GreygirlGarden: News from the end of the month

So, October fades into the sunset and November hovers like a ghost in the wings.

Time is a concept I will never get my head around. Not since I was a young thing have I understood how an hour can be gained in autumn and lost in spring.

I remember plodding sleepily to junior school wearing a thing known as a 'diddy jacket' ( basically a reflective tabard-type item) so I was visible in the morning darkness. Going to school in what looked and felt like night seemed wholly wrong - surely we would have evolved big lamp-like eyes if this was a natural thing to do?

I knew at a tender age that I ought to be under warm blankets instead of making that miserable journey. Me and my brother had just packed our tortoise away in a box of hay for hibernation and in Moominvalley the Moomins were tucked up in bed til spring. Snufkin had broken camp and was walking towards the warmth elsewhere.

Dormouse

Heading south for the winter

The good thing about it raining all day is that I've recently moved and divided several plants and a good watering will help keep them happy.

It is also an excellent time to collect as many leaves as I can stuff into a sack - much easier to do when they're wet. I have made a 'bin' with canes and chicken wire to dump the leaves in so will (hopefully) have a bigger stash of leafmould for next year.

Last week I discovered a new nursery on the edge of the Forest of Bowland that is brilliant for trees, shrubs, alpines and heathers. I brought home a flowering cherry that is a native of the slopes of Mount Fuji, so I reckon it should do ok here. It is a blaze of colour (even without the sun on it), all fiery reds and gold.

I managed to find a plant that has long been on the Greygirl wish list - a Chinese witch hazel. I went for 'Pallida' for it's sulphur/citrus yellow flowers and freesia scent. This will be a welcome sight in January, for sure.

Sadly, at the end of October I've cut the last of the flowers I can bring into the house. The Cosmos has been brilliant, flowering non-stop, I had no idea it was possible to get so much from so few seeds - thrifty and fabulous!