Coppicing Crape Myrtles

The ancient art of coppicing,  http://www.coppice.co.uk
 that is cutting trees off near their base in late winter to encourage shoots to grow from the main trunk, can be used in many ways.
In England Willow trees are treated this way to provide new flexible stems for fences, baskets & other woven products. Hazel is used to make living fences, the new shoots are bent over and intertwined to create a dense hedge that keeps animals in and crops protected.

When I go 'home' I am always jealous of the availability of hazel twigs for natural stakes in the garden so several years ago I planted a few crape myrtles close together in a row.
Each February I cut these off about 4 inches from the ground. The result is very straight stems grow up and the planting forms a little hedge. The next February I harvest my lovely straight garden stakes, height depends on how good the growing season was. The stakes are good for at least one year.

an added benefit is this autumn colour display from Lagerstroemia (indica x fauriei) 'Sioux" 

Crocus sativus

The Saffron crocus
Really, you can grow your own saffron one of the most expensive spices in the world.

 They are autumn blooming crocus. 
The first day they bloom pick the flowers and carefully remove the three red stigmas. Dry these  a bit and then save for that special dish. 
You will need about 4 - 6 flowers  for a pinch of saffron.

Remove the 3  sigmas carefully

I am going to try and dry the petals

Fanny & Ryan

How I love Fall here. So many flowers , so colorful.

Here is Fanny Aster again with the Chrysanthemum 'Ryan's Yellow'

Could not resist another photo of Camellia sasanqua "Cleopatra'

Chrysanthemum rubellum "Hillside Sheffield Pink"

This evergreen Chrysanthemum is a staple of my garden. It blooms profusely in the fall but most intriguing is the way it continually changes color even different colored flowers on the same plant! Why buy those florist 'Mums' each year when you can get this perennial display, always available at the May plant sale at the Pitt County Arboretum.
Here's their blog: http://pittcountyarboretum.blogspot.com 

Here distictly apricot in color with Salvia microphylla 'San Carlos Festival'

Fanny Aster

I have had this lovely late blooming Aster oblongifolius 'Fanny', 
from Plant Delights Nursery, for several years and moved pieces of it around the garden.

Here with a hypertufa staddle stone.
The originals made from stone were used in England
 to support graneries and other food storage
structures to keep vermin out.
The ancient stone ones are very sort after &
can cost several hundred British pounds.
There have been cases of them being stolen,
from old gardens,  such is their value.
My advice, make your own of hypertufa
much lighter and easy to move around.
Probably not much chance of it walking away!

Camellia sasanqua and such

 Dull and drizzle maybe the weather but the 'Sasanquas' are starting to bloom.
These two propagated from some decades old bushes at my last garden
 which was probably landscaped in the 1940's

The Old fashioned variety 'Cleopatra'

with pink Muhly Grass and 'Apple Blossom' below

In Front of the Front

With a cold front and predicted rain and wind coming
some photos of those glorious swamp sunflowers 
(Helianthus angustifolia) before they get crushed

With Common Golden Rod

Along the side path next to the park

With Dahlia 'The Bishop's Children"
outside the old veggie garden

Cyclamen hederifolium

The ivy leafed Cyclamen (said like ' sickle' where I come from and like 'bicycle' here)
has at last increased on the garden.
It seems to enjoy the dry shady soil under trees.  The flowers have been appearing for the last few days around the garden but the oldest planting is under the Kousa Dogwood.

Hopefully we will have rain soon
to bring on those lovely leaves 
with such varied designs

Nasturtiums

I planted (Trapaeolum) seed 2 years ago at the edges of the raised beds in the old veggie garden.
 Never had success with them in pots or in the ground past springtime.

 All those pictures of Claude Monet's garden at Giverny and the nasturtiums on the gravel paths call to me as well as my experience as a child. In the early 1950's at our inner London city school we were , for a few pennies, allowed to join the
 "Little Flower Lovers League", you got a badge and a small terra cotta flower pot and a few nasturtium seeds. We probably used 'dirt' out of the garden. In winter we got a daffodil bulb which we planted and kept in the cupboard under the stairs until it started to grow. I still remember how enthralling it was for a city kid.

Enough daydreaming...last year my 2 packets of Nasturtium seeds did rather well and lasted long enough to set seed. Lo and behold they self seeded and here is the result today

I hope they continue to set and self seed along with the collards and mustard. Tidy gardeners take note.

Hardy Ageratum

This is an Uh Oh moment
when you see just how far this creeping native has advanced through the garden.
But I would not be without this fantastic blue colour.

Here taking over the circle
with' Woodlander's Hardy' Bottlebrush(Callistmon)

 Eupatorium coelestinum (hardy ageratum/blue mist flower) can be controlled somewhat by pulling up the roots, that are quite distinctly white, throughout the year.

No Plums for Me

The deer have eaten all the leaves from the Methly Plum Tree
and now it is blooming, leaving practically no chance of fruit next year.