Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

[SugarPlumTree]

Potting shed thread for those who enjoy talking about gardens and plants. Plenty of garden chairs and the wood burner lit now there is a chill in the air, please join us !

Ooh lucky you SugarPlum with the hydrangea [grin ]. BTW I meant you can make jelly or marmalade. The recipe for paste is different.I made the 2 last year and they were very successful. And easy!

Thanks ppeat. I have enough fruit to try them as well as my usual which is quince threads - recipe here if you scroll down:

articles.latimes.com/1993-11-04/food/fo-52891_1_quince-jam/2

For this you core and chop the fruit before cooking. I use the julienne grater on my processor which takes no time - it must have been a real labour of love to chop and grate all the fruit by hand in the past (I think it's a very old American recipe)

had the day off but didn't really do anything in the garden made some fig tarts though. very yummy.

I am waiting for my plastic 'big hands' to pick up leaves with. And my bulb and wallflower order.
I'm beginning to get a bit anxious as though frosts haven't set in yet there is no doubt the weather is turning and I want to get all the plants and bulbs in well before the frosts come in if I can, then mulch it all with compost and relax a bit by the fire!

Every year I mean to treat myself to Big Hands and somehow never do. They are brilliant.

I love quince jam/jelly.

I don't know that I'm particularly committed; it's more the lack of gardening opportunities means that I have to make the most of every child-free moment available, regardless of weather. I don't really mind gardening in the rain though, there are always jobs to be done that don't involve going on the soil.

Yesterday and today I spent ds's telly time quiet time cutting back ivy on the patio wall, and clearing dd's annuals bed. The Nasturtiums are still doing well but the rest is a soggy mess, so time to get it pulled up, weeded and mulched. There are Nigella seedlings coming up already.

I treated myself to big hands last week from Aldi so much easier and better than the two dust pans I've used in the past. I have two bin bags on the go one with leaves, the other with pine whiskery droppings which I thought might make a mulch for my potted Azalea and Camelias.

I've finally ordered from Sarah Raven today -4 Roses and 3 Acanthus Mollis.

News from rural fr. ; there are enough walnuts on the ground now to fill one of those large 'gipsy' baskets 3 times over (I'm taking some over to Blighty next week).

There ARE ferns growing on the cave walls I went down to the caves because I need some stones to 'fill' and point one of our little farm buildings' walls at the back. (It faces due west and gets the worst of the weather). The problem is that we need a good few days of dry weather for it to dry so I may have to do it when it's going to be dry in the late spring. !!

There's a hurricane forecast on the meteo so I've tidied and put stuff away , there's already a bit of the barn roof on the ground so god knows what it'll look like after the gale

Oh and my lovely blue salvias are now in flower and are GORGEOUS (they look like the ones that Monty had but his were dark pink and mine are dark blue I LOVE them .

Apologies for the length of this post

They sound lovely ppeat any pictures?

I just saw a rather large rat climbing the apple tree, I guess he's living under the deck!

I have a phone that can post pix. but I've not used the facility because it costs so much (I think) I may be wrong but tbh I don't understand it!

I remember hearing that decking makes nice,cosy homes for unwanted visitors! Though there was something tap dancing in our attic recently. I got rid by throwing my leather slippers against the ceiling, they like quiet lives Also of you spray a strong smelly perfume or something,under there they hate that and go elsewhere.

PPeat I love long posts: those blue salvias and ferns in caves sound lovely.
The dark purple asters are making a very pretty picture with a lacey cream hydrangea which has been there for a while in our garden.

My plastic paws arrived today: great fun! I felt like a big bear and topped up the compost heap with soggy leaves. Maybe at the weekend I'll be strong enough to get the compost out from the bottom of the heap: it has all sunk down and is half its original volume so it must have composted. This will be exciting: my first lot of home made compost!

Thanks funnyperson There's something about dark purple and blue flowers isn't there? I noticed you didn't seem keen on your compost heap I thought that you'd had it so long you were bored with it!

I HAVE to have them because there is no municipal green bin and I hate wet smelly rubbish (there's only so much we can give to our neighbours' chickens ,ducks sheep etc. and leave for the odd passing hedgehog, dog, or cat ). Though I'm lucky in that we have plenty of space for them.

Your ferns and salvias sound wonderful, ppeat.

Blowing the leaves off the lawn today, I uncovered several beautiful shiny yellow and orange waxcap fungi, and one solitary black one. I think the black one might be a date waxcap, which is really rare.

Felt quite good today, and had some time, and the sun was shining, so I gathered myself together and thought about getting the allium & tulip bulbs in. Then it rained. All afternoon.

I am doing it this weekend. I will enlist DH if needed even if he wants to wash his bike again instead. And we are going to the garden centre.

Glad to hear you're feeling better bertha

rhubarb I had to google the fungi they are beautiful. I cut the grass today and the not rare fungus that have appeared in my garden, mostly round the plum tree. I'm itching to start dismantling beans and morning glory and sweet peas but can't quite bring myself to do it.

I dismantled the sweet peas last weekend: they really werent going to do anything very much more.
Did anyone see Monty dismantling his banana tree ? I was totally at all that bother and cutting off and draining and digging and moving not to mention in the rain and through a bush backwards and then the forlorn way in which he took the cut banana leaves indoors to enjoy them a bit longer. I suppose he'll have his satisfaction next year when the banana tree grows back bigger and better but my goodness it was almost worth building a tall orangery for.
Where I come from they used to eat off banana leaves as plates.

In fact I had an aged aunt who was still of the opinion that it was religiously suspect to eat off anything else. owing to china and metal possibly having bits of dead animal in. She is long gone.

funny did yr aunt SOTMC because she accidentally ate of an (animal bits) plate . Sorry

Thanks rhubarb ref. fungi, I heard an informative terrifying prog. on R4 about foraging, and from the description they gave I realised that we have death caps in the garden ; they kill you in one or 2 days AAaaaH!

And they look so unassuming ; not yellow or red or anything !

Reading this I am all nostalgic! I love the owl and pussy cat poem as we did it at school and will be reading it to squeaky baby later.

My lawn will be getting replaced next year due to digger damage so will have less leaf clearing to do so may have time for other bits of the garden! Currently decorating the hall so not much gardening time at least I have another month to get the tulips in but the white geraniums in the pots are still flowering so can't bring myself to do it yet!

Lovely quinces! I always think it's a shame you can't do anything with the shrub quinces.

Hmmm wonders if can use the excuse of christmas displays for baby as excuse to go to garden centre?

Squeaky I do very little if any leaf clearing esp. after seeing the film of worms taking the leaves underground to enrich the soil!

I've just managed to burn some of the walnuts I was 'drying' out in a very low oven!!

ppeat no my aged aunt never did anything accidentally (she was meticulous) and would never have eaten off a bone china plate on principle and bone china was not allowed in her house. She was quite shocked that my mother was proud of her Wedgewood dinner set and thought it extremely modern and definitely suspect in religious terms. Those were the days!

I do clear the leaves off the lawn so as to let the grass breathe. Though there is usually a point in November when it all looks so autumnal that I leave them for a bit.

Was she a Jain funny?

Really pleased you're on the mend Bertha.

I watched Monty and his Banana tree exploits this morning and felt life is a bit short for that.

I'm not planning on putting tulips in for a couple of weeks. My tender plants are also still out but it is still mild.

Popped into Aldi earlier. They have roses for £1.79 or something like that including Mme Alfred Carriere, climbing Iceberg and reine des violettes. Obviously I have a good memory and remembered what there was in the store and there aren't any on my kitchen table.

Noooo I've just bought expensive roses including mme carrier. £1.79!