Autumn has arrived and although the summer is over it's a lovely time of year. In fact, I enjoy having seaons. I don't think I could live somewhere without them! On fine days the bees are very busy in the autumn sunshine visiting the scabious and sedum flowers. As ever there is much to do in the garden - mostly to do with tidying up. Mark has given the box hedge it's annual trim and tidied up the beech hedge for the winter. Although the beech leaves die the plants retain the leaves on the young growth throughout the winter so now is not the time to cut back hard. We'll do that next year where it's needed.

The runner beans have almost come to an end and I have taken down one large wigwam. The roots fix nitrogen so I have left the roots in the soil and put the above ground material in the compost bin. There are still some Kenyan beans but they too are nearly finished. The courgettes are virtually exhausted but I am still picking one or two a couple of times a week. I'll leave the plants for a little longer yet. I still have 3 tomato plants with fruit. And the tomatoes picked from the diseased plants have been ripening well on the window sills. So it hasn't been a total disaster on the tomato front this year. In fact I have been pleased with the crop considering how dire it looked earlier in the summer.

Every trace of green in one of the troughs with carrot seedlings has been chomped away by some creature. I'm waiting a few days to see if the seedlings recover if not I will sow a few more. The spinach seedlings are growing well but not yet big enough to harvest. I am thinking of putting some more in the large half barrel when the kenyan beans come out.

One of the highlights in the garden at the moment is a glorious chrysanthemum. I bought it a couple of years ago whereupon it immediately went into decline. Last year it didn't do much so this spring I replanted it together with a good dose of slow realease fertiliser. I have made sure that it didn't dry out during the summer and all that care has been rewarded with a magnificant display which cheers every time you come through the gate.

Green shoots in Poole

The Kenyan beans that I sowed in the half barrel and squat pot on 4th July are coming through so we are hopeful of a harvest if a little later than usual!

The sweet peas have been glorious. It's lovely to have them to pick for the house and for friends. And the more you pick the more you get! They were so prolific that it has been possible have vases of them in several rooms. They've slowed down a bit now and the stems are shorter than they were but I'm hoping that they will come into a second wind. Unfortunately the greenfly found the plants and multiplied seemingly exponentially. This meant that in spite of blowing on them and giving them a good shake the greenfly got transferred indoors and made a horrible mess. Fortunately the local sparrows have come to the rescue paying me back for keeping them fed and watered through the winter. They find the greenfly delicious and have brought them down to a more bearable level. It always brings a smile to my face when I see the little birds amongst the flowers.

I have a vase of the sweet peas in our practice room. The fragrance seems much stronger when my head is upside down! I'm not sure if this is because the olfactory part of the brain is stimulated by the position or if the fragrance collects lower down.

This observation had been rolling around in my subconscious for a few days when I recalled a yoga exercise I did once with the late John Davis. In the exercise we placed the tongue in different positions in the mouth and noticed that changing the position amplified a different sense. Perhaps something related to this is happening when I invert my head. Unfortunately I can't remember the details. If you know the tongue positions and the senses that they relate to then please do let me know.

Garden Note #1

I remember reading an article, many years ago now, about an elderly lady who said that by spending 30 minutes in her garden every day she kept on top of things and her garden had never been a problem to her.

This seemed like a sensible way of going about things and every few years it comes to mind but it's never really taken root. I guess like all things you have to make the time to begin with. Once things get on top of you it's all to easy to think 'well just 30 minutes won't make much difference... there's not much point' and not bother to get started.

Over the next few weeks I am going to spend a little time working in the garden every day and see what a difference it makes. (Maybe I could try that with the housework as well - but not just yet!)

So what did I do today?

Well, the French beans that I sowed directly into the ground failed to materialise (old seeds) and only about 2/3rds of the Kenyan beans that I sowed in pots germinated. I decided to have one more try with the Kenyan beans. I cleared out the old 1/2 barrel, lifting the hyacinth bulbs to dry and store to replant later and replacing the top few inches of compost. I also emptied a squat pot in which I have been growing crocus for the last couple of years. I then sowed more beans in both of these - fingers crossed!

Years ago I grew poached egg plants (limnanthes) as companion plants. I remember being told that you would only ever need to buy one packet of seeds because they seed themselves readily. What they meant was 'you will never be rid of them'. They are attractive flowers and the bees love them but they don't last for long. They have died down now so I scooped up several bucket fulls of their remains and underneath the ground was carpeted with seeds...

I also rescued some primulas growing in a pot that were being suffocated by some beefy weeds. I took them out of the pot and replanted them.

Being in the town it is always a treat when nature pays a visit. Today there was a chaffinch singing beautifully from it's perch on the neighbours T.V. ariel.