Sprautumn

I'm not sure if I quite like the term Sprautumn, it does sound like something you would be served in a small Bavarian town probably by someone in leider-hosen and with a side-helping of sauerkraut. But it certainly fits the weird mix of Spring-like sunny spells mixed with Autumnal windy wet weather we have been having lately. I'm very glad I was disciplined and got my new plants in the ground last weekend after my buying session rather that trying to wrestle them into the soil against the gale force winds we've been having today!

For the most part, I managed to stick to my shopping list. Apart from the above three which were impulse buys! I splurged on this sky-blue delphinium, which will no doubt be a feast for the slugs and snails but it was too beautiful to resist. It was quickly followed by Brizia maxima which has really pretty seed heads, they are starting to open out a bit more now, but when closed, to my eye they look like little hearts. I also picked up an Amsonia, which I'd never heard of before but drew my in by it's delicate delft-blue star shaped flowers.

Remember my bare root roses purchased back in April? I was rather worried that come summer I would be pulling up two dried out thorny sticks from my garden but they have taken very well and I already have quite a few buds on Harlow Carr. Napoleon's Chapeau is a bit more reluctant, with quite a few leaves but no buds as of yet - perhaps I should go and sing it a stirring rendition of La Marseillaise.

I always like taking quite a few shots of the garden so that I can compare the photos to ones I took this time last year, and hopefully the years to come! The bees are enjoying my alliums and Valerian, I'm always pleased to see bees in the garden and the ones with the little fluffy bodies always looks so cute. We have some large looking figs ripening on the tree, I hope we get some nice sunny weather soon to sweeten them up!

And finally, my customised hat from Gil Fox arrived - it's gorgeous and I'm thrilled with it. I'm even thinking about putting a hook up on a wall somewhere so that I can have it on display all year - it's too pretty to put away in a box. Gil did mention that she was hoping to see a photo of me wearing it so que a cringe-inducing photo of yours-truly wearing said hat. When taking this photo I found out that it is very difficult to take your own portrait and since Holly and Ivy don't have opposable thumbs (much to their chagrin) I had to be inventive! Now I just need the weather to wear it in!