Major Leaf Clearance.

..& the dull  pear tree leaves

The yellow of the Liriodendron leaves...

A dull and foggy start but Saturday enjoyed a sunny afternoon and it was major leaf clearing! Barrow loads and barrow loads AND barrow loads! All blown up, raked up, swept up and piled high onto the compost heap for returning to the garden in the form of compost next year!  Funny how some leaves are so colourful and yet the leaves from the pears are almost black and not at all pleasing to look at.  They'll be just as many more on the ground tomorrow and the day after as there are many more to fall yet!

Cleared up but many more yet to fall!

Dark, Dank, Damp & Deep in Leaves!

It just has to have been the very darkest, dampest, dankest day and we're not even in November yet. It seemed never to get light and masses of leaves too wet to 'hoover' up remain on the lawn obscuring what little light there was!  Never, in the mid afternoon have I ever gone into the garden and taken photos using flash! n today was certainly an exception.

The leaves on both the Tulip tree and the fig are huge so it doesn't take many to fall before the grass beneath to be in complete darkness. If it wasn't for the pale gold colours of the Tulip tree leaves, these shots would look even darker! Even the sky wasn't as light as it appears.  It's also amazingly warm which is entirely unseasonal.  We haven't even lit the log burner this autumn yet as it's been just too mild.  I'm looking forward to some cold and crisp weather and a good old clear up!

Apple Juice Competition RESULTS!

We asked how many bottles of apple juice would result from these many apples:

On Wednesday we went to Haywood Park Farm Shugborough to collect our apple juice. These are the results after a nightmare journey on the M5/M6 and it was even worse coming home!

The result was the grand total of 77 bottles!!  See below for competition results.  It's amazing how many joint placings there are!!  Guesses ranged from a pessimistic 12 to a very optimistic 125!!! Congratulations to the winners - we look forward to all you winners calling round to collect your bottle of apple juice!!

SILVER MEDAL

Our silver medal certificate arrived whilst we were away - all beautifully framed.  It's hanging in the conservatory in pride of place!

......& whilst the sun was shining....

......and work was finished; time to admire a little autumn colour!

Major Greenhouse Clear Out

It's been a lovely surprise to find that despite being away so long, we haven't actually missed autumn - well, not all of it.  I had half thought that all the leaves would have fallen when we returned home but not a bit of it!  There is still plenty of colour although they are falling fast now and today's heavy rain accelerated the leaf fall......more clearing up to do!.

The greenhouse was overdue for a major clear out.  time to pull out all the old tomato plants and remove all the cane supports, cut back the Geraniums and Pelargoniums and generally have a good clean up.  The vine was pruned back, the staging rearranged and both staging and woodwork was re-stained.  Gone is the green lush and verdant look of summer.  The green leafy ceiling provided by the vine leaves has also gone so as to maximise light in the ever shortening days.  Having slabbed beneath the low level staging on the left has meant that there's more storage area for overwintering geraniums. Maybe oiling the old tiles and the brick path was taking things a bit too far but it does give the colours much more depth.  As long as no one slips on them - ahem!

No More Cowboys & Indians!

Near Grand Junction, Colorado.

Head Gardener & Chief Blogger is back having travelled 3,500 miles between Minneapolis & Phoenix via 'awesome' National Parks, Indian Reservations and  geographical & geological features for which there isn't an adjective in the English language!  It was real cowboy country. We didn't find too many gardens BUT we did find the Boyce & Thompson (yes Thompson!) Arboretum which was very garden like!  The planting was totally alien with cacti and succulents thriving in the high desert conditions.  Check out:  here!  Because our altitudes varied between 2000 and 12,000 feet we enjoyed huge variation in both the natural vegetation and the temperatures.  At the higher altitudes, the trees were mainly coniferous but with Birch & Aspens in among them. The buttery yellows and golds stood out against the much darker conifers. Descending down to the desert couldn't have been more different.  See massive cacti growing wild on the slopes and hillsides was quite something.  All these sights were far removed from anything seen here at Pear Tree Cottage and today was mowing and hoovering up fallen leaves!  It really is back down to earth - shame about the jet lag!

Highway 60 outside Globe, Arizona.