The Garden in Autumn

This has become a regular feature and 2013 has proved to be a lovely autumn. Fortunately with photography, unlike real life, it's quite possible for even a rank amateur to make the garden look more pretty, tidy, floriferous and fructiferous than it actually is.

 The autumn crocus, more properly Colchicum always pleases. Think of the value of that saffron beloved by the year's last bee outings. 

 I'd thought of hoiking out the Euonymous alatus, though in it's autumn colours it's a pleasure and goes well with the end of the Helleniums, I think.

 Now everyone with apples tells us what a splendid year it has been. We have had a reasonable crop on some of the trees. It's too early in its life to chastise Winston for only producing 6 apples, but the 4 so-called 'leg' apples on M9 rootstock are not cropping, nor growing well. As an experiment in dwarf top fruit husbandry it has to be judged a failure in our climate at 150 metres. And Clifford Cain of the Northern Fruit Group said it would be. He has a life-time experience in commercial fruit growing.

But I had a go. Am I too old to re-plant? Gardeners are supposed to plant for the next generation, but at 66 one wonders what the point of that is. Especially when I look round at the neighbouring gardens and note the creation of ever more hard standing, concreting, flagging and decking, rather than growing land, or even land that can absorb rain water.

It's very Indian, but Sorbus Kashmiriana looks good in our garden.