Is this what they call an Indian Summer??

Hello All,

Well, I've given in, the sun and the heat have beaten me.  It's about 25C here in Brecon today and I've declared it far too hot for tending to the flower plots let alone even venturing into the polytunnels.  This year our summer has consisted of a week of sun in April/May, followed by four months of cold damp rainy drizzly suppposed summertime weather and now glorious sunshine and high temperatures. 

So instead I've spent the afternoon tinkering on the computer and resisting the temptation to order yet more bulbs.  I think the few thousand that need planting is more than enough.  But for me, looking through a bulb catalogue is a bit addictive.  I can while away hours on end flicking through each page, marking the things I'd like to grow, crossing out the things I don't like, turning over the corners of pages of interest, compiling a big long list of things to order etc and then the sorrowful task of having to rein myself in and not order 15 different types of Pink Tulip.  Who in their right mind wants to grow so many different varieties of pink Tulip?  Well, me for one.


Anyway, anyway.... over the summer we've been extremely busy here at Brecon Blooms.  Weddings galore, Christenings, (sadly) Funerals too.  In fact we were so busy with orders at one point that we almost ran out of flowers completely.  Thankfully though with a little TLC and a good water the plants recovered and were back in bloom again within a week or two.

A recent bouquet of Autumnal flowers

At the moment we have plenty of Dahlias, Cosmos galore, Sunflowers, Chrysanthemums, Zinnias aplenty in the tunnels, Godetia, Scabious and still a few Cornflowers, Roses and Snapdragons.

On the plots we've been busy splitting and dividing some of the large perrenials, taking cuttings from things such as Penstemon and other soft wood plants, digging over the bulb beds and of course weeding a plenty.

Fingers crossed the sun will start to cool in a little while and work can continue on the flower plots.  I wonder if anyone has ever got sunburn in Brecon at the end of September before?   Good job we have a few Aloe Vera plants growing in the tunnel - the sap makes a great AfterSun lotion.

Have a lovely weekend.  For those of you in the UK lets all try and enjoy the sunshine as much as we can before our 'proper' Autumn/Winter weather sets in.  At least the washing is getting dry out on the line!

Cheerio.

Cathy