It’s been mild here again this month. Over the years I’ve got used to first frosts beginning during the first week of October. Temperatures have cooled a little it’s true but for some reason the cold snap hasn’t arrived. Indoors I’ve changed our lightweight summer bedding for toasty winter quilts but outdoors I’ve left my collection of tender scented geraniums on the deck where they are thriving. I will move them into the greenhouse at the first sign of frost but there’s no sign of it so far.
Symphytotrichum ‘Little Carlow’
A vase full of colourful autumn blooms is perfect to brighten up a dull afternoon. Orange and Purple Dahlias and Salvia viridis combined with a few stems of foliage… Hedera helix, Eucalyptus gunnii and Arum italicum make a cheerful bunch.
Every autumn in our Gravel Garden two huge clumps of Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ make a spectacular show, one on either side of the path to our front door. Until they flower their green leaves and stems blend into various grasses surrounding them. That’s my excuse for not noticing that they were missing completely this year. 
