Not grabbing my admiration in quite the same way, now that I know more about its annoying little 'habits', is the statuesque seed head of Verbascum thapsus just in front of the mirror. I don't know if you read my post about the lack of rain for the months of April, May, June? Our lawn virtually vanished up here in the Mirror Garden. But the verbascum is living up to its aggressive reputation ... see below if you want proof! The photo to the left is the 'lawn' in June. Nice and green again by August, isn't it?
Back to the home turf. Above is a picture of the artemesia back in April when it was tender, teeny shoots from brown sticks that made no effort to disguise the ugly concrete. Below, in all its October glory. It seems to be sheltering the little plaster eggs like a mother hen, doesn't it?
Why I love them: they look just as good in December as they do in April, August or October. But the garden would be boring if it was filled with things that never change.
Isn't it funny how you can 'know' something for years before really taking it on board as a reality? This year I noticed that although the weather has been warm in October (well above 10 degrees centigrade most nights) it has been much too wet for the poor pelargoniums in the window boxes on the street and on the balcony. The task of rescuing them all for next year has begun - and the sunroom is starting to fill up.
Now - what I think I need is a blogger's version of syrup of fig, just to keep me regular. Actually comments work just as well! So - how do you manage over winter if you haven't got a greenhouse?