Before the rain

That Penstemon Electric Blue is a great plant. Its the best Penstemon I’ve grown. We get pied wagtails here, but I’ve never seen a grey one. They are very beautiful...soft colours.

You are lucky to have so many plants in flower, shame about the apple tree, but at least you will be alright for apple pie/crumble for some time....

Speaking of apples, I cooked and froze mine, and I’ve made a couple of apple cakes with a recipe from my GHK book. It has Almonds in and you make it using the ‘rub the fat in the flour’ method. More of a fruit Cake than a sponge. Absolutely delicious! I’m thinking it will be good for my open days as it can be frozen ...no icing etc.

apple cake is gorgeous and yes I will be making some too.
The penstemon is heavenly blue. It starts off a slightly different blue colour and turns purply as it ages.

I have rhubarb, blackcurrants and gooseberries too so lots of crumbles in the winter.

How lovely to have so much home grown fruit available, we only have room for blueberries, a few raspberries......and a couple of strawberries.

I enjoyed that,. Shame about the apple tree, have you lost it altogether.? My echancea, helenium and penstemon finished flowering weeks ago. Nice salvia, lovely, I have a few very late flowering ones, shame as mine get frosted when in full bloom.

Well done on saving the apples, seems to take for ever clearing away the branches and suchlike, I eventually managed to get mine cleared away so that was a relief, didn't want it hanging around over the winter, nice to see you still have some colour to admire in the garden, chuckled at the photo of the wagtail, I often think my window cleaner thinks the same about mine Seaburn, especially the bedrooms ones, I always think the net hides them anyway and admit they only get done when I wash the nets, its a right faff otherwise, lol....

I like your helenium & salvias. added to my shopping list for next year.

Great blog but my favourite bit was the comment about not cleaning the window! Made me laugh a lot, so like me :D

I hope your apple tree will survive for you, don't know if you can cover the root or stand it back up or anything like that.

I wouldn't mind some of your yellow flowers that you will be splitting if they are tall!

I liked to see your yellow birdie too by the pond.

I also love my salvia. Hope to get a different type of one some time.

We have been getting rain here too the last couple of days.

Lovely to see some flowers still blooming in your garden, SB! Apart from a few Pansies, I bought a couple of weeks ago, there is no colour on the balcony - so sad to see after such a brilliant display during the summer!

We see Wagtails quite frequently around here - even in the patch of grass in front of our balcony! We also have lots of seagulls - you'd think we were living by the seaside instead of a couple of 100 miles inland from the sea!

Oh dear! I always feel guilty when I see the word "Penstemon" or see images of the flowers. I persuaded my OH not to grow them! Yours look good, SG.

Does your wagtail attack your car mirror? I've often seen them do this but not in our garden : don't have them here.

Pamelaanne send me a pm with your address and when I split it I will send you a chunk. its about 5ft tall and doesn't mind some shade.
don't often see the pied wagtails around the garden but the pub car park yes. The grey visits now and again and flies around the pond. never noticed either attacking their reflection though.
We get a lot of gulls too. a blinking herring gull had a feast from the pond. only got 10 small ones left :o(

The apple tree wont be able to be righted as we cant get the roots back into the ground. so it is sadly going.

I love the first picture - that must be your beautiful beech tree? Ever since you mentioned it I've wondered just what it looked like. Its my favourite tree both in spring and autumn. The blue Penstemon is lovely - there's one in our garden too (from a cutting a friend gave me)and I love it. All our leaves and most of our flowers were done for in the hurricane left-over a couple of weeks ago so its nice to see that other folk still have some good colour.

Sorry! Heavenly Blue...quite right..that's what I meant to type! :)

You've got a nice lot of flowers in your garden and don't they brighten the dark days up ...
Lovely photo of the tree with blue sky behind it.
It's nice that you have some bags of leaves and shredded branches. They'll be good for your garden next year.
I also have murky windows lol ...

Yes that is the 100yr+ beech tree Stera. I have a love hate relationship with it really. There are times I love it but mid summer when it is so dry and dark under there I detest it.
CK :o)

We have 3 yrs worth of bags of leaves behind the garage so yes they will do the garden some good eventually Hywel. Like the new avatar by the way.

Murky windows are the new thing :o)

Thanks. I thought the avatar would be nice for the autumn.
I always had bags of leaves when I lived in the old cottage, it was surrounded by woods, but up here I haven't bothered. I miss it.

welcome to come over here and help yourself to any you bag up ;o)

So thrilled to hear the news about murky windows - I am in fashion at last!

Thank you Seaburngirl, if I lived nearer I'd come :)