An Instagram retrospective of August & September 2017
Hydrangea petals are crinkling and browning now, still attractive, but you can almost see the colour drain out before your eyes. It wasn’t like that back at the beginning of August, when the fresh greens, whites and creams of Hydrangea 'Annabelle' were at their most inviting.
The word ‘daisy’ conjures mental images of pretty, dainty, insignificant flowers. Which just might be excusable when referring to the daisies in our lawns, but never those in our flowerbeds, and particularly not echinaceas. These flowers are tough – thick, hairy stems that wouldn’t dream of snapping and, while the colourful petals might be the most vulnerable part of the plant, the central parts of the flower are quite a different matter, almost teasel-like with their rigidity. You could kosh someone over the bonce with one and probably be had up for assault. I make no excuse for photographing them continually over the summer.
Of an altogether more delicate nature are the pelargoniums. A combination of domestic set-up and natural ham-fistedness means I’d not be anybody’s first choice as a custodian of a collection of tender perennials – particularly over winter – nonetheless, I continue to build a collection of these antipodean beauties, which I tend, propagate from, nurture and then expose to the brutality of my hibernal plant provision, so that only the very toughest will survive to see the next spring. I’ve got good compost this year, so I’m feeling confident, but who knows what will survive the chilly dark and draughty house? Whatever happens, I’ll always have the pictures of them in all their summer glory.
Fully aware of my tendency to kill any plant in the house, I’ve been banned from ‘looking after’ the growing succulent collection.
Though you may notice creeping into the odd internal shot the leaves of one of the rex begonias I’ve bought myself. Surely I can’t destroy them? I do hope not, they’re spectacular.
Two weeks off in summer is not a thing I’ve done since becoming a self-employed gardener. Getting to spend the first week very close to one of my all-time favourite gardens was a real bonus, as was re-discovering flowers I remember fondly from my childhood.
Of course, one huge benefit of working for yourself doing a job that you love, is that it’s never too hard to come back from holiday.
And by the end of August, I was seeing the effort put in earlier in the year with the dahlias begin to pay off.
At some point, I decided that we need more hydrangeas at home.
I took up the challenge to make ragwort look pretty...
...and continuing the small-flowered daisy theme, this time in a shady spot in the border.
But soon, the year begins to turn. I don’t make myself popular by seeing signs of the approach of autumn all through the height of summer, but eventually, even the most resistant have to concede that it’s on its way.
And once the Autumnal Equinox arrived on 22 September, I could mention the ‘A’ word without fear of reproof. As long as I tried not to look too happy about it.
In the last days of September, a cloud of Red Admiral butterflies settled across Instagram – growing up, it was always a rare treat to see one in our north London garden, but this year they were the most common sight.
Old containers out, new containers in. Time to refresh tired displays that have served well through the warmer months, and plenty of stock in the nurseries from which to choose. One of my favourite jobs.
How was August & September in your garden? Let me know on twitter, or in the comments below.