It should be late autumn, but winter seems to have arrived: storm Arwen is bashing about outside (Friday evening), I’m in bed with my first heavy cold in 2 years, and I’m hoping to get this blog up in case we get power cuts later….very high winds and a sprinkling of snow, I think the leaves will be gone by Sunday. It seems apt to make this week’s #SixonSaturday theme be the turn of another season, and plants that are defying that turn. I managed to get out to grab a few photos this morning, while it was calm and sunny. I’ll start with some survivors. A yellow buddleja always does me proud feeding the last pollinating insects, I think it’s beaten them to the end of season this year.

I cleared some leaves away from the veg bed and found a few wonderfully colourful radicchio underneath. Fabulous colour, if I can keep the wet leaves off, they will end up in a mushroom-radicchio lasagne later this weekend.

There has been a fair bit of cool dry weather lately. I think that might be why this fern is decaying with a delicate colour-fade this year, quite different from the usual frost-driven brown mush. Worth contemplating for a while….will be gone in this storm…

Until perennial cornflower started doing it’s own thing by seeding itself in top spots, I didn’t realise it would flower into winter. This one was chopped back hard in September and has rewarded me with a couple more cheerful blooms.

I grow a diminutive small-leaved hebe that nicely fills part of a ‘low maintenance’ border. It very seldom flowers, but it does provide cheerful ever-green all year. Dry, warm, and not-too-wet autumn seems to be suitable weather, it’s decided to flower.

It took me many year to realise I was growing Himalyan honeysuckle. This plant loves dry, shady corners of my hillside garden, pops up often, and is flowering away now. It has a certain ‘waterfall’ kind of elegance, and good strong colour.

That’s my #SixonSaturday this week, have a great weekend in the garden, if you can get out into the weather. Stay safe, keep yourself and others safe by following the science and wearing a mask, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.

15 deg in mid-November means that there’s still lots of colour, and pattern around. I must admit ‘colour and pattern’ is a bit of a loose theme for a #SixSaturday, but here it is…..

First up, there are still roses in flower, battling away to keep going and going. These ones last for months. I love their pretty little blooms, sadly they have no scent.

Rather than clearing a big patch of hosta, these have been left to decay away, producing a rather satisfying pattern as the stems melt away into the earth.

Some lovely autumn colour next, from iris foetidissima, a fairly plain and simple summer flowering iris, but at this time of year the seed heads are interesting a colourful.

Activity is calming down in the pond now. Spiky ‘water solidiers’ have sunk into the depths. Water lily is still in leaf, and a few local invaders are doing there thing. The pond will need an early winter clean out pretty soon, but we’ll wait until the leaf fall is nearly over.

Talking of leaves, this year has produced a rich variety of bright colour, that is now falling before it fades, leaving a multi-coloured lawn, and lots of promise for leaf-mould to come (once it’s all been raked up and put into the leaf holder).

Last but not least, some more pink…not-very-hardy geraniums are still outdoors in pots. This weekend looks like it might drop cold, so they will be moving into the greenhouse soon for their winter holiday.

That’s my #SixonSaturday this week, have a great weekend in the garden, looks like the weather will still be mild across most of the UK. Stay safe, keep yourself and others safe by following the science and wearing a mask, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.

I didn’t publish a blog last weekend, as I was privileged to experience glorious Autumn colours in the wonderful Scottish Borders. It has been a fabulous autumn in southern Scotland, so here’s a bonus image of Stobo Castle gardens before I even get to my #SixonSaturday for this week.

WOW! Whoever designed the garden is probably long-gone, but what a fabulous legacy! Stobo Castle is a spa hotel, but it doesn’t say anywhere that the garden is private, so I’d recommend a look if you’re near Peebles any time.

Now I’m back home and starting to wade through the vast arrays of collapsing border plants. But there’s still things to look at, little pieces of joy that make mid-November in the garden worth a look. First, still standing this year (because we’ve only had 1 frost) is my boisterous gunnera. Soon to collapse but, for now, fighting on.

To complement the green, here’s a bit of colour. I can’t quite decide whether this is wallflower is newly flowering, or if it’s been flowering all year. But I noticed it as I cleared a big tub of cosmos away. What a worker!

For my next little joy, I showed the flowers of clematis tangutica a few weeks ago. Always a late flowerer, and soon to be chopped, but now it is full of gorgeous seed heads. I’ll leave a bit longer as I’ve seen sparrows collecting these to line their winter roosting pockets.

This is the first year I have grown ammi, from seed. These promised to give that lovely floaty white thing, in mid-late summer. They have been at their best later than advertised, but I think they are worth it. I will try to sow the seeds earlier next year.

My final two are certainly, ‘wow still going’ blooms. The first is some kind of daisy-type plant, probably north American, maybe a Shasta Daisy? This year I did deadhead vigorously and a few of the plants were kind enough to deliver late flowers. Nice.

Last, and I know I’ve shown these recently, but what’s not to love? Calendula…..still at it. I remember a trip about 10 years ago trekking in Nepal in November, and they were growing there, so perhaps it’s not surprising that they manage eastern Scotland too.

That’s my #SixonSaturday this week, have a great weekend in the garden, looks like the weather will still be mild across most of the UK. Stay safe, keep yourself and others safe by following the science and wearing a mask, and don’t forget to follow the crowd on twitter and via the web from links to the originator of #SixonSaturday, the Propagator himself.