It appears that autumn is the new summer, well at least for the past few days it has been anyway, but as we speak the skies are awash with gray and the wind of change is a-blowing - potentially signalling the end to our hopes of an Indian summer and other overoptimistic wishes?It’s not all doom and gloom though, quite the contrary really. With the change in seasons has come a change in fortune. As many of you already know, I’ve been shortlisted in the Wales Blog Awards in the category of 'Best Lifestyle Blog'. Alongside this award, I also have the chance of winning the 'People’s Choice Award', which is voted for by you, the readers. If you would like to vote for me please click here to cast your vote.
The award ceremony takes place toward the end of this month in Cardiff and to say I’m quite thrilled at being a finalist is an understatement. This is the first thing I’ve been shortlisted for, so naturally I’m not exactly expecting a great deal, but it will be great to meet lots of fellow bloggers and Welsh ones at that!
At the allotment the courgettes, beans, potatoes, and root vegetables keep on coming and the cutting garden is looking great. The Dahlias and Gladioli are the stars of the show and although the color combination in the bed clashes, which incidentally I don’t mind at all, they’ve provided a great wealth of flowers for the home. This bed was moved this year and it's done pretty well so far, despite my lack of care and early slug attack. I also planted the Japanese Wineberries in this bed, as I’d run out of space on the rest of the plot, and they’ve now produced their first berries. Although, not yet prolific the tiny offerings were quite delicious and I’m looking forward to perhaps harvesting a handful in weeks to come.
In the garden, if I can even call it that, things are less controlled. The majority of the garden is made up of herbaceous perennials that are in desperate need of division. Giant clumps of Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Yakushima Dwarf’ and various others have begun a quest to turn my tiny garden in to somewhat of a jungle. This is not difficult in such a small space and it must be said that they’re doing rather well!
This Autumn/Winter will see me spending quite a bit of time back out in the garden dividing and replanting in an attempt to bring order to an unruly and chaotic space. The only good thing that can be said for the garden at present is that the trees are looking great. I have two small Hawthorns and a Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), which were added to create and upright element and some Autumn/Winter interest. The Hawthorns are already sporting their bright red berries and the Katsura is just beginning to show signs of colouring up for autumn; although it was planted more for the scent of it’s leaves, which smell of candy floss or burnt sugar when they fall. This I cannot wait for!
It's going to a busy Autumn/Winter for this gardener. What do you have planned?
