Autumn flowers

kaffir lily

 We've passed the equinox so there's no denying that it's now autumn but for the past few days the sun has been out and the days almost as warm as in summer, so, along with 'proper' autumnal flowers - michaelmas daisies and kaffir lilies, some summer ones are having an extended flowering season

michaelmas daisies + verbena

hardy fuchsia

 hollyhock

one last rose

sweetpea buds

welsh poppy

nasturtiums

another hardy fuchsia

montbretia

nasturtium

lavender

winterjasmine

but along with all these, the winter jasmine is starting to flower! Almost four seasons at once.

October in the garden

 It may be October - and well on the way to winter - but it's still surprisingly warm so many of summer's flowers are still blooming.







So there are nasturtiums, marigolds, sunflowers, rudbeckias, welsh poppies and sweet peas

along with more typical autumn flowers - fuchsia bushes, michaelmas daisies, kaffir lilies and verbena

the sweet williams have even decided to flower a second time - even if they are a bit straggly.

Lots of lovely flowers for the house

Autumn Equinox

Pottering about and taking for photos for this equinox post, I was struck by the dominant colours in the garden right now - purples/reds of fuchsias, michaelmas daisies, kaffir lilies, dianthus and late sweet peas - and yellow/orange of sunflowers, marigolds, nasturtiums and rudbeckias.
It isn't a planned colour scheme - I'm never that organised but it certainly looks bright and cheerful.

September in the garden - flowers

 It's nearly Autumn ....so the sunflowers are flowering at last!



And round their feet the "mini-sunflowers", rudbeckias.













Sadly the really small version, marigolds, have all had their flowers nibbled away - probably by birds.

The 'rescued' fuchsia, now a couple of years old, is flowering well.

 Michaelmas daisies are putting in an early appearance.

 So are kaffir lilies - now, according to a gardening magazine, apparently re-named from schizostylis to hesperantha.









The sweetpeas have picked up with a bit of rain and are putting on a lovely last-minute display

and the antirrhinums are still looking good













 Unlike the montbretia, which is just looking exhausted!

Nearly Summer....

Summer's on the way with huge floppy oriental poppies...

..self-set aquilegias in every shade of pink, rose, purple and white...

...huge peonies just opening..

The flower beds are edged in a frill of London Pride

and hiding under the taller plants are sweetly scented lily of the valley







There's always one unseasonal flower though - a really early flowering kaffir lily