The slow downward spiral into autumn continues, slowly this week, a little quicker next week if the forecast is accurate. Soon it will be Camellia season, which always keeps me busy through the winter months. I have buds on new plants that I cannot wait to see in flower.
Still lots of colour around though, in fact it’s been a great year for our Fuchsias in particular and they are mostly still dripping with flowers. Not that I’ve included any in my six. What have we got then:
One.
Cosmos atrosanguineus. Chocolate Cosmos, that I took a cutting of about a year ago. I thought I’d lost it this spring but it eventually showed above ground and it has finally opened a couple of flowers. A good photo challenge is chocolate cosmos. I think I’d give myself about six out of ten.
Two.
Dahlia ‘Polly Peachum’. Dahlias are great for pure colour but I think the ones I like best are those that combine two strong and contrasting, even clashing, colours. They have a vibrancy about them that really works for me. Pink and orange in this one. What it is doing still languishing in a pot at this stage of the season I have no idea.
Three.
Back in June I was whingeing about one of my neighbours boxing me off to replace a length of boundary hedge with a fence. I did a post about it on June 23, including the first of these two pictures. The second shows it now. Much of the greenery is in pots, Fuchsias, Impatiens, Bomarea and Ipomaea. I have Fuchsia ‘Lady in Black’ at one end, in the ground. Another will be going in at the other end. Then I’ll plant a couple of clematis and augment it with annual climbers in pots. On the other side of the path Fuchsias will do summer, following on from masses of primroses in spring. I am astonished at the growth, the soil looked like impoverished subsoil.
Four.
Hesperantha mysteriosa. I have had a large pot of pink Scarborough lily, Cyrtanthus elatus ‘Pink Diamond’, for many years. A couple of days ago I noticed a cuckoo in the nest, in the shape of a very slender and small flowered Hesperantha. I have absolutely no idea where it has come from or what exactly it is.
Five.
Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillars are something we get one or two of on our Fuchsias most years. This year I’ve seen four or five. Their natural food would be willowherb, which is in the same family as Fuchsia, Onagraceae. If one was on an especially treasured plant I might carefully move it onto another variety but generally I leave them to it. I’m glad to have such creatures in the garden. They’ve all disappeared now, this one was photographed on Tuesday.
Six.
Plectranthus argentatus is a wonderful foliage plant but it does eventually get around to flowering. I don’t wish to damn with faint praise, so I’ll keep schtum. It’s up against some stiff competition in Salvia ‘Amistad’.
Bulb order number three arrived yesterday, Crocuses and Scillas. Only one more to come. I need to get seed orders sorted. Could probably do with some lousy weather to force me inside. I could tidy my desk if I got desperate enough.
For the umpteenth time this summer they’ve just said we might get thunderstorms today. Hasn’t happened yet, perhaps todays the day. The garden won’t mind though I’m less keen myself. It’d give me a chance to read everyone elses SoS posts, links to which will be in The Propagator’s comments section.
garden ruminations 
I’m sorry I missed everything this last week.
Your new fence looks completely different in the two pictures. It is barely visible behind the trellises.
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Your caterpillar is quite a specimen! Great shot of the chocolate cosmos – I want to try growing this. Your dahlia is, er, bright!
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Always encouraging to see the before and after photos of a project. The plants have done well, I hope it has been a silver lining!
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I think it has. I now have about 5 metres of hedge which is a hassle to cut, might get rid of that too.
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Enjoyed your picture of the hawk moth caterpillar..have seen a few for the first time this year.
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Those flowerbeds by the fence are beautiful and look as though they have been there for years! Your Hawkmoth has the appearance of a crocodile whereas mine looked more like a dragon! At the risk of being predictable, lovely Six again.
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Thank you kindly!
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Your Chocolate Cosmos photo is much closer to the actual colour than I managed! That rich dark reddish-brown / maroon is divine. Mine was slow to re-appear this spring too, I thought I’d lost it. Do you leave yours in the ground? Use mulch or fleece? I’m undecided what to do this year. My third lot of bulbs arrived this week too. Planted the ones in pots already and now waiting a bit longer to do the ones in the ground. Having reached over 500 bulbs I wonder if I overdid it again…
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I haven’t done a bulb total count, must do so. I’ve planted 3 so far, in a pot. The Cosmos was just a rooted cutting last year so it stayed in the greenhouse. It’s still in a pot so I’ll keep it in again this year.
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I should take a cutting of mine perhaps. Just in case!
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I always like to have a backup.
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I like the salvia & plectranthus argentatus flowers together, but perhaps they look slightly different in person, as Amistad is a bit of a attention hog. I’ve got both fuchsia & willow herb, but haven’t seen an elephant hawk moth or caterpillar, so feel very deprived. So is chocolate cosmos a perennial? Hmmm . . .
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I don’t think the flowers add anything much to the Plectranthus’s contribution. Choc Cosmos is perennial, but somewhat tender, very much like Dahlias.
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Very nice catch, this caterpillar Elephant Hawk Moth. I hope it did not damage the whole plant…
Does your Plectranthus have a strong odor when you touch the leaves? There are some who love it (me ) and others who don’t. I grow Plectranthus neochilus.
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The caterpillars seem to move on after they’ve had a nibble at one plant, so no serious damage done. The Plectranthus has almost no smell, to my nose anyway.
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