Tuesday 27 October 2009

'Autumn' Crocus?!

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted... so much for my good intentions! One day has passed to the next, one week late has turned to a fortnight, and now it's over a month since I last wrote. This feels like the pattern of almost every diary I've ever written - sigh!

Anyways, onwards and upwards. Or as the plants in my pots would say: downwards. It's that time of year, sadly, when the plants are all looking incredibly scruffy. The magnolias are losing their leaves (one got blown down the steps during a particularly windy spell and spent a week waiting to be re-potted causing it to go 'naked' a while back - glad you can't get reported for plant abuse), the geranium is looking lanky and needs cutting back, and the colchicums have long since flowered and died down again. I know that the plants need their rest, but it makes me sad that I have to now wait such a while until they start growing away again. It's as winter sets in that I start thinking longingly of tropical climates where plants grow all year around in glorious colour - I wonder, if in a future home, if I had a sunroom/conservatory whether it'd be possible to grow a frangipani tree and some bougainvillea?

In the world of now, I've been so lax in taking photos that I currently have only one to share - of my 'Autumn' crocus back in August! They obviously don't care when they're supposed to appear. Is it common do you think for them to appear in August? I'm thinking that their name suggests otherwise...