Autumn Colour

 

I'm bringing this fig (a present from Zoe) into the tunnel for the winter. I considered planting it out but have decided to give it a bigger pot to live in. 

These anemones came from the Wees. They had been a feature in his mother's garden but had to go when they built a shed. I moved then this spring and they haven't really come back from that. Next year will be better.

The begonias were a gift too. We were given so many this year that we had to share them out. A good few went to Belfast to console hard-pressed social workers. In return, I was given wine (shop-bought) and homemade chilli jelly and some other things. I like that way of doing business.  

Bert got these Michaelmas Daisies as a freebie last year when he was delivering climbers to a garden shop. They were rather bedraggled and had mould but they grew out of it. They add a nice splash of colour to the autumn garden. That's a beehive at the back of the shot. The bees are still very busy gathering pollen and evicting drones. No honey though. The beggars scoffed it all. I don't mind. They need it more than we do.

Borage is one of nature's freebies. It's self-sown and pops up all over the place.  I love its little hairy buds and it's a big favourite with pollinators.

The streptocarpus was a present from Bert's Aunt Lizzie. She told me it was difficult to keep going but, so far, I've found it easy. It spent the summer months outside. I divided it, repotted and brought it indoors. I'm very pleased with it and it is nice to have something to remember her by. The only thing is, I really hope it's not one of those plants that produces an amazing flush of flowers before it dies. We'll see.  

Things Bees Know

 

I had a good weekend, busy and productive. Planted tomatoes and lettuce in the tunnel. Weeded like a demon. Prepared ground for new plantings, potted up my bay tree and planted another sumach. Did a lot of birdwatching. There are a lot of juveniles around. Ate a ton of chocolate, made carrot and coriander soup and scones and baked two cakes. Gave away a lot of eggs.

And speaking of eggs, we gave half a dozen to MM and he gave us 30 empty egg boxes and a jar of chilli jam. Even better, we gave another six eggs to EC and he gave us a nuke of honey bees.

And speaking of honey bees (and other pollinators) I found out from DR on Twitter that the reason the centres of some of those forget-me-nots are white, rather than yellow is because another pollinating insect has scoffed all the pollen. Bees know this, so they only go for the ones with the yellow centres. How did I get to the age of eleventy-bus-pass without this knowledge?