Garden Blog

This is the last Thursday of the year for the garden. After this session, we go to the winter timetable, when the garden will open only on Fridays and Saturdays. In the spring, we’ll open on Thursday once more. It’s like an end of term day and the weather adds to this. At first, it’s quite warm, and we have …

I am surprised how busy we are this afternoon as it’s on the chilly side, 16ºC. pleasant in the sun but parky when the sun is in the clouds, which it is about half the time. We have a visit by eight medical students from QMC. They are very young, like six formers, which is what they were very recently …

It is windy this afternoon, with heavy dark clouds. Rain is forecast, but we escape it and the clouds clear, granting us a little sunshine, giving long autumn shadows. It’s about 20ºC but feels colder because of the wind. The pond is fuller after the weekend rain. There are lots of water fleas. They are so small, about the size …

It’s around 17ºC in the garden, a little chilly when the sun goes in the clouds, but pleasant when it is out. Mothers come with nursery children about 3.30, along with toddlers, and a little later infants from Godwin. We make sure the child gates are on at the front and side gates as the children are everywhere, though more …

A bright sunny afternoon, 23ºC, following a chilly morning. The autumnal equinox was on Sunday (23 September). Now the days grow shorter until late December. The sun rose at five to seven this morning; so late, no wonder the morning was cold. But a great afternoon and, in the sunshine, the garden fills with mothers and toddlers, a few dads, …

It is mild in the garden, about 20ºC, the skies threatening rain without delivering. Over night, the wind has blown down the large gazebo between the nursery and the pond. The billowing canvas has the power of a sail and its thrashing snapped one of the poles, bent another, and broke a joint fitting. We take the gazebo down. It …

Walking down the road at 7.30 am this morning, I could see my breath; the temperature around 5ºC. And now, at 2pm, it’s over 20ºC. That’s autumn for you. A long clear night gave us a chilly morning, with sunrise close to 7 am, a long way from mid summer sunrises at 4 am. I spend the first hour, getting …

It is pleasant in the sun this afternoon but a little chilly when it clouds over. The wild flower bed has been cleared. Seeing it bare, I think it would make a good area for a sundial with the small stakes around it marking out the hours. It would still be a wild flower bed, but with an added feature. …

August is a transition month. The first day is definitely summer, the last is unarguably autumn. So here we are, no denying it: autumn. The days are shorter, we are heading for the equinox. In the garden are blackberries, lots of seed heads, and pears on the tree. It’s sunny and warm, not the fierce heat earlier in the month. …

A sunny, warm day in the garden. This morning, we had rain which has invigorated the garden. It is a pleasure to come in after its gasping state through much of the summer. The wild flower bed is a mass of thistles with brushes of thistledown but here and there are a few white bladder campion, which I am surprised …