Lets walk

 I have moved pots into the greenhouse, all my tender plants are safely stored away for winter, so it's time to move things around and bring out my spring pots, this position is sheltered from most of the wind and gets some good midday sunshine through the winter months. The frost will kill off the begonias, which are under planted with spring bulbs, the plants in the black pot will soon grow and  bloom for colour in this area. 

I have put a few winter colour pots on this table, they will stay here all through the cooler months, a couple cyclamen and 1 pot of viola's. These lamps will stay as well, giving some light on the dark evenings coming, the original solar lights failed, I have popped some cheap ones in, which are working really well. My wooden table and chairs are always covered for the winter, so this is our focal point. 

More violas, this pot has filled out and looks beautiful, I can see this area from my sitting room chair, the begonias behind our log burner are still in full bloom. Kurt's hair, the grass is looking a nice length and will stay green all winter, its very striking again the black of the pot. 

I still have garden ornaments and wind chimes out, soon they will all be put in my shed, the raspberries behind the magnolia tree are still giving us fresh berries most days, it's been the best harvest for years. My acer which we planted in the ground is doing well, there has been some new growth, it's another sunny spot in the garden.  

This pot is filled with spring bulbs, all layered for a colourful show next spring, for now these cyclamen are adding colour. Behind the strawberry plants in this tower are all growing, from the original 4 plants we now have 10 plants, should increase yield next year. 

I have had to net my raised bed and this lower bed, foxes were digging up all my newly planted bulbs, the begonia in the chimney and in the front corner of the raised bed are both full of blooms. I am so very pleased with this revamped part of the garden, it's just how I wanted it. 

I did say I would not clutter this path to my composter infront of the greenhouse, but these coleus are here to draw the heat from the glass along with the dahlia to prolong their flowers.  The violets will soon be placed around the garden, I love these tiny flowers and find joy of seeing them in amongst the other plants. These pots won't be here for long, but the colours are lovely to see whilst they last. 

Lastly by our backdoor, this smaller raised bed is still trying hard, the fuchsia has been really colourful, but the yellow dahlia has struggled. I will need to rethink the planting next spring. 

Blooms at this time of year are always a bonus, many of my summer blooms I expect only to last for a couple more weeks, once the frost starts most will die back, the stars at the moment are my begonia's, most are grown in chimneys or higher pots, allowing the flowers to tumble down the sides. There are gaps showing in the garden beds, but they are too small to grow both summer and winter colour, I accept that winter is less in the garden. 

I am really disappointed with my Chinese witch hazel  , I purchased it October last year, and it's not doing very well, I replanted it earlier this year, it's not dying but very little new growth, it was meant to give loads of lovely winter colour, it's in the big terracotta in my 1st photo. Reviews on the plant show slow growth, and not as easy to grow as shown on nursery site, so having kept it alive for a year, I can take some comfort, hopefully soon it will start to grow bigger. 

I love to record how the garden is looking at this time of year, it's good when planning next spring to look back and remember what area's need attention. I do love to see the garden in the background, everywhere is looking good. 

We are not going anywhere or doing much, walking to village and local garden centres, not been to town and have no plants to go to either Portsmouth or Southampton. Our local garages have been very busy as stupid people ensuring they have full fuel tanks and panic buying, we have half a tank and it will last weeks, and if we can't get fuel, we will use the bus if we have too. The media is the cause of most of these problems, they spend more time on conjecture rather than news, always giving the worse case scenario, good news does not sell, we have always followed BBC news and enjoyed Laura Kuenssberg reports, these days she is only out to score points on worse outcomes.