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 !

Oh Maud I wish I didn't remember Agadoo but I do do do (sorry ). Not because I'm old but because I hated it!!

Welcome all newbies! Wooziebear Pebbles are possibly good for drainage, I have a very pebbly garden and it grows (most things) quite well! If I removed them I wouldn't have a garden!

Rhubarb Ref. garlic I love our fave stall in the market they sell garlic esp. for planting and for eating !!

I am so enjoying our Agadoo moment!

Humph - My guess is that because winter box doesn't get very big and will put up with tough conditions ( shade, clay soil) it'll be fine in a decent sized pot.

::Agadoo do do, push pineapple, shake the tree::

In the spirit of Agadoo I have been shaking a tree. Well a self seeded pyracantha which had quite a root on it. There was another bit next to it do they are both planted now in front of the fence with a bit of viburnum tinus I got from under the chestnut tree. Plus a bit of buddlea of however you spell it that I also found and finally the Elaeagnus Ebbingei.

So fence all planted. Saw neighbour at shops yesterday and managed to be polite.

I love doing that too Sugar I removed some very leggy sage in our rocky front garden. BUT I made the beginnings of a sage hedge above the caves with some of it and used old sticks from a very dead acai berry bush plantling ( I believed the hype that they'd grow anywhere which they don't ). It cost exactly nothing !!

Oh and my lovely dark blue salvia is just coming into flower Hooray !!!

I now have Agadoo in my head, thanks!

Are the horsetails the same ones as in the uk echt I have some that I keep pulling up.

I love that you have caves Ppeatfruit. A sage hedge sounds lovely. The Buddleia came from a huge one we had that came out to make way for a cherry tree. It's been gone a few years. I'm sure I'll regret putting the little bit in back in.

DH used to work somewhere and before he left found a bit had rooted by where he parked his car in the gravel in the car park.

echt you made me see those ranges layered in the distance.

My buddlea peacock has got lopsided as the neighbour trimmed the tail on their side.

dd thinks clay is thrilling. When she dug down for the clematis she hit sticky clay. 'Oh there really is clay!' she said. I consider it an achievement that she had to dig a bit. When I first arrived in this garden the whole garden was clay and it waterlogged in spring and caked in summer.

CallmeGeoff, a quick search shows all horsetails to be illegal to be sold in NSW, and an instantly notifiable weed in VIC, so I'll have scratch that, ornamental variety or not.

The Japanese mountains sound so beautiful.

Interesting that horsetail can't be sold in those Australian states. We have plenty on our allotment, alas. And speaking of noxious weeds, I am surprised (ion a good way) that the Japanese knotweed has made no further incursions from next door. I am bracing myself for the spring, though.

I love buddleia tell me more about your peacock shaped one funny please, I even bought a new pink one that I've put near the house in a little raised stone built corner of the terrace wall.

Horsetails are one of the oldest plants in existence. The Aussies are weird (not you echt obviously yes I loved the description of the mountains too ) do they shoot any bird flying over their land in case it poos out a horsetail seed or something else they deem noxious like an apple pip!!!?

Nah, the Aussies are absolutely serious about anything possibly invasive getting in. It's because so many native plants exist in such specialised conditions that many generalist plants could go daft and crowd out them out. They are wise to be so ruthless. Blackberry brambles are a good example.

Introduced animal species are the best known examples, e.g water buffalo, horses, cats, rabbits, donkeys, camels and cane toads are all significant problems. And that's before you get to the degradation of the land by humans. Off the top of my head I can only think of two animals that have done well out of white settlement of Oz, and that's galahs and some species of kangaroo.

So what do they do about the odd migrating bird? (immi or emi!!)?

It is a lovely Autumn day today. Gardeners World was a real pleasure to watch. Monty's brown outfit suits him and the season. I like the way Carol is leading the young gardeners into design. I must plant more daffs in my own garden.

My asters have finally flowered and the canna lilies have flower spikes too!

I watched Gardeners World last night too, for the first time ever!

It was very reassuring. They make everything look so easy, don't they?

I love autumn funny . I find something very poetic about michaelmas and the eponymous daisies and harvest! The french have wonderful harvest fetes with piles of pumpkins and good food to buy!

I'll watch the repeat of G.W. Of course Tunip if we all had a team of obedient helpers it would be easy for us too

I will be watching GW on iPlayer too. It looks set to be a beautifully crisp autumnal day here. I will be hanging out the washing and pottering in the garden.

In the days when we weren't tied to school holidays, we went to some lovely pumpkin festivals in France, where the pumpkins were so heavy they had to be lifted by a fork lift truck.

Pouring with rain here

There are some nice-looking pumpkins at our greengrocer. No pumpkin festivals, but quite a few Apple Days.

I would very much like some Cannas, fingers crossed for some lovely flowers for you FP.

GW has soil that you can part with your fingers and plant things in which a very different experience to my gardening ! Hope Nigel ears are ok poor thing.

I might have possibly engaged in a spot of retail therapy earlier to distract from the fact my precious second born is currently sitting the 11 plus. Wouldn't be too bad except for the fact he only decided to enter 3 weeks ago, has never actually been inside the school and the myriad of 11 plus threads on here where people have been tutoring since the year dot have made me very twitchy as we shoved him through the door with very little preperation. We went to B&Q as was close and so I could caffinate myself whilst looking out at plants which was soothing. My resolve not to buy weakened at the reduced section. The 10p cordyline was beyond resuscitation but they had reduced the packs of cyclamen to half price and some asters.

The asters have received some TLC and will go in if it stops raining. Nothing wrong with the cyclamen, no idea why they were reduced. Another 1 and a half hours and I can retrieve my DS so my final distraction is a gardening magazine with articles on autumn colour.

Harrumph. Crisp autumnal sun here soon turned into heavy rain, so I spent the morning sorting laundry. Such fun.

We are going to the local apple day tomorrow. I am thinking of signing up to the WI's pumpkin carving workshop!

Hope your son's exam went well, SugarPlumTree.

Is Nigel Monty's dog? As a GW virgin I wasn't entirely clear if he was the dog or just a put-upon assistant.

Oh and ::comforting shoulder rub:: for 11+ worries. It's not available here so we only had to go through the national offer day worries.

A gardening friend of mine takes positive pleasure in the fact that the big DIY sheds don't really know how to take care of plants and so relegate them to the shelf of doom as soon as they are past their prime. She has got some fantastic bargains that way.

Tunip - Nigel is the rather handsome dog (and I say that as someone who doesn't really "do" pets). The assistants - who I am sure must exist, as even the redoubtable Monty can't have enough time to maintain that garden single-handed - are never referred to and never named.

Good luck for 11 plus sugarplutree I think its a good sign if they finish the paper and dont miss out any questions. There is no negative marking. DD didnt have to do it. DS did it and I wont tell you his amazing (no sarcasm) marks. Agree with others about shelf of doom plants unless they are obviously very pot bound.

Nigel is Monty's very lovely dog with a penchant for tennis balls. He reminds me of those Blue Peter dogs Petra and Shep.

It is pouring here now. Laundry and tax returns for me unless I put a waterproof on and trample the lawn to mud.

Fingers crossed on the 11 plus SugarPlum. I'm sitting by the French windows looking at the rain pouring down. I had been planning to sort out the vegetable plot but he tho I need a rest more really: working and looking after the family including a still bed-bound MrBearleigh is not something I'm used to so I need lots of rest. Still the garden is amazingly floriferous give it's October.

The warm pink Mallow-relation, Sphreralcea Elroy that I got at Sissinghurst in May has been amazing: flowers all summer, and so elegant. It is tender so I am in two minds whether to dig it up and bring it inside. It is by the house, facing South West, so it may be OK if it isn't too cold. All advice welcome...