A bright Autumn day with lots of sunshine, continuing a good spell of weather.

Small and the Large White butterflies are hovering and landing on the Nasturtium plants, no doubt laying their eggs. Soon the plants will be destructed by caterpillars!

The leaves are starting to fall from the Amelanchier tree.

The Hummingbird Hawkmoth stopped by in the garden early this evening, to probe nectar from the Verbena Bonariensis. Soon it will make the long journey back to southern Europe.
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The weather over the past few weeks has been uninpiring to say the least. Today Summer has returned, the sky an expanse of blue and barely a cloud to be seen. The mornings are getting darker with a distinct nip in the air.

Today I see something of a first, the resident black cat and Fox together side by side, quite content in each other's company and quite happy to ignore each other!

I love to hear the tic-tic of the Robin, and see a group of sparrows taking food from under the bird table. Thumper, the woodpigeon, is rapidly taking food off the birdtable! Small and large white butterflies are enjoying Nicotiana Sylvestris, a plant I would highly recommend if you have the space.

The garden is changing, now Autumn is fast approaching. Rosa rugosa has turned to hips and trees and shrubs are showing their clusters of red berries.

The plants looking at their best, are Sedum with its red/pink florettes and the cerise/red combination of Dahlias.

Today I make a start in moving plants into different spaces around the garden.
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August has been a busy month. There's no shortage of bees buzzing around the garden, that much I do know!
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Sunny and warm. An inherited Buddleia bush is attracting the Peacock and Painted Lady butterfly. The Red Admiral is also enjoying the nectar from its many puce flowers. I rarely see this butterfly nowadays, not like the Painted Lady who, this year is abundant in large numbers. The Holly Blue and Gatekeeper butterflies are residents of the garden too.

The colour of the moment is blue, with Anchusa, Echinops, Salvia and Eryngium. The latter two have blue stems, especially so the Sea Holly, which is vibrant blue.

Separated and re-potted Auriculas, and have made lots more plants for the borders next Spring. Dug up the rapid spread of Galium (Sweet Woodruff).
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A day of sunshine and bubbling clouds. After a ferocious storm, and heavy rain in the week, the borders have had a much needed soak. I see no birds all day. I know a Fox is visiting the garden. On a couple of occasions I have caught its tail end disappearing through the undergrowth, and is frequently leaving its deposits around the garden too!

Planted three types of Dahlia, a white and blue Salvia in pots, for added colour around the garden.
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Mid afternoon a storm passes over like a whirlwind, bringing with it torrential rain. It is all over in a flash. Two male Gatekeeper butterflies are in dispute over territory, whirling around each other like frantic. I hear, but don't see the Great Tits in the garden. I do see the Wood Pigeon, such a comical bird. It takes much time to manoeuvre itself onto the birdtable when it would be so much simpler to peck spilt seed off the ground! After nine, with the advent of nightfall I see Pipestrelle Bats circling around the garden for the first time this year.

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Cut back Geranium for second flush.

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After a morning shrouded in cloud, there is eventually sunshine in the afternoon with broken cloud. The Honey Bees are keeping busy buzzing around the Borage and the Bumblebees, are well, bumbling around the bee plants (the name of which escapes me!) Some plants look parched, and are in desperate need of rain, of which lately we have had very little. I watch the aerial stunts of a lone Swift picking up insects on the wing. Two fledgling Blackbirds 'Pip' and 'Squeak' are making light work of picking berries from the Amelanchier tree. A male Kestrel hovers overhead for its prey, without success. Disturbed a White Plume Moth.

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Yellow is abundant around the garden with Cephalaria, Coreopsis, Hypericum, Lysimachia, Sedum, and Sisyrinchium.

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Picked Strawberries and Raspberries from the plot. Cut back Granny's Bonnet foliage leaving few remaining to self seed.

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The day starts grey and cloudy, the garden is refreshed after a heavy shower. The wind is a brisk south westerly, which is rattling the windchimes. In the morning I see a Blackbird fledgling, the first this year, being closely guarded by one parent. I put out sultanas as a treat and top up the birdbaths. With neighbouring cats often using the garden as a thoroughfare, I hope it makes it to adulthood? The Granny's Bonnets are blooming, and heads of Poppy 'Pattys Plum' are opening, one by one.

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Pull out Forget-me-nots now past their best, before they go to seed!

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Another lovely day, with warm sunshine. Early morning I spend visiting a nursery, a new discovery, which is packed to the gunnells with plants, and buy a mixture of perennials, alpines and Dahlias. A Ruby Tiger moth, the first I have ever seen in the garden, settles on a Granny's Bonnet, long enough for me to take a photo. A Magpie is mobbing a Blackbird and a Butterfly is chasing a Bee! My dad leaves a pretty French Lavender on the doorstep which is an unexpected surprise.
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Cut back Bramble and pull/dig out weeds. The ever multiplying Dandelions will have to wait until another time, although I snap off and discard flower heads as I pass by. Divide Antirrhinum which have successfully overwintered and plant out.
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Warm and sunny, a blue sky and little cloud with a north-westerly wind. Today, for the first time in the garden, I see a male orange tip butterfly, along with a holly blue, peacock, small white, tortoiseshell and speckled wood. Following my every move around the garden, hoverflies are buzzing in my ears. Bees are finding nectar inside flowers of the yellow deadnettle and a wasp is on the ivy. I am enjoying the sound of a male blackbird singing in a neighbouring conifer tree and watching the dunnocks on the feeder. A local black cat who visits daily is watching me from the steps which lead to the top of the garden. The snails are attacking my hostas in pots, I knew they would; and brushing past a white iris I break off an emerging flower stem, I knew I would!

Divide primroses to make extra plants to fill in gaps in the borders.

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