Capturing the very last flowers at the start of November. I can’t remember a time when there were so many plants still in flower. The Indian summer high temperatures and sunshine in October prolonged the flowering season. But alas, Storm Babet, and now Storm Ciaran have brought wind and rain. I ran out into the garden during a brief spell of calm and sunshine to capture the garden, and give me something cheerful to reflect on over the coming cold, dark months.
Fuchsia Deltas Sarah. A hardy variety purchased from Coton Manor in Northamptonshire. And can you spot the tiny spiders web which loops around the flower? This reliable fuchsia grows in a large blue glazed pot alongside a clematis sent to me from Raymond Evison’s Guernsey nursery. A very kind man, he sent me the gift to celebrate his 60 years breeding and developing gold-medal winning clematis plants. One day I’ll get to visit the nursery. Meanwhile, I’m watching the news and feeling very anxious about the impact of the latest storm on Jersey and Guernsey. The damage is heartbreaking.
Alongside the fuschia there’s a pot of salvias. This one is Phyllis’s Fancy, a favourite very late-flowering variety. It’s not hardy and will be whisked inside the greenhouse later this week. Meanwhile, it’s the perfect blue to match Deltas Sarah.
Growing in pots and in the ground, this lovely pink chrysanthemum puts on a reliable autumn display every year. It’s called Clara Curtis and came from my father-in-law Keith Gimson’s garden.
I like the small, button-flowered chrysanthemums. This one is Picasso, a rare and endangered variety. I bought it from the Hardy Plant Society where there’s a propagating programme to save it for the future. I have to take cuttings and return spare plants to other society members. Cuttings are very easy to take. I put the pots into a cold greenhouse or poly tunnel and shoots start to grow in January. Early cuttings are grown on in a propagator and potted up before being planted out in May.
Salvias really do join the party late! This one is Royal Bumble, purchased from Mary Thomas and Piecemeal Plants. Plant pots will be thrown in a hurry into the potting shed at the weekend. Plants are cut back and kept relatively dry and dormant all winter, being brought back out next spring.
This lovely blue salvia came from a collection sent mail order from Middleton’s specialist nursery. I wrote about Middletons here:
https://bramblegarden.com/2021/06/18/new-plants-on-trial-salvias-from-middleton-nurseries/
Dahlias are producing their very last flowers. I wrote about these yesterday in my ‘flowers for my mum’ post.
Petra’s Wedding made my top five list! I wouldn’t be without it!
Also in my top five is Dahlia Eveline.
A lovely surprise! The very last rose! Ghislaine de Feligonde is a rambling rose and grows on a shady pergola. It is totally disease and trouble free. I bought it as a cutting from a plant sale at Little Ponton Hall. A lovely reminder of happy day out with gardening friends. Highly recommended.
The last ornamental thistle. Echinops ritro Veitch’s Blue. Mr Fothergill’s sell 9cm potted plants. Birds, especially long-tail tits, love the seed heads.
I’ve forgotten the name of this beautiful small-flowering hollyhock. It came from Mary Thomas. Hopefully Mary will read this blog and help me out with the identification!
A bedding fuchsia, unknown variety, growing in a pot under the office window. I’ll look in the morning to see if this flower has managed to open out, or if it’s been blow away down the lane!
I’ll also look tomorrow to see if the old oak tree still has any leaves! This was the view from the top gate at the orchard end of the garden- before the latest storm. The branches were thrashing about in the rain. It must be 150 years old. I very much hope it will survive another 150 years for other people to stand at our garden gate and gaze on its majesty. Thanks for reading my blog. Please leave a comment in the box below and sign up for updates via e mail. How has your garden fared during the storms? Do get in touch and let me know.
Bramble Garden 
You have a lovely range of plants still flowering, Karen – thanks for sharing them
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Thank you Cathy. I’m amazed at the temperatures for the first week of November. I’ve been gardening in shirt sleeves today and no coat. Also managed to get two lines of washing dried. Sorry to be boring, but it’s a joy to see white sheets out on the washing line flapping in the wind!
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Haha, yes, I am sure it must be – we certainly don’t have white sheets and dry all our washing above the Aga this days, although when the Aga was awaiting the engineer last summer I found it joyful watching washing flapping outside instead on our makeshift line
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Must admit, I’ve only got white sheets as I’ve treated myself to new bedding from Devon Duvets. The duvets are pure wool and like sleeping under a cloud! We have a boiler room with a little washing line set up, which dries the clothes overnight when it’s wet outside. Or there’s the poly tunnel, at a push.
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The first fuchsia you share is really pretty, and I have never seen any here that are such pale and delicate colours. No storm here, but very chilly! Not much left in flower except the Chrysanthemum. Our oaks are golden already and the leaves are starting fall faster. Hope your oak tree stood up to the wind.
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Thank you Cathy. The fuchsia is a hardy form called Deltas Sarah and grows to 5ft! Luckily the oak stood the storm. It was worrying to see it thrashing about in the wind. It reminded me of a ship under full sail on a turbulent sea. Happy Sunday! Karen x
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It is sad to see the end of the flowers after they have kept going for so long, but your photos kept their beauty alive a little longer!
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Thank you Cathy. Happy Sunday! Xx
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Always read your blog and I love it (and like it!). I have several ‘Deltas Sarah’ around my garden, it is truly hardy here in Hampshire, and quite showy for a hardy fuchsia, I bought them as tiny plants in little pots and now they often need a hard prune as they outgrow their space 4-5ft tall and wide.
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Thank you for your kind words, Jackie! It’s much appreciated as I’ve struggled to find time to write these past few months! Although I do love sharing my garden with readers and I learn a lot from their replies. I was just wondering if my fuchsia was unusual in growing to 5ft! It’s supported by a lovely teardrop-shape metal frame I bought from Tamsin Westhorpe at Stockton Bury Gardens. The frame has turned a lovely burnished (rusty ) colour and blends in with the garden. Well, I’m glad to hear that my fuchsia is doing the right thing, growing so tall! It’s such a beauty. Thanks again for reading my blog and for getting in touch. It’s really very much appreciated. All the best. Karen x
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That frame sounds really lovely, I like it when things get that rusty look. Jackie Knight.
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Me too. It blends in beautifully. Happy Sunday Jackie.
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Thank you, Karen, for a generous selecti
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Thank you Peter! Look out for some lovely gardening book reviews coming up! I think you like those, don’t you? Also some giveaways. All the best, Karen
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‘Petra’s Wedding’ dahlia was in your previous post. Is it as white as it looks, or does it have a rather vanilla colored center?
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I have just got up and looked at a posy on the kitchen window. It’s pure white, but as it ages, the centre opens up with golden yellow pollen. It lasts two weeks in a vase. So the answer is yes, pure white, until it’s going over, at which point it has a yellow centre.
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Impressive. I have seen a few pictures of it, and all of them portray it as white. I happen to like the simple form. Other popular white dahlias have more ornate form. They are all nice, . . . but I sort of like the simple form in simple white.
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Yes I agree. It is a beautiful, simple form. My favourite white dahlia.
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