Autumn has certainly arrived, and with the cooler weather and longer nights, leaves are starting to take on their autumnal tints.
Herbaceous plants are still providing much colour in the borders, with the Asters being the main attraction now. The lovely, blue flowered Aster ‘Monch’, an old favourite, which can be relied upon year after year to give a wonderful display of colour and provide a good foil for the white Japanese Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ and the pinkish Sedums. Few perennials can match the exquisite beauty and easy care of Aster x fricartii ‘Monch’, a German selection, blooming early and lasting throughout summer and into October. Pollinators love it and plants are covered in bees especially during warm sunny days. Tt is also a variety that doesn’t suffer from mildew unlike some of the other michaelmas daisies.
Another plant growing nearby is Aster ‘Lady in Black’ with long black stems topped with deep blue flowers or for something similar but not as tall the 1 metre high cultivar Aster ‘Violet Queen’ (Veilchenkonigin) gives an intense colour to any border. Again all of them like a sunny position in fertile free draining soil. Along with our Plant of the Month, Kniphofia rooperi, another lovely sight but rarely encountered is Leucanthemella serotina, known as the ‘’Autumn Oxeye Daisy’’. A lovely plant from Eastern Europe, very hardy and making clumps to 1 to 1.5 meters tall with white daisy flowers and bright yellow centres valuable for late autumn colour intermingled with the Kniphofia and the rich pink of Hesperantha (Schisostylis).
It may be getting to the end of the season for visiting gardens but there is still a wealth of colour and interest to be had in September and October and we are open till the end of October. Lots of interesting plants still in the Plant Sales area including the Asters and Knifofias and Hesperanthas.
The Tea Room is also open in October and is a nice place to escape if a sudden shower of rain comes along.
Elsewhere in the garden we are doing several projects and beds are being cleared for new plantings and our waterfall at the end of the garden is being relined and the area around it will in time be replanted ready for next year. A busy period ahead which when we open next year should show lots of new alterations for an exciting year ahead.
