Holme Gardens, September

[puddleshark]

The wind has gone round to the north, and the weather has turned dry again, unexpectedly chilly for September. There was even frost on the car windscreen when I headed out on Tuesday morning.

Took a drive along the lanes this morning, stopping off at the little tea room at East Creech Farm for coffee and a croissant, sitting out in a sheltered corner of the yard, at one of the little tables overlooking the lake. Now and then a wasp flew over to investigate the table, before flying off again: wasps do not care for croissants. Hornets seen, too, golden in the sunlight. Down by the lake, songbirds fluttering through the branches. Moorhens creeping along the margins.



Afterwards, headed over to Holme, for a wander round the gardens. The chilly wind making the Cosmos dance. No good photos today, but, take my word for it, the Hot Garden is looking very splendid, ablaze with Canna Lilies, red Dahlias, Marigolds, Helianthus, Rudbeckia.


The neighbouring garden is all pastel pinks, blues and purples: pink Dahlias, blue Ageratum, purple Salvia horminum, pink and white Cosmos.




The pear-gola. So much fruit this year. Hard hats required.

The ornamental crab apples are also laden with tiny bright cherry-sized fruit:


Malus 'Indian Magic.'




A pink-berried Rowan, maybe?


Mystery plant. A big mystery, this one. I've never seen it in fruit before.


Helianthus refusing to keep still and have its picture taken.




Nerine.


Hesperantha coccinea.


And, of course, Asters.




Maybe a Chiffchaff? Though you don't usually see them on the ground.

Comments

[kaishin108]

Sunlight, dry weather and blooms. How lovely! :)

[puddleshark]

It was a splendid September day! Now that the weather has turned chilly, sunshine has become something that's actually welcome. 😊

Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith]

The fall flowers are so pretty. :D

My goldenrod was about to bloom last I checked.

[puddleshark]

I'm so impressed by the gardeners at Holme. It's late September, and the gardens are still looking fabulous.

I keep meaning to try and grow Goldenrod. It is such a gorgeous flower.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Do it if you garden for wildlife. Goldenrod is a keystone species that supports well over a hundred species of insects. A field in bloom, like my prairie garden, will be swarming with insects, and thus other wildlife that hunts them, such as birds. I've also seen small birds pecking the flowers that have gone to seed. The hollow stems host hibernating insects, and that brings in small woodpeckers like downies as well as creepers such as nuthatches.

Re: Yes ...

[puddleshark]

Looks like a really good plant to choose to attract pollinators in late summer. I must give it a go next year!

[house_wren]

Pear-gola...that made me laugh!

[puddleshark]

It's quite a new feature in the gardens, and, before this year, the trees weren't really mature enough to bear much fruit. But this year it really has lived up to the Pear-gola name!

[asakiyume]

What a gorgeous collection! I especially love the mix in the third photo (and I laughed at the hard-hat-requiring Pear-gola.)

The mystery fruit isn't some kind of quince?

[puddleshark]

I am in awe of the gardeners at Holme. Every time I visit, it is wonderful, and it is still looking fabulous even in late September.

Quince? Thank you! I never thought of that. I would have recognised it if the fruit had been ripe, but the strange lumpy green fruit confused me. 😊

[heleninwales]

How lovely to be able to visit somewhere where flowers are still blooming.

It's chilly here in the mornings, but not quite cold enough for frost yet.

[puddleshark]

Yes. With some of the local gardens, I would think of September as the end of garden-visiting season, but at Holme everything is still going strong.

It was 4 degrees C here this morning, according to the thermometer on the car dashboard, and I have brought out my thick winter coat again.

[nikonf3]

This is all so beautiful. Your lens has a nice out-of-focus quality. In the “rowan maybe” shot, the round berries are echoed in the spheres of light in the background.
It was 35C here today. We’re hoping it’s the last blast until next May or June.

[puddleshark]

Thanks!

Maybe because people are switching to mirrorless cameras, the UK market is flooded with secondhand Canon zoom lenses right now. I think the one I bought may have been quite high end originally. The only problem is that it weighs a ton...

35C in September?! I'm more grateful than ever for the vagaries of the British weather. I hope you get some cooler autumnal weather soon.

[nikonf3]

I switched to mirrorless in 2011. A big factor in that decision was size&weight. But I’ve noticed interest in old dslr’s so you may see and uptick in lens prices.