Before we leave Berlin again, this time headed through the Balkans on a road trip to Greece, I’m taking a Sunday stroll through the garden.
The nights have turned cold — about 5°C — but the day is still warm. Right now it’s about 23°C. The lawn is beginning to fill up with leaves although the trees are still mostly green. Every now and again I hear a thud as another pear hits the ground from the big old pear tree at the back of the garden.
When I go away, which I do twice a year to spend some months in Greece, the garden and my son are who and what I miss most (and not in that order). Sometimes my neighbour sends me a photo or even a video of the most recent blooms, especially in Spring when I often miss the tulips and crocuses I put in the Autumn before.
This time I thought I would write down what my impressions of the garden are before I go, a sort of record of where we are today.
This is the time of year when the ivy flowers along the wall that used to be a coal store and we now use as a kind of terrace. The bees have a ball when that happens. A lot of people think they need to get rid of ivy, but just watching these bees at work makes you realise just how important it is to the garden.
I’m not a great fan of dahlias, but I’ve found a couple that I really like. This white orchid dahlia is quite a stunner and has only just shown itself in the last week or two. A neighbour has promised to dig it up if there’s frost before I get back, and put it in the cellar.
The other place the bees like to party in Autumn is on the flowering sedum, appropriately named Autumn Joy. We have lots of this all over the garden and they are resistant to heat and cold, so we’ve had ours for about 20 years, and they still look great.
The cheery little Chinese leadwort flowers add an incredible bright blue sprinkling to a border. I have to reduce it in Spring to stop it taking over completely, but with invasive cranesbill and Caucasian forget-me-not, it is held more or less in check.
It looks like I’m going to miss the Monkshood (aconitum) this year which is a shame because they’ve got nice and tall. They are very lovely but also quite poisonous.
This year I inadvertently planted Auria tomatoes that are only ripening now. There hasn’t been enough sunshine on my vegetable containers because the hedge behind got too high.
And this is the courgette that just keeps on giving. Our son is going to get most of my harvest when I’m away, so I don’t have to worry about him getting his vitamins.
I love to sit here at the back of the garden and watch the red squirrels run up and down the trees with walnuts in their mouths. It sounds a little like they’re arguing sometimes, making funny gurgling noises.
Hard to believe we’re in the middle of Berlin. It is a real oasis here.
That was part one of my Autumn walk throughout garden. Watch out for part two!
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