A busy week:
Monday - beautiful weather, raked the leaves that have fallen so far although there are lots more yet to fall...emptied last year's leaf mould bin into old sacks (to make room for this year's leaves) and brought into the tunnel to finish rotting down - it makes great seed compost - 3 parts sieved leaf mould, 1 part sharp sand and a dose of fish, blood and bone. Cleared the polytunnel and started to clear all the pots from this year's plants, threw some out, potted some on. Then cleared the pea and bean bed...have decided to use it as a propagation bed for hardwood cuttings as the beds are raised, well drained and sheltered.
Euonymus alatus - superb autumn colour.
Tuesday - cleared some annuals from the raised beds, weeded and potted up some self sowers (thalictrum, verbena, eryngium). Planted out sweet williams and cornflowers. Picked hydrangea heads to dry for Christmas.
Wednesday - weather horrendous so stayed indoors and made my lavender pouches and velvet pumpkins for Autumn Craft Fair at the weekend.
Thursday - Roads flooded, garden flooded but luckily we are on a slope so it eventually runs on down the hill - that's something I've learnt with making new beds - if you dig the turf off or use a turf removing machine and then add grit and compost, the bed still lies lower than the surrounding ground which creates a sump. My new lazy way of no digging - just put down cardboard, full layer of grit, grass cuttings and then compost - do this in the autumn and leave it to settle in and then plant up in the spring - works a treat...lovely jubbly! Tidied out the byre which we use as our garden shed but all summer long, everything just gets chucked in until you can hardly get in the door - I keep walking in and smiling now - it's amazing what a good redd out can do for you...I can find everything now!
Thursday evening I went to an Irish Garden Plant Society lecture by Martin Walsh on "African Plants for an Irish Garden" in Antrim Old Courthouse. What a fantastic talk - beautiful slides from the Drakensburg Mountains - so inspirational - lots of plants that suit our climate and soil - agapanthus, crocosmia, kniphofia, river lilies - I have a new plant wish list!
Friday - In the garden early to cut flowers for weekend orders - I will make this the last flower orders of the season as, although I still have quite alot of dahlias, scabious and snapdragons, I'm short on foliage and I can't rely on the autumn gales staying away. Had a lovely walk around a friend's garden at the old manse a few fields away - such a contrast from ours - lots of mature trees and beautiful conifers with a tropical feel - palms, gunnera, olive trees and lots more. The garden is far more sheltered than ours and I came away with armfuls of plants to propagate - boulevard, cryptomeria, garria elliptica, flowering ivy. Had a late night getting ready for the Autumn Fair tomorrow. Looking forward to a glass of wine and pjs after the fair! 
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