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Just as the warmer days bring swallows and swifts back to the skies, the arrival of colder weather is marked by noisy, hungry sparrows on the bird feeders. We hardly see them through the summer months when the’re busy tending to nests and feeding chicks. But now they spend their days guzzling bird seed and pecking their way through countless fat balls. The blackbirds too are more visible and vocal again – shouting in alarm each time I walk down the garden. They’re busy feasting on the windfall apples that litter the grass… and there are a lot for them to feast on. I’ve collected probably the last of the apples to use in the kitchen, the birds are welcome to the rest.
A colder turn to the weather has meant a whole new list of gardening chores to do. The tender plants are already under cover – either in the greenhouse, cold frame or jostling for space on a windowsill in the house. A couple of frosts on the dahlias means it’s time to dig them up and start drying them off to store for next year. I grew dahlia ‘Bishop’s Children’ from seed this summer – a good mix of yellows, reds and a nice dusky orange. The plants were, of course, carefully labelled so I’d know which ones were worth keeping… no, you know me better than that. I have absolutely no idea which plant is which, so I’m keeping them all in the shed and if any of them survive for planting next year, they will be labelled… yeah, right!
Sharing greenhouse space with the tender pelargoniums and lemon verbena, are seedlings grown from a frenzy of autumn sowing. There’s a collection of hardy annuals that should flower earlier than their spring-sown cousins next year, and a tray of sweet cicely grown from seed collected in late summer. Sweet cicely seeds need to be exposed to cold before they’ll germinate, so they were tricked into thinking winter was here through a short stay in the fridge, then germinated and potted up. They may or may not survive the real winter – this year I discovered the wonderful sweetness that a few leaves of sweet cicely can add to dishes, so I hope they do.
There are still leaves to harvest – ‘Red Russian’ kale and cavolo nero that managed to escape the attentions of the butterflies during the summer, and some ‘winter’ spinach… although seeing the sorry state it’s in after a few cold nights, I’m not sure it will really get through the worst of the winter weather. The chard is looking much more healthy, but to be fair, it has had the extra protection of a layer of enviromesh – not so much to keep the butterflies off but more for protection from the hens and some wild rabbits with big appetites that have moved in at the end of the garden.
A combination of cold nights and windy days means that there are a lot of leaves to rake up and put in bags to make next year’s leaf mould. And the seed sowing hasn’t stopped just because it’s cold and the days are short – I’m making regular sowings of a lettuce called ‘Winter Gem’ which is supposed to grow right through winter given some protection… we’ll see. But for the next few months any gardening will have to be fitted in to shorter days. Still, one of the best features of this time of year is sunset – some evenings the sky just lights up as the sun goes down…
It doesn’t seem like another month has passed, but I’m being reminded by Lizzie at Strayed from the Table, that it’s time for another Garden Share Collective… so these are my garden highlights – click over to Lizzie’s blog to catch up on how gardens around the world are looking just now.
The Garden Deli 
What a lovely post pointing out all the things I have not done like sowing seeds lifting dahlias etc. This is the time of year when I go into a gardening torpor glad to know that you are a bit more energetic than me. I just let my sweet cicely seed itself but then I am just so lazy, happy December.
I didn’t realise the sweet cicely might seed itself – could have saved myself a job! The seed sowing and storing dahlias are just distractions from the chore that really needs doing… so many weeds in the borders!
Stunning sunset!
It was just amazing – and lasted for a good while too, getting more and more impressive.
You are right I have noticed some stunning sunsets recently and when the days are cold and clear with the sun out I do love being outside, especially in the garden where you don’t feel the cold once stuck into the gardening!
Raking up the leaves is one of the best ways to keep warm – much cheaper than putting the heating on!
You have been very busy! My work on the allotment tends to tail off in the winter. I have to admit I am not very good at keeping things going over the winter. As for the birds, we have lots of finches on our feeders, but not a sparrow in sight.
The sparrows here seem to scare most of the other birds away from the feeders – there are so many of them, and they can be really pushy and noisy so the finches and blue tits go elsewhere.
Lovely sunset! I’m not sure I’ve ever tried sweet cicely, but I think it grows wild here. I’ll have to give it a go next year.
The sweet cicely was good for adding sweetness to rhubarb, so I could use less sugar in recipes. It has nice foliage and pretty, white flowers too – a very good addition to the herb garden!
A lovely post with beautiful pictures. Sweet cicely sounds like a good herb to try, and it’s not available at the supermarket, so definitely a good one to grow.
It is a good herb… and you’re right – not one that’s stocked in the shops.
What a stunning Autumn sunset! Happy Gardening indeed 🙂
The sunsets have been beautiful recently – just a bit too early in the day for my liking!
Lovely sunset and you sound a lot more organised than me with all your Autumn planting. I’ve never managed to get Sweet Cicely growing from seed but luckily my mother-in law did and gave me some seedlings earlier in the year. Really hoping they will self seed!
I’m going to be watching for self-sown seedlings next spring too, now that I know there might be some!
That sunset is stunning! What a treat at the end of a hard days gardening 🙂 Amazing how there is still so much colour still in your garden. Your chard is a great colour – is that Rainbow Chard?
It is rainbow chard – I sowed a mixed variety and got nothing but yellow stems… but they are very pretty and, as far as I know, the colour doesn’t affect the flavour.
Stunning sunset. I am glad you are still sowing seeds, makes me feel a little lazy, with the heat of our summer coming. Surely by this time next year I will be frequently planting too.
Thanks Lizzie! The seed sowing is pretty much over for the year now, just a few more cloves of garlic to find some space for before the cold really set in…
what glorious photos – i too am taken my your sunset pic, but i have to say that gorgeous yellow chard is my fave. what a dash of sunshine in the garden, especially when you are heading into the colder darker months. it is wonderful to read your prepations for the winter, just as we in the southern hemisphere are girding our loins for the hot, harsh months of summer. happy gardening!
Hope your weather is settling down now, and a bit more summer-like. One of the great things about the blogging community is being able to enjoy other people’s summer gardens while mine is cold and frosty!
You’re lucky to have sparrows – we have very few around here nowadays. I’m feeling very lazy after reading your list of autumn tasks. Every year I vow to do some autumn sowing but apart from putting in a few broad bean seeds, we’ve failed again. Beautiful sunset.
The broad beans have been a big failure here this autumn – turns out there’s a mouse living in the greenhouse, and he finds the big seeds very tasty!
Wow! that sunset is amazing. We have some small sparrow-like birds; I’m told they’re not sparrows but whatever they are very friendly and come really close to me when I’m in the garden which is nice.
Birds can be great companions in the garden – we used to have a blackbird who was always hopping around collecting worms as I dug in the veg patch.
That is a gorgeous sunset. I have never heard of sweet cecily, I very much doubt it would be considered quite exotic for here (and wouldn’t like our heat).
I’m not sure how it would cope with the Australian heat – that’s something we don’t have to worry about here!
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