Wet, wet, wet!

With weather like this  it any wonder that I never get any ripe olives.

Olive

At least the raindrops look pretty. This Aeonium has grown too large to move undercover so it is being left outside to take its chances. I have got rooted cuttings for next year as I don’t really expect it to survive the winter. It has lost a number of its branches as the Squirrels keep running up them in an attempt to reach the bird feeders.

Aeonium arboreum

Yes, the Squirrels are back in the garden….let battle commence.

Some flowers are fading.

Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm'

Some flowers are seeding.

Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

Acanthus spinosus

Berries are appearing.

Pyracantha 'Teton'

Late fruits.

Chaenomeles x superba 'Nicoline' (Quince)

Coloured foliage.

Jasminum officinale 'Clotted Cream'

Coloured bark. I know I have shown pictures of this before but I can’t resist doing it again.

Eucalyptus parviflolia and beautiful bark

My tender plants are saying “Take me into the greenhouse. I am way past my best. Look at my hair!”

Strelitzia reginae (Bird of Paradise)

With all these signs of Autumn it is a surprise to see this little plant. He thinks it is Spring. He is in for a shock!

Primula 'Corporal Baxter'

Thanks to Katarina at Roses and Stuff for hosting Blooming Friday.

Visit her to see more Blooming Friday contributions.

There are flowers which are starting to bloom.

Crocosmia 'Star Of The East'

Angelica 'Ebony'

Others which have been flowering off and on for many months.

Geranium sylvaticum 'Amy Doncaster'

Rosa 'Zephrine Drouhin'

Some tender plants in pots providing an extra touch of colour.

Pelargonium 'Shannon'

Fuchsia 'Lena'

Osteospermum

Finally, a change from flowers – a tree which is shedding its bark! My Eucalyptus does this every August. It reminds me of a snake shedding its skin.  I usually collect the strips of bark and pile them in a corner of the garden where they become a home for wildlife.

The new bark gradually turns a pale silvery white and is very attractive.

Eucalyptus parviflolia

Thanks to Katarina at Roses and Stuff for hosting Blooming Friday.

Visit her to see more Blooming Friday contributions.

Clematis 'John Treasure' amongst the Olive tree flowers

Unfortunately the other 27 flowers are at the top of the tree. I will have to get the binoculars out if I want to see them. Click on the picture and you can just make them out.

Clematis 'John Treasure' way up high

Plants can be irritating at times.

Ilex flowering

Today I noticed it was flowering. I usually miss the flowers as the foliage is variegated so they do not show up very well. I’m thinking that this is a female tree because it has such lovely pinkish white flowers. Male trees must have flowers too, but not as pretty and dainty as these.

Then I remember I am now a blogger with nothing better to do, so I Google “Ilex + flowers”. I discover that Ilex trees are mostly dioecious – they have separate male and female trees, each with their own flowers  – I knew that already! Then I look at the pictures of male and female flowers.

Would you believe it, mine is a Mr not a Mrs. If you click on the picture you can see that each flower has four stamens sticking out, showing it is male. Female flowers would lack the stamens and the centre of the flower would later swell to become a berry. I will never get berries…ever…unless I buy a female tree.

Have I got room for a tree? Stop…..please don’t go there.

Buy a book about trees instead.

We then moved into South London and happened to walk through a small, rather neglected  park. There was a stone commemorating Lord Nelson the British Admiral  who led a fleet against Napoleon and defeated him in 1805, dying in the process. No……I am not going to talk  about British naval history either.

Lord Nelson

In the park we saw this tree which appeared to have green flowers.

Elm tree?

There were four of us, three of us gardeners but we couldn’t identify it.  Back home I searched for trees with green flowers and drew a blank. At the time we wondered if they were seeds rather than flowers but had to admit we were baffled.

Green seeds pretending to be flowers?

Now I’m guessing it is some kind of Elm tree (Ulmus), a  tree that does have this kind of seed casing. The English elm (Ulmus procera) was devastated by Dutch Elm disease in the 1970′s so I’m wondering if this is some sort of hybrid. We should have taken a picture of the bark too but forgot. Does anyone know what it is?

It was amusing that, having decided at a distance that these were green flowers, we found it difficult to believe they weren’t. Thinking back  I could see the dot of a seed inside each little “petal”. The mind works in mysterious ways (lol)

Not easily obtainable at your average garden centre.

Scaffoldus metallica incana

We are having the house roof re-tiled.

As you can see the bottom of the garden is slumping into a coma. The tree with the white trunk is a Eucalyptus. Note to self: are you going to cover that Agave before winter?

Bottom of the garden in November

On the other hand there is still some colourful foliage. This Jasmine is showing some bright green leaves. Strangely springlike for this time of the year don’t you think.

Jasminum officinale 'Fiona Sunrise'

And the variegated Holly leaves are looking very polished and shiny. It’s a pity I don’t get berries.

Variegated Holly (Ilex)

However, I have got berries on my Sarcococca. They start off red and then turn black.

Sarcococca confusa

I’ve got very few flowers now so I have to rely on a hanging basket for colour. Who can resist a cheerful Viola?

Violas

I do like bamboos. This one has deep golden yellow stems, almost orange. I keep it in a large pot to stop it rampaging through the garden. When I get round to re-potting it will be a nightmare, like wrestling a gorilla.

Phyllostachys aurea

Finally one of my cats, Georgie, has spotted a squirrel on one of my hanging bird feeders. You will have to look closely. It has managed to circumvent the squirrel dome hanging above the feeder. You may remember this squirrel from the Olympics in Beijing – it won a gold medal for gymnastics. Georgie is giving it a hard stare – cats are so bone idle and useless!

Georgie watches the squirrel

Even before we got to the arboretum there were trees. Perhaps these are escapees.

Trees by the lake

We also passed the new glasshouse and I was so taken with the grass in the foreground that I bought it in the garden centre afterwards.

Glasshouse with Miscanthus 'Ferner Osten' in foreground

I’m definitely visiting again at this time of year. Look at these fungi. Strange but also beautiful.

Fungi

We then entered the arboretum which you can view in this slideshow. The highlights were the Acers and the Liquidambars. Afterwards we had a look at the trial beds where assorted plants and vegetables hope to be awarded an RHS Award of Garden Merit. The Dahlias were particularly outstanding. I think I’m growing to like them. I never thought I’d say that. Click in centre of next picture to begin.

Afterwards the garden centre beckoned. I picked up my Miscanthus sinensis ‘Ferner Osten’ and something more tropical, a Musa basjoo. I was hoping to buy a Banana next year but I couldn’t resist a bargain – and they looked so forlorn – so I took one home. At least I didn’t buy a tree.

Banana Musa basjoo

Ipomoea 'Heavenly Blue'

However, for the last four years I have struggled to get sufficient flowers. I germinate the seeds in a heated propagator and nurture the plants in the greenhouse. Eventually when they are 3 feet tall I plant them outside in late June. They then proceed to sulk in the cool temperatures, hang limp in the rain, die back or get eaten. The sun appears and they grow an inch or two. I talk nicely to them, I shout at them, I beg them to flower but I’m ignored. If I see the occasional flower I’m lucky. I’ve grown named varieties and mixed colour packs and it makes no difference.

YET – IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE THEY ARE THRIVING!!

The parallel universe is a small raised bed under my Ginko tree (planted way to close to the house but heavily pruned because I don’t want to lose it). Here my Morning Glories are 8 feet tall, and there are lots of plants tangled up together. They have seeded there for the last five years and flower without fail come rain or shine. It’s lovely to see them but so exasperating. Why do they do so well here? This year I’ve also got seedlings coming up in other parts of the garden too but they are not so well established.

Ipomoea growing up the Ginko tree

Once the plants start climbing the Ginko they just keep going. There are 25 flowers at the moment.

Ipomoea looking smug!

Perhaps this is a new strain that ignores cool weather, who knows. They are still flowering now (October) while the plants I cherished in the greenhouse are long gone. Most of them are this colour.

Purple Ipomoea

But now a pink one has appeared.

Pink Ipomoea

Also a pale blue one.

Pale blue Ipomoea

Next year I’m tempted to scatter the seeds around the garden and let them look after themselves.