Out of the bedroom window the leaves under the apricot tree testify that autumn is changing the garden.
With the tall “Sweet Lavender” aster now in flower, the asters are still the main attraction.
The carder bees’ colour may be fading but they love the tiny flowers of the “Sweet Lavender”
The asters are the best place to see the bee action.
There are still a lot of butterflies around like this Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) and they join the bees.
I decided to visit my Mulberry as we have had no rain for some time and it was never watered during the dry summer.
The leaves change to a beautiful gold in the autumn and this year is no different, thankfully.
I was standing admiring the Mulberry when I noticed a huge dragonfly on the leaves basking in the sunshine. I rushed back to the house, got my camera, came back and it was still there! Such a difference from photographing bees or butterflies!
It is a Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) and much more impressive than the little brown damselflies that were in the garden at the same time.
Another find was a mass of these toadstools growing under the debris in a border I was clearing. Sorry I had no time to find or speculate on a name as there is too much to be done outside at the moment.
I have decided to do more vegetables this winter. So apart from the usual broad beans, brussel sprouts and leeks, I have added onions, carrots, cauliflower and Romanesco brocolli. This is just an experiment brought on by following Notre petit jardin Breton. They make so much use of their garden that I felt I should make more effort. If the slugs and snails are unkind to me it could be a short experiment and I will stick to the easier option of tomatoes and courgettes in the summer.
I have been harvesting my surprise crop of Goji berries but I am still unable to develop a taste for them. I decided to dry them as they are usually sold in “raisin” format. I pricked them first and them set them to dry at a low temperature in the oven. I managed to get them to look like raisins but they still remained too juicy to consider storing them. They did taste marginally better. The birds have not touched them yet.
The birds get pretty spoiled in the garden as Kourosh feeds them every morning and we have gleaned sunflower heads for them from the fields that have already been harvested. Obviously they taste better than Goji berries.
It must all be a matter of taste or availability. I have masses of this white erigeron growing all round the paths and walls but it attracts no pollinators. Then I saw this honey bee feeding on it. Will she have a problem when she gets back to the hive with the nectar? Will her sisters say, “Why did you collect that when there are loads of asters out there?”
The Cosmos is still blooming…
and there is still plenty of sunshine to enjoy a break from clearing the borders. October has been a good month in the garden, so far.
a french garden 