The weather has been ideal for gardening over the last few days and there has been a sense of urgency to get as much done as possible before it turns cold and wet which is what it will do next week according to the weather forecast. Yesterday the temperatures went as high as 20 degrees c which was a record for the last day of October. I was able to work in my t-shirt, it was just like a summers day.

I removed more of the Miscanthus sacchariflorus which is not easy but more space was needed before I could plant the Arbutus unedo. Trying to dig a hole for the plant required a pick-axe to loosen the soil, it was incredibly dry and compacted. Eventually the hole was sufficiently deep enough so, after adding some compost, I planted the strawberry tree. There was quite a lot of space around it so I dug up a lump of Polypodium vulgare which was growing nearby and split in two and planted that for ground cover.

Then I moved to another part of the garden to tackle an area which I wasn’t too happy with. There were 2 clumps of Aster na ‘Helen Picton’ which were enormous. It is a fabulous  plant with deep, rich purple flowers which the bees adore. It is very a very strong grower and in just 3 years has become somewhat too big. My plan was to divide them to make a row at the back of the border. So first I dug them up, used half of one piece to pot up for next year (made 20 plants!). Then I decided the time had come to remove a Hydrangea which sits looking half dead and only ever has a few feeble flowers. Then some Polemonium ‘Hannah Bilcliffe’ got moved because they looked a bit lost so they joined the others in another border. This now gave me plenty of space to replant 4 clumps of aster plus I added Solidago ‘Fireworks’ because I think they will look fantastic in front of the purple flowers. I do hope the style police aren’t watching because they always say one has to plant in groups of 3 or 5 or 7! While I was clearing and digging I noticed some more mouse damage. Further to the front of the border are a few Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’ a pretty plant which has flowered continuously since June. These had huge holes in their middles so I filled in with some compost and hope they recover.  Meanwhile George was munching a mouse, hope he got the one that did the damage.