Garden in late October

 

Well into autumn and the white impatiens I planted in early June are still in flower. The odd frost does not seem to have made any impact. I wasn't going to plant hanging baskets, but just sticking some bedding on the top seems to have worked. 

This time last year I had cleared the bedding border, but these dahlias have just gone on and on.

This was the acanthus in July. It had spread so much over the years and a month later had flopped to the ground. Drastic action was called for.

What I found after clearing the foliage was a massive root system. There was nothing for it but to dig out most of the roots and leave just one healthy looking piece. 

A few years ago, I took a piece of that acanthus and planted it in the long border. Again this had become overgrown. I left one piece as the photo below and planted another I had dug up further down.

Yesterday I spent ages clearing all the faded asters from the wildflower border.

My photos from this time last year show quite a few roses still in bloom. This year there are hardly any.

I also wanted to compare the leaves on the Silver Birch. This is how they looked on the 4th November last year.

Below is how they look today.