The Inevitable Blight...

..strikes again...

Blighted

Well, we had a good run of blight free summer but it was inevitable that blight would hit my tomatoes.  Blight is a fungal disease and really difficult to avoid here in the UK.

What to do...I've picked what I can, stripped the plants bare of as many leaves as possible.

The crop has been lovely ... 

Tasty tomatoes (Gardeners' Delight)

Maybe next year.

Meanwhile I am hoping that the Zebra Tomatoes will just ripen slightly more so I can try them.

Those stripes need to get a bit more yellow.

Another bit of cutting back I did yesterday was the Mallow.  It was magnificent.  Magnificent but it was blocking the path and some of the branches were poking dangerously in line with children's' eyes.  What I hope to do is lift the 'skirt' a bit higher next summer and make the mallow a semi-standard in shape.   I am not sure it is suitable for this treatment, or that I have got it right.  The other hope by cutting back is that I will make the bush more resilient to autumn and winter high winds.

How it has been most of this summer

Pruned back version, it will need more staking.

Mmm, pretty radical, I agree.  Mallows do grow fast and thickly though, so I have hopes.  It did seem like sacrilege to chop all those beautiful bloom down.

There are high winds and rain today so maybe I did the right thing at the right time.

The rest of the garden is just ticking over.  It is a pleasant time of year.    I heard the Robin start to sing again this month.   Very much an indication of autumn.

As are these lovely lilies.   I am not sure what they are called, I think they are the Abyssinian gladiolus -  they are a bulb I was given in a mixed multi-pack a couple of years ago.

The Abyssinian gladiolus ..I think.

Rather elegant don't you think?

The unusual weather this last summer has certainly thrown up some eccentric behavior in some plants.   Some are flowering much later than usual.  Some much earlier.  What does it mean?   Nothing at this time.  It is worth just noting and seeing what happens next year, in 5 years, weather is a strange and fickle beast.  The Passiflora has lovely buds but I don't think it has been warm enough for them to open.   I've not seen any open which is disappointing.

Passiflora buds - none have opened.

But the little Elderflower, Black Beauty, which suffered a fatal accident in the summer - do you remember I mentioned it?  Well, I took cuttings and at least one is well away, maybe all is not lost after all.

Elderflower, Black beauty.

In the next few weeks I need to get out into the garden and start putting it to bed.  Also spring bulbs need to be bought and planted.   I want a great show for 2016 as I anticipate that DnA and children may really visit as they have suggested more than once...one can hope and, if they disappoint, then the flowers go a little way to make up for the disappointment.

The apples are nearly ripe.   Seren is fond of apples and often comes in with one to eat.   I hope this is one from my neighbours tree at the back of the garden, I hope it is windfall and not one she has actually stolen from my tree...because if it is, then I have no idea how she got in through the little fence ...she is inordinately fond of fresh apples....

An apple a day...

Seren's contribution to gardening, apart from tasting the produce, is to dig...I wish she would not!  She digs about one hole ever one to two weeks...I fill them in again...she digs a new hole...and so on.  I hope she grows out of it as her digging is rarely beneficial or in the right place.

One of Seren's holes

The monster marrow is still a monster without signs of any flowers or fruit.  I have let it be just because it is so enthusiastic and vigorous it makes me feel happy.   I chop it wildly and with abandon frequently but still it grows with a happy energy.

Monster Marrow

Monster marrow as seen from outside the greenhouse,
completely fills one side.

I think I will just add a couple of pictures in here to show you how the garden has looked this last week and one of an old and very special fiery begonia that always, always does beautiful things every year without fail.  Some people think begonias are common and vulgar...well, let them...they don't know a good thing when it looks them in the eye, obviously!

This week past

The fiery begonia

I cannot remember if I told you that the chilli has produced a few lovely fruits...now to make something hot and spicy with them.   Maybe a spicy apple chutney...that might be a great idea for tomorrow.

But for tonight...that is about all the garden news I have, so I am going to curl up in the armchair and watch Gardener's World with Monty Don while the wind and rain rattle the windows outside.

Chat to you again soon.  

Have a great gardening week