An Early Autumn

Today is the 12th of October but it feels much more like the middle of November. Recent days have begun with rolling banks of mist that gradually lift, leaving wispy fingers trailing across the wooded hills, exposing warm sunny hours with clear blue skies, and quickly turning cold again as the light fades. We’ve already had our first hard frost, the earliest we’ve experienced in thirteen years of gardening in Shropshire, which means that our dahlia crops have finished for the season. Happily nothing else has been damaged, and the general cool damp chill of this year means that our “vines” - the jasmine, honeysuckles, clematis and rambling roses which cover our high brick walls - have been at their most lush and abundant this year, and still have lots more to give. The cosy bothy and shepherd’s hut are looking particularly appealing at the moment, and I have already ordered the bulk of our seeds for next year, so I think that we are heading for an early hibernation period this season. At home, the cottage seems to be filling up with spiders and ladybirds looking for a cosy place to overwinter, so it looks as though nature has the same idea.