Summer slips into Autumn

Summer came early this year and so it seems has Autumn. The mornings have been misty this week and though the sun has broken through and the skies are clear and blue, there is an edge to the air. The upside is that the cloudy August days and frequent showers have kept the garden flowers blooming long after they would normally have faded. This is my newly planted shady corner - I thought I had chicken proofed it but they seem to be able to get in anyway and the plants are doing ok.

The patio rose has flowered since early May, bright and clear, smothered in blooms. I bought in a batch of ladybirds and have fed it a couple of times but it seems that water is the thing that really keeps it going - this good old English weather!

I have half a dozen similar single roses in all shades of pink ranging from a coral one climbing below my window to a wild dog rose at the gate. They seem quite happy here and don't, touch wood, suffer from all the usual pestilences.

 I have watered and dead headed this beautiful little pink marguerite - tell me the name if you know different- all summer and it has been covered

in flowers like this for almost five months. They start off a bright, deep pink but look pretty as they fade and all the time more are coming on. I bought three little plants on the market and planted them in an old beer crock; they lift my spirits every day. 

The lupins are on their third flowering and even the rhodadendron that my husband had a hack at has a second flush of flowers. The holly round here was white with blossom in late Spring and is now heavy with berries. Does this mean it will be a hard Winter?