Actually it's more than hanging on, it seems to be absolutely blooming. And that's quite odd as there's autumn leaves about too. Checking on the garden when I get back from holiday is one of my coming home rituals. This Sunday though I was quite surprised with what I found. The pinks were finally flowering, and I've since cut these and brought them inside to enjoy.
The begonias which I moved to the patio so we could enjoy their colour, are still flowering - but now they're joined by autumn leaves on the ground. A job we have for the weekend is to start collecting the leaves, especially those on the slate so the worms aren't tempted up to them and leaving soil in the slate, which in turn will encourage weeds to grow there. It's one of the jobs MOH tackles regularly, but when the garden is full of leaves we both can collect black sackfuls of leaves at a time.
The sedums are even more vibrant than before we left for Portugal and usually are the things to add colour to the garden, but this year they've got competition!
As the cosmos is continuing to flower. It's looking a bit straggly now, but the flowers are still perfect aren't they?
I discovered a pear outside the greenhouse with a small nibble out of it. Squirrels. I wish they'd take more than a few nibbles before discarding their bounty. I was quite impressed with the size of the pears we've grown this year, easily a fist and a half in size, but equally as rock hard as usual. Perhaps they're baking pears as they're definitely not eating pears. I'm hoping the squirrel will remember he wasn't so keen before he picks any more, but I doubt it...
And yes that is a petunia nestled amongst the lavender. In October.
The sunflowers that I randomly dotted around the garden have flowered too. They're mostly spindly, unlike the ones on the allotment which had more sturdy stems, but they are much taller. As the wind blew I caught this one and had a closer look.
And yes, I let it go again.
In the greenhouse my Lords and Ladies from Dad are really taking off. I've been trying to grow these from roots from Dad's garden for a while so it's nice to finally see them grow. They're destined for the area by the gabion baskets, which seems to welcome woodland plants.
I've plenty of new succulent plants on the way too - thanks to the squirrel again. He seems to have taken a liking to my succulent trough and is picking the leaves, and then remembering he's not so keen. So I've been gathering them up and waiting for them to start growing again. And it seems to be working.
Outside the greenhouse the Mind Your Own Business has gone a bit bonkers too much to MOH's disgust. He's not a fan, but I am and well, once you've got MYOB it's not easily got rid of. I like how it creeps along paving and edges and softens the hard landscaping.
Nearer the house the fatsia is starting to do its thing, the bauble like "flowers" look great at this time of year, and I'm looking forward to seeing these develop into berries again.
How's your garden coping with this peculiar weather at the moment? Surely mine isn't the only one that's showing two seasons at once?