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 !

I think I planted hyssop years ago but (like so many other herbs) it failed to thrive. I need to find more herbs that are happy in shade.

Must get tucked in more often!

This year I had one fig. Favourite fig recipe is to cut a cross in the top, put a bit of goats cheese in the cross, wrap well in Parma ham and cook in oven for 10 minutes. I have mine with a reduced balsamic vinegar dressing if I can be bothered to make one. Yum.

I have two prolapsed discs in my lumbar spine Maud. I am living on a drug cocktail which in some ways is quite nice, but definitely having to prioritise what I do and gardening is not on high priority list unfortunately which mainly consists of functioning and feeding the DDs

We have an apple day coming up locally which we will attempt to get to, weather permitting.

blackpudding wishing you well and hoping that your back heals up even when you are on the painkillers and moving about.

Our local apple day is coming up this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it as last years was cancelled due to the lack of apples and bad weather. It is in a friendly walled old orchard of a local (ish) manor run by the national trust.
There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything and rest.

Ouch, Bertha! Hope you get some respite soon.

I'll look up Hyssop in my Culpeper Tunip. It looks lovely though and sounds like it'll be good in my rocky dry front garden I just need to find a place to buy it now!

Ooo I hope the weather improves for your Apple Day funny (it's hissing down here), I remember going to one the I of W. which was great.

I can't find an apple day this year and I need one - I have lots of unidentified apples to ask about!

Bearleigh, my unidentified white daisy flower is about 4-5 feet high, flowers around cm diameter at the top of the plant, leaves narrow and serrated.

That sounds like a marguerite daisy Tunip Our fave market young lady gave me 2 pots which I've been nursing to health. (that's what she called them) They were dead so I cut them right back split them and they've grown well (will probably flower next year).

I'm not sure about a marguerite - I think it's too tall and the leaves are less feathery. I thought it might be a shasta daisy but that seems to flower earlier in the year. This one has really only come out in the last few days.

Yes I've tried to look mine up without much success. Maybe mine and yours are the french version, it's leaves are serrated not feathery.

You could post pictures either here or in a new thread and the MN plantaholics would have a go at identifying them.

There are loads of different Leucanthemums with varying flowers; some white, some pale yellow, some with feathery petals, some bold petals, some single, some double or triple. Some flower early, some late, some all summer. They can be very tall, or dwarf. I haven't observed leaf differences but it wouldn't surprise me.

Can you tell I've been researching them for my Showstopper bed?! I'm going with Phyllis Smith.

Hope you feel better soon Bertha. Bad backs are miserable. I suffered with sciatica for a while and it was awful.

Ouch Bertha that sounds grim. Hope it gets better soon.

Looks like one can buy hyssop seed:

www.uk-herbs.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=Hyssop&x=-872&y=-90

And different coloured flowers too...

I must get some proper French tarragon next year. This year I was obviously sold a pup, as my tarragon is showing signs of flowers so it must be Russian though I bought it as French. I wondered why my herb chicken wasn't as tasty as it used to be...

oh bertha hope you back gets back to normal (and pain free!) soon.
figs and ham sounds nice indeed.
I have figs marinading in the fridge right now to make fig jam for fig rolls (or maybe pancake filling)
why are the best fruit always out of reach? I might have to trim the tree in the winter.

Thanks for that Bearleigh I wonder if they can send seeds overseas? The herb is good for a number of things sleep etc.

Ref. Bad back etc. DH takes echinacea and that helped a lot BUT what helps most is giving up all pork products. (sorry) ! He can walk brilliantly now but he had stage when he could n't!

That sounds very painful Bertha. Fingers crossed it improves very soon.

Quite windy here today and neighbour had man and chain saw chopping down a tree, however doesn't affect us this time.

Think I'm fairly close to stopping deadheading and let Autumn run it's course.

Giving up pork for back problems? How does that work?

Pork and pork products are one of the most toxic foods. It creates acid crystals in any of the joints so giving it up means less arthritis and gouty, rheumaticky problems.

I don't eat it and have never suffered like dh did until he too gave it up. Btw I'm quite old too .

Hyssop and tarragon are lovely aromatic herbs
There are brilliant figs in the supermarkets at the moment (waitrose)

So happy as the asters that are flowering are the nice deep purple ones, the fuschias are still going strong and the cosmos is still repeat flowering! Not to mention geranium Johnsons Blue, ceratostigma and dianthus and knautia and Gaura and Bellis and the hydrangea - not upto quite Wisley standard but still enough to be lovely to look at.
Mum's tall tall Rudbeckias and roses though are superb just outside dad's window!

I love those dark purple and blue asters funny Johnsons blue geranium was not happy in my garden. I'm thinking about getting some of the rockery types, cranesbill.

My french tarragon is in the wrong spot, not enough sun. So will hopefully over winter it and then plant somewhere more sunny next year.

This is thd first proper year of Geranium rozanne. Can see why it is plant of the century, great value - especially as it splits do easily. I have that, dahlias, cosmos, Penstemon, asters all in my new border and the novelty of having flowers to look at from the kitchen , is not wearing off.

By the kitchen door there are some very little foxglove seedlings in modules. My direct sown ones failed but I think this lot might be too little to flower next year. Bertha ' s Knaith a seeds she kindly sent have germinated and are next to them .

Very windy here today. One minute it rains, next minute blue skies. Think I've decided on a rose for the front of the house -Lady of the lake.

Lady of the Lake is gorgeous. I saw it at Chelsea and drooled.

My yellow foxgloves flowered well for a couple of years and then disappeared without self seeding and I was disappointed. Are they supposed to do that?

We had that weather yesterday sugar and is it too warm ? It's ridiculously warm in the erratic sunshine today.

Wow that took some catching up! Had a week in the lakes and then a non sleeping baby so all gardening has been put on hold at present. Have just had a crop of raspberries so am now thinking they are autumn fruiting so need to learn how to prune those.

Has anyone harvested elderberries? I can only find ones near a road and am not sure about them, have found lots of sloes so will pick some for the gin soon.

In the garden my Japanese anemone has been amazing this year and my clematis freckles has started to flower so am really happy with it. Have also found some self sown foxglove seedlings so am thinking about moving them soon.

Hope your back feels better soon bertha and wonders if anyone else is frantically rubbing their knees!

Yes squeaky my knees are buggered, I now take to wearing knee protectors. Autumn Rhaspberries just need cut to the ground when they have finished.

I know last year I thought Monty was mad when he ripped out his still flowering cosmos but I might well take mine down, I've given up dead heading so they aren't looking as good.

Lovely rose sugarplumtree