Return of the Prodigal, the Mitcheldean Garden 2021
Autumn

This page is part of a series of garden blogs from 2021. Click here for the index.

Garfield walked out in mid-July and it was 3 months before we saw him again. He turned up in the garden one afternoon, for a couple of weeks he popped by occasionally and then one (rare) sunny late morning he announced his 'return' by curling up on the patio bench. In the meantime, the weather played its usual fickle games and we had more than enough rain to fill the water butts. As for temperatures, they were 'flat', never warm enough to encourage plant growth but equally never cool enough to stop it. Probably it was because it was overcast most of the time.

Next door, we have new neighbours, both have full time jobs so we aren't going to see immediate changes although the grass in front of the house has been cut and the garage roof tidied and its floor sealed. The best news for us is that a tree surgeon has visited and he will 'soon' start work to tidy the front bank, removing the various leylandii and dead trees. About time too, I might add. I believe that a lot of work is being done inside too and again there has been talk of 'extensions' and from their tone ("The kitchen is a disaster."), I think it is more likely to happen this time. Their back garden was 'abandoned work in progress' when they arrived, I can't see much happening in it for a while beyond some much needed tidying up. I confess that I did give our common border a quick trim on their side while the house was empty which will buy a little time before the brambles etc infest it again

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As indicated, there have been precious few sunny days since I last posted and Garfield chose the best one to announce his return. I'm not sure where he was when the second picture was taken, it was 07.30, pre-sunrise and 'cool'. East is some way off to the left and this is looking roughly south-east. By 09.00, it had clouded over completely and was raining. 

The gladioli have thrown in the towel, there are just a few which need deadheading. On the other hand the red begonia 'rejects' are still flowering and the dahlias still putting on a brave but declining show. Elsewhere, the runner beans have long been ripped out as have almost all the dozens and dozens of purple and white dahlias. I believe I have found a home for 40 of them round the corner but like the wild boar in the forest that will merely restore the numbers at the start of the season because they have been dividing furiously.

I think I would have been happier if we had managed a better mix of these osteospermum (cape daisies). We have two of these golden ones but quite a few pink/purple ones, as they say 'other colours are available', but in this case at the price we were willing to pay we were somewhat restricted. We'll try to overwinter them in one of the greenhouses but there will be a lot of competition for prime space.

This is the clematis which is supposed to wrap itself around our Albertine rose, we have tried hard to keep both sufficiently watered as they are sheltered from the rain, but it took until September for it to reward us. On the other hand, we part filled a front bed with full price baby begonias and as always they have been great value. Even better have been the ones that came later, being 'given away' by at least three other local suppliers. As always the question is how many will get through the winter, the ones on the right will have to be transferred as the large tub is needed for hyacinths. The early season pansies and primroses were deemed to be insufficiently attractive and flowered later than anticipated.

The orange begonias have been excellent, all I have against them is that we paid full price for them and had to start them ourselves. The others are now past their best but among all their normal virtues was the fact that they came already flowering and cost quite a lot less. 

#2 greenhouse has been given over to tomatoes which are still cropping well in the last week of October. It must be well positioned as our friend who gave us the young plants ripped his out in frustration about a month ago. There are quite a few tired young fuchsias in #1 greenhouse, they were overwhelmed by lobelia in hanging baskets. We'll look after them during the winter and hopefully they will come back stronger next year.

In mid-September the bungalow lost its 'country cottage' look as we had to clear the windows and door so they could be replaced. We timed the job so the clematis would have been due a hair cut anyway shortly after. The old windows were 'tired' even when we arrived just over 10 years ago and these should see us through. That's reflected dawn colours on the right and some petunias (yes, more late bargains) whose days are numbered.