“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower”.
– Albert Camus
This has been a remarkable month, with the first real frost of the autumn arriving on November 23rd. If this is global warming, let’s have more of it … I remember a really hard frost occurred on September 5th one year. So a number of our plants and shrubs are rather confused, starting up growth ready for what they assume is the arrival of Spring. The soil will still be warm – so unusual, and it remains to be seen how (if and when) the bulbs will react.
High winds and lashing rain arrived late in the month, though the weather here wasn’t quite as bad as in some other areas. Remarkable to see the way coniferous trees, eg our cypresses (var. Thuja) are able to bend so far in the very strong wind, without being uprooted – amazing flexibility.
First frost – November 23rd
Ceanothus – late flush
Rose – lighting the gloom
Herb Fennel – coming back into bloom
Rhubarb – already budding
Leeks – some got blown over by the storm, later
Parsley – curly variety – tough as old boots!
Plant hospital – A&E
Apple – var. Cox’s – leftovers
Virginia Creeper – oh dear …
Bee hotel – winter stop over – not all bees live in hives or are members of a swarm
Autumn mists
Richard Fox's blog 