many lovely colours at this time of year 🙂 X
Adorei sua postagem hoje, estou sempre aqui seguindo seu blog. Eu aprendi muitas coisas legais aqui e obrigado por compartilhar …
Beijos 😘
Dicas da Web
Muito obrigado, isso é muito gentil da sua parte!
There is nothing that says ‘autumn’ to me more than sunflowers, so it made me smile to see that included here!
Ah, that’s lovely! I think most people in the UK associate sunflowers with summer (or maybe that’s just me!) x
It’s so lovely to see your garden is still blooming with so many gorgeously colourful flowers, Lisa! These updates always brighten my day, especially on this cold gloomy Monday morning, after reading this I am definitely feeling more cheerful so thank you! 🙂 I’m so impressed at all the fruits and flowers still around this time of year, and wow all those grapes, I can imagine the birds love your garden right now!! I’m glad to see that the aubergine plant was a success, fingers crossed they taste good too. And oh my, garlic bread sounds delicious, enjoy! Flora’s garden is looking very pretty too and that sunflower is really beautiful – I agree, it’s a nice reminder of the sunshine before we head into these colder darker days. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous garden – always one of my favourite posts to read! <3 xxx
Ah, thank you so much, Bexa, that’s such a lovely thing to say – as I look out the window now the rain is SHEETING down, so it’s nice to look back on these photos and remember sunnier times, haha. Yes, fingers crossed for the aubergines, it’s not something I’ve cooked with before but fingers crossed 🙂 Thank you so much for your wonderful comment! xxx
Thank you for letting me live vicariously! I didn’t realize how much I miss gardening until I was going through this post.
Oh thank you so much, what a lovely thing to say, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Your garden looks so beautiful. Even in the autumn, your garden is so colourful and pretty! Thank you for sharing! I am looking forward to reading your garden posts this year and seeing what you get planted xxx
Aw, thank you so much, that’s so kind, they’re among my favourite posts to write and share and it makes me so happy that people enjoy them too xxx