October, and the summer heatwave is a distant memory. Not that it’s really cold and so far the garden is holding up well; he says as the rain comes down and the wind builds. No more than a fleeting shower in a breeze, by the standard set by Florida this week. Why we in this country are so obsessed with the weather when we barely get any, is one of life’s little mysteries. What isn’t a mystery is that it’s Saturday yet again and time to trawl around for half a dozen things going on in the garden; we’re all at it, it’s The Propagator’s fault.
One.
Years ago I participated in a meme called ‘end of month view’ where we posted pictures of our gardens at the end of each month. Not so different from SoS, except monthly and not limited in scope. It set me on the path of taking pictures of the same few views of the garden each month, a habit that largely lapsed along with the demise of the meme. In April this year I revived the picture taking, so I now have six, month-end shots of six views of the garden. No, I’m not making them my six for the week, in fact this view was not even one I repeated each month, but I did take it in April and since it best shows almost the whole garden, I tried to get the same angle again for the end of September. I agree with Einstein that time is another dimension on a par with the three spatial dimensions, at least where gardening is concerned. On a par with but seemingly a lot harder to master than the other three.
Two.
We put two or three of a silvery foliage plant in one of our pots out the front, along with an Argyranthemum. It has done remarkably well and if the pot had been put on a pedestal, could have concealed the water butt completely. It came with no label but I’ve tentatively identified it as Dichondra sericea ‘Silver Falls’. Perennial but tender; do I try to keep it over winter or hope I can get it again next season? It’s in the Convolvulaceae so basically it’s posh bindweed or weedy morning glory. It hasn’t flowered, or if it did, I missed it.
Three.
Also out the front, Alstroemerias are still going strong. A month ago I swapped the three 20L pots of A. ‘Indian Summer’ for three fresh pots I had growing in my tunnel. They are plunged to their rims in the ground and slugs hide down the sides and live on the new shoots, so their flowering eventually dries up. The pale A. ‘Summer Breeze’ had managed to produce plenty of new shoots, so I’ve tidied it up and it looks more than passable for October. Hard to spot but just left of centre, midway between the two Alstroes, Camellia ‘Navajo’ has half opened its first flower of the season, its earliest ever.
Four.
Still out the front, and featured three weeks ago at peak flowering, the Yucca gloriosa ‘Variegata’ is putting up another four flower spikes. I hadn’t been heard to complain about the seven it had produced already.
Five.
The ornamental value of apple trees deserves a mention, they’re always lovely in blossom and often in fruit. The original tree here is ‘Elstar’, most of the fruit is ‘Holstein’, of which I think I grafted on seven scions; the bright red is ‘Red Windsor’ and the greens top left are ‘Tregonna King’ and/or ‘Plympton Pippin’. All are a bit small; I should have thinned them and watered them.
Six.
The Dahlia bed. I think of it as the Dahlia bed even though there are several Dahlias elsewhere and a lot in it other than Dahlias. Not a patch on last year’s performance but not the complete wipe-out that looked on the cards in mid August. Marigolds, Eucomis, Verbena bananarama and Nerines chipping in too.
October almost came as a surprise, it sneaked up a bit quick. It’s that time thing again; perhaps it feels like things should slow down at the end of the year but time pushes on at the exact same pace as ever. Too much to do and not enough time maybe. Next Saturday will be here before I know it, better start preparing now.
garden ruminations 
Yucca whipplei apparently bloomed spectacularly last year! I was not aware of that until I drove to Southern California last Wednesday and returned yesterday. Yucca whipplei grows wild around the Grapevine (which is the forty mile section of the Golden State Freeway between Grapevine and Castaic, almost completely south of the only six mile long section just south of Fort Tejon that is the ‘real’ Grapevine.) The old floral spikes are both very tall and very numerous! They are now gray and deteriorated, and many are falling over. New floral spikes are shorter and less numerous, but nonetheless impressive. I would guess that bloom this summer was also a bit more impressive than normal. A few flowers remain. I could not get pictures because I was driving.
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I just had a look on Google maps and saw lots of them. Not a road where you stop to take pictures though.
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If it had been a priority, I could have driven off onto a frontage road where I could have stopped. I just did not think of it at the time. The old bypassed highway is still there, but that particular drive is long and winding. The main highway is very efficient, but accommodates so much traffic that it is like driving within Los Angeles itself, for more than an hour out of Los Angeles! It is unfortunate that such a potential scenic drive demands such attention to driving. Perhaps it is one of those roads for which it would be better to be a passenger.
Anyway, Google Maps likely showed old pictures with more typical bloom. I had never seen so much remnants of bloom. It must have coincided with the Superbloom of 2021, although it only started at the same time, and, because it took months to actually bloom, happened long after the Superbloom had finished.
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I love Google Maps, why, only the other day I was driving down a road in Russia leading to the North Korean border. I have no plans to take a holiday there. Hats off to the mad bugger prepared to drive a vehicle around a place like that with “GOOGLE” writ large on the side of it.
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Oh my! I went to the SAME place! It was weird that China is SO close to the ocean, but lacks access to the coast, less than ten miles away.
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The apple tree is very pretty. We mentioned freshly picked apples last week and I do envy you. Interesting to see the comparison pictures of your garden.
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I think I should start a campaign to get people grafting their own family apple trees. It has so much going for it.
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I love your ‘end of month view’ you have quite the garden. The yucca looks very happy producing all those spikes.
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The Yucca probably enjoyed this summer more than anything else in the garden, it has surpassed any previous flower display three times over at least.
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That’s a great view over your garden and you still have loads of colour! So what are you going to do with all those apples?
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I have an apple with every meal and will pick and store those on the tree in the next week or so. They keep in good condition for up to a couple of months. This year’s is the biggest crop I’ve had, might give some away.
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Can you get them juiced? Is there anywhere near to do that?
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I’d never given it much thought, not having big quantities but I’ve just discovered there’s an apple juice day in Liskeard on the 27th Oct. I think I’d better go along.
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Sounds good.
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Lots of colour in your garden to enjoy. You’ve convinced me about the ornamental value of apple trees. I considered a column/vertical cordon type a few years ago but for reasons I can’t recall went for something else instead. I may revisit the idea one day.
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I don’t think the columnar types had much of a reputation for the quality of the fruit, though that may be wrong. Commercial orchards all grow spindle trees on M9, so close spacing and vertical growth, ideal for smaller gardens if the soil and climate conditions suit it, which mine proved not to. By summer spur pruning I keep mine at the size I want it, pretty small, and it’s working well on MM106 though admittedly the trunk and branch bases are all ‘Elstar’ with the other varieties grafted onto it. I don’t know what effect double working has, it does complicate things. I have another ‘Holstein’ grafted directly on MM106 rootstock and it is a much more vigorous tree.
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I’ve made a note of your comments which I shall refer to if I need to plant any more apple trees.
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I like that you have a whole lot of apple varieties on one tree, and you are right: most decorative.
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From planting my first four or five apples to reaching the point of having the varieties I want producing well on the same tree took about 20 years. So many mistakes along the way, revealing themselves only after three or four years each time.
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I may have to have a go, when I next have a good apple I like in someone’s garden, I’ll ask them for a piece. What is the best time of the year to have a go?
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End of January has worked well for me.
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It’s not easy to hide the water butts because they aren’t very aesthetic, but the set you showed us is pretty good. Nice agave on the left.
Yes, the days pass quickly and there are still plenty of things to prepare before the cold weather in the coming months… It’s all just a question of organization, not sure that in 10 years I’ll be as organized…
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Every year we put loads of stuff out from the greenhouses then fill the space so there’s no room to put it back in. You’d think we’d learn but we never do.
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I have regularly walked the garden taking photographs of the views but find that it can become a routine and taking the same views can become to me a little tedious though it does have the value of allowing comparison and noting the seasonal changes. It’s not the worst of things to do! I’m with you on the ornamental value of apples, particularly crabapples, which give a good display at this time of year.
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I put the camera on a monopod, stand on a chair or lean out the window and hold it as high as I can, using the 10 second timer, just to get a different perspective. You can stop noticing things if you see them too often. There is/was a cider apple in the orchard at Cotehele that had the most vivid red apples I’ve ever seen; I’ve often thought of asking them for a scion or two.
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I feel the same here, all is looking a bit flurped but definitely not retiring just yet! Love the overhead shots, it gives a real feel of the scale and change. Love the dahlia bed, looking good.
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The Dahlia bed is not looking so good now after the wind and rain of the last day or so. Most things are looking either considerably better or considerably worse than they usually do at this time of year. I value the high angle shots for giving me a perspective I haven’t seen a million times; I get something of a fresh look at it.
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