After a warm, windy and sometimes wet September, it has been fun to spend time reflecting on what sums up the early Autumn garden. I’ve gone for rich colour in fruit, flowers and foliage to celebrate the Harvest Moon. Here are my #SixOnSaturday.

Colour starts the show. This is the time of year when I love dahlia more than ever. they blast on until the nights get really cold. I picked this little lot this morning for a vase for the house.

In the veg garden, despite a wet and miserable July, August ended warm and sunny. Climbing French beans have just gone for it this year. Purple beans look great in a salad and if quickly steamed, they retain their colour on the plate too.

Nearby, autumn raspberries are doing their usual thing. Today I picked enough for 2 bowls of fruit, filling for a cake, and a tub for the freezer.

The mid-summer damp has also been great for this season’s blueberries. There are a few rich purple fruit left, even as the foliage is turning it’s gorgeous autumn bergundy.

Another rush of colour comes from nerines, which have just started to flower. A wonderful rush of colour in the dry south-facing corners near the house wall.

Butterflies have suffered this summer. Yet at the back-end, my garden is now full of red admiral. Take a close look here: not just a few tattered leaves on some mouldering apples. there are 3 red admiral butterflies feasting here. I hope they don’t get too drunk.

That’s my #SixOnSaturday for this week. Join the sixes on Mastodon or other instances in the Fediverse via #SixOnSaturday, we need a few more folk to toot on the topic: come join us. All you need to do is find 6 things in your garden to show us. Then post on social, or add a link at Jim’s blog below. For regulars, our organiser is Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. Also on twitter @JamesLStephens. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot

Mid-September finds me in denial about the end of summer. I do love summer. Let’s keep it going for just a bit longer with some wonderful Dahlias for my #SixOnSaturday. First up is a very simple one, grown from seed, that the bees love. Simple open flower, vibrant lemon yellow.

More beautiful in its structure and perfection of form, it is hard not to love a full orange cactus-style flower.

To really ramp up the glamour, I actually remember the name of this one: Totally Tangerine. Not sure the name fully fits, but the complexity of flower, stamens, shape, make this a very interesting variety.

Hard to know where to go after that one, so right back to the simplicity of a single coloured, pure white, and satisfyingly large flower.

This next one is a very cheerful type, I love the way the petals seems to flow from yellow through to red. Then there’s a lovey flush of both colours at the centre of the flower.

I think this next one is a new one this year, back to the simplest of flowers and a single strong colour. what a rich vibrant red.

I would challenge anyone not to love all these dahlia. I’ve been growing them just a few years, mostly in pots. They bring thrills and spills of colour and form to the late summer garden. Hope you enjoyed this week’s six favourites.

That’s my #SixOnSaturday for this week. Join the sixes on Mastodon or other instances in the Fediverse via #SixOnSaturday, we need a few more folk to toot on the topic: come join us. All you need to do is find 6 things in your garden to show us. Then post on social, or add a link at Jim’s blog below. For regulars, our organiser is Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. Also on twitter @JamesLStephens. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot

After a week away cycling in the lovely Scottish borders, and then some urgent family commitments, I’ll have to make it a very quick #SixOnSaturday this week. It’s September, and I guess that mean the harvest, so here are some wonderful fruit.

First up, we have SO many apples this year that some of the tree branches really are breaking off.

Pears have not had such a dramatic year, but they are almost ready too, and they always seem to ripen in one huge clump.

Back to apples, I have a couple of trees of cooking apples, they are not ready yet, but ripening nicely in the Autumn heatwave.

In the greenhouse, this year’s crop of grapes are coming on rather well too.

yet another variety of apples makes for a lovely pale golden juice that isn’t too sweet.

And last, but very much not least, there are oodles of Autumn raspberries ripening.

That’s my #SixOnSaturday for this week. Join the sixes on Mastodon or other instances in the Fediverse via #SixOnSaturday, we need a few more folk to toot on the topic: come join us. All you need to do is find 6 things in your garden to show us. Then post on social, or add a link at Jim’s blog below. For regulars, our organiser is Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. Also on twitter @JamesLStephens. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot