Autumn colour

A picture gallery for you today. I was going to write about the third anniversary of this garden since our massive flood.  It came up as a Facebook memory otherwise I would have forgotten all about it.  There was going to be a recap of what happened when a flood came through and what we have done to repair the damage.

If I have time, I’ll do it on Friday when I have a bit more leisure.  Or just different priorities.

Today I went off to Andrew’s for lunch. A four hour round trip further south.  Yes, I should have stayed at home and tended to my slightly later than deadline work. Or spent a good hefty hour or two dragging branches out of the forest for chipping.  Taking more rosemary and lavender cuttings.

But I wanted to pick up my tulip bulbs; see Andrew’s garden. And just enjoy the Ardèche countryside in this glorious autumn.

This is just near the village of Chambonas near Andrew’s.  I had to stop the car and walk back to the bridge to snap the shot.

Divine.  And Andrew’s terrace is a riot of colour: virginia creeper, of course, but so much fun in the pots as well.

That’s coleus in the lower right shot. An amazing annual that does well in shade. Or in this case, a south facing drought stricken hot box of a space.

I came back with a box of tulips and more narcissus to plant (when? I have no time!), some wonderful figs and orange preserve, an armful of lemon verbena to dry and send to Sarah, and that happy glow of having had a delightful lunch with a great gardening mate.