So, 5 Saturdays in October this year and this last one is Halloween. Happy days to any who celebrate. The garden is calm and quiet after high winds and rain a week ago. I slipped out to find some slight spooky offerings for this week’s #SixOnSaturday.

For me spookiness seems to be exemplified by texture. A few small cucumbers are still resident in the greenhouse, does this one look a little scary?

In the garden, seedheads abound. Echinops is one of my favourite autumn flowers, by now they look a forlorn, yet slightly startled.

More sky fruit, this is achocha, a South American vine. Fruits are 3cm long, they can be used like a bell pepper in stir-fries and similar. These grew outdoors this year.

Back to flowers and seeded, and here are two sitting side by side on the same stem, marigold.

Back to spikey one more time, here are nigella seed heads, really fascinating form and texture.

And finally, the spookiest seed head of all, it has to be honesty, delicate and ghostly, a lovely plant.

Have a lovely gentle weekend in the garden, before we dip down into the November dark.

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot

Wow…..back to back storms. Fri/Sat we are being hit by constant rain from Storm Austen (40-50mm expected), then Sat/Sun we’ll get very high winds from Storm Boelo. Just as well I nipped out on Thursday to get some colourful contributions for this week’s #SixOnSaturday. This week, I’m going for pink-red.

As I said last week, most things in my south-facing border by the south-facing house wall have suffered this year. I feared that even marine might have perished. But nope, just a handful have raised their joyful autumn blooms, a lovely reminder of summer colours.

Another late-flowerer is this wonderful fuchsia. The plant can just about live here, in most winters all the foliage is shrivelled by frost, right to the ground. Most years the plant comes back strong, as it has done this year.

Next up, euphorbia is a bit of a thug, but it does provide interest for many months. This one is vivid green, with red flowers in summer, by now, the remaining foliage is a rich mix of orange-pink shades.

Right now, before the high winds hit on Saturday night, is probably optimal time for continue, now it’s a really rich shape of, mmmm, I’d call it rich pink!

Last, some read berries for the autumn season. We have flocks of emigrant blackbirds arriving from all-over, guzzling berries all round the garden. So far, the rich dark red of these cotoneaster berries are still on show.

Hope wherever you are you don’t get too much storm damage this weekend. And I hope my cheery six brightened up your day.

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot

There such a riot of autumn colour this year, I’ve been able to try a ‘colour theme’ for my choices this week. Here’s a load of yellow for #SixOnSaturday.

The summer has been as hot and dry as we’ve ever had here in eastern Scotland. Most things in my south-facing border by the south-facing house wall has shrivelled, not so the Fremontodendron — it is flowering away like crazy.

Around the garden, there is wonderful colour in shrubs and trees. One of the fruit bushes I have is a Saskatoonberry. I’ve tasted a bit ‘early’ and they are not very exiting, but I’ve never got to a ripe fruit, the blackbirds get there first. The yellow of the leaves is pretty stunning right now.

A firm favourite with a few straggler bees still foraging, the yellow-pom-pom type of buddleja keeps on flowering too.

A hydrangea that claws it’s way up the garage wall is pretty much a wall full of yellow this weekend.

Elsewhere, edible quince have a few fruit left, this small tree fruited well this year, perhaps enjoying a long warm spell.

Last this week, I’ve let a few self-seeding nasturtium take over the strawberry bed for the autumn. They are loving it, they always feel a little Halloweeny…..that not quite yet! Here’s one of the yellowest flowers to round things off for the week.

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot

Autumn colours are in full swing now, and we have not had too many storms yet. I thought I would share some of that colour with you for #SixOnSaturday

Amalancia is first this week. A lovely large shrub that I like to look at about 10 months of year, including this one….small leaves, but a wash of interesting green-to-red is going on here.

Next, before the frosts come, ferns are still standing tall. And this one is covered in tiny spores.

Continus sometimes looses its leaves before the colour shines out….this year there is a wonderful display. I’ve picked some of the branches for an indoor vase too.

More seed heads now, this time larger, making the leaves of the spirea sparkle.

Boston ivy will soon be scarlet, I like this phase, where each leaf has a full range of colours.

Last up this week, this fig tree sits against a south facing wall and gave us probably the best crop we have ever had. Now it will hold its leaves until the plant is touched by frost.

There we are, full on autumn without storms gives really wonderful colour in Scotland.

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot

October 2026…..what a long time into the future that once seemed, yet it is ‘just another autumn’. Yet not a usual one…I’m still able to grow some surprising crops, I think due to the warmish days and more unusually warmish nights. So here are a selection of edibles for #SixOnSaturday

Perhaps the least surprising crops still growing are in the greenhouse. In recent years I have been much more particular about cutting back the lush growth on tomatoes, allow their fruit, and others plants to enjoy more light. This has resulted in less rot, and plants fruiting for a good while longer. I reckon I still have a couple of kilos to harvest in this first week of October. This one is Audreys Love….many of the suit are heart striped, this one not-so-much, but there’s a hint of a green stripe and they have great flavour…and ideal for greenhouse bench as about 1m tall.

Lemon drop chillies are a must-have for me as a greenhouse crops these days. they fruit way into autumn if given a light and airy spot on the greenhouse bench, and produce medium-hot, lemony flavoured fruit, that also freeze well.

There’s a bit of a 2-for-1 going on here too. Some of the grapes have plumped-up — they were rather pathetic a month ago, yet next to them, and a complete surprise for early October, I still have a few cucumbers!

Moving outdoors, I have never seen a courgette plant still alive, fruiting and even flowering into October, until today. Athena is on her last legs, but has a couple more fruit to offer me.

I did plant a risky crop of little pak choi and tatsoi a couple of weeks ago. They have not been munched on my anything that slithers or flies yet, fingers crossed there will be a couple more warm weeks.

Last this week, is the visually gorgeous radicchio, loves a warm autumn, and will keep going if it has a few dry windy days to keep the rot off. Will be using these in sauces and pasta dishes.

That was a good look around the veg garden and greenhouse. A pretty good showing of home grown veg for October I feel!

Do join in with your own 6 things from a garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog. I do read them all, keep them coming. And do join in with #SixOnSaturday. 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/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot