September is here and the hours of daylight are less, so all the more reason to enjoy the last rays of the sun as it slips away on the horizon.
It was hot yesterday with blue skies all day, it felt much more like a hot summer’s day than one in early autumn but the evening light declared itself as the moody light of autumn. I want to share my swift walk around looking at the different beds and borders in the fast disappearing sunlight.
The edge of the upper drive border
Garlic chives with Stipa tenuissima
Garlic chives
Sedum, Stipa and Verbena bonariensis
The terrace side of the Large Island
A closer view of the terrace side of the Large Island
Purple and silver
Sedum Matrona
Edge of the Large Island with the formal beds
Edge of the Large Island from the other direction looking towards the drive
Edge of the Large Island from the other direction looking towards the drive in more detail
The small Island
Sedum Matrona
Seed heads Teucrium hyrcanicum
Teucrium hyrcanicum, look at the beautiful spider’s web, another sure sign autumn is on the way
The back border aka the Spring Walk
The back border aka the Spring Walk with Miscanthus
The Left hand border
Mulberry always looks fabulous in the evening light
Asters have enjoyed the wetter summer
Hibiscus, a beautiful double given to me by a friend sadly it has no name
Miscanthus and Pennisetum doing their wonderful autumn thing
Beautiful photos, the evening light creates a magical effect but you have a magical garden in any light.
We really enjoyed our day with you and the wonderful lunch. Thank you so much for your hospitality and for showing us the Etruscan tombs.
It was my pleasure Liz; I hope next time you will come for longer.
I am glad you shared the evening light, it reminds me of some wonderful holidays. Your Sedum matrona is really beautiful and looks perfectly placed, I love that colour combination.
I’m glad it brought back happy memories Julie, I have lots of different Sedum around the garden, they thrive even in the toughest drought.
Beautiful photos, absolutely stunning!
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it all looks beautiful Christina, the more subdued evening light gives your garden a totally different feel, some how quieter, thanks for sharing, Frances
The harsh sunlight during the day bleaches all the colour but the low gentle evening light is much kinder, especially to the paler colours.
The softer light makes the details of your garden stand out. The asters are gorgeous.
The Asters took a while to establish well but this year (especially with the summer rain) I think they will all flower well.
The garden looks so happy with the colours blending into soft shades. It is enjoying the warmth of the late summer sunshine. Amelia
The days this week have been as hot as any during the summer, but mornings and nights are a bit cooler.
The Sedums and grasses make this time of year very special in the garden; evening light is always the best time to photograph the garden.
The light really picks out the grasses doesn’t it, especially the Stipa. But I do love Miscanthus. I was at a pub by the sea today and they had planted it en masse surrounded by shingles. It looked, and sounded, so right.
That sounds lovely, I hope you’ll show some images.
That light really is lovely, especially on the garlic chives and all the silvery foliage. Your pennisetum looks silvery too. Do you know what sort it is?
It’s Pennisetum villosum, it spreads a bit but isn’t too invasive, it dies right back in winter.
Thanks Christina. Will have to look for that one. 🙂
You are so right about the light Christina – it really adds a magical touch to your borders
The light in midsummer is so harsh I relish the softer evening light at all times of the year.
What a beautiful late summer garden you have – the evening light is the perfect compliment to your autumnal colours.
Because usually summer is too hot for most plants the garden looks its best in spring and autumn, I love the grasses anyway and they mostly peak in autumn.
Asters are looking good. I prefer to think of the light at this time of year as mellow, rather than moody.
Yes, you’re right, Mellow is a much better description, thanks Jason
It’s really Keats’ word, though he goes on about mellow fruitfulness, but it applies just as well to the light.
Keats was definitely writing about England where autumn really does have that feeling or mellowness, the days are so much warmer here it doesn’t feel like that during the day, but the light is golden in the evening so mellow suits that!
All your grasses really suit the late afternoon light. Your aster is lovely too – I don’t normally like asters, but that one is almost like a daisy. Do you know what variety it is?
Sorry the label was lost before I put all the plants in the spreed-sheet, I’ll ask a friend who used to have a nursery selling mainly Asters, I’m sure she’ll recognise it, it always flowers well.
Your garden looks fabulous in the early evening light, Christina! How I wish I had some beautiful tall Sedum in my own fall garden – I plan to plant some this year.
Sedum are wonderful plants they don’t suffer in the drought at all and there are many different varieties with different foliage colour and different forms.
I love the mellow light as fall approaches and I am smitten with the purples and silver in your beds especially the silvery foliage with the sedum…especially in that light.
the silver looks wonderful even in bright sunshine, in rain mostly it looks pale green.
The light was perfect, what beautiful pictures you were able to capture! The grass really takes on a whole new dimension, I’m suddenly all for keeping it as is and not cutting it back! lol
Yes, that is the dilemma with the Stipa, but it is greening up from the base now so I will be able to pull out all the blond parts in a few weeks.
Wow, absolutely magical, Christina! The light makes all the difference in photography, doesn’t it. The planting is gorgeous and structurally strong. I love the sedum, silver foliage and grasses – Matrona always flops in my garden – soil to rich maybe. Do you know the name of the Aster? Very pretty!
Even my Matrona is opening up a bit because of the rain this year, usually it stays erect or I think it could be your rich soil or just the rain this year for you too. I’ll try to find the name of the Aster.
What stunning borders! It looks like most of the garden survived the storms.
Happy belated birthday.
Thank you Alys, the rain wasn’t too heavy just lots of it so it did the garden good, only the Cosmos was knocked over but its staked now!
Glad to hear!
I know that it was the best possible light to photograph a garden in but it all looks so beautiful Christina, such a harmony of colour and texture, the repeats create an almost ethereal effect.
One thing that is really bugging me is how your stipa remain so wonderfully errect, maintaining that lovely vase-like shape, whilst mine just flop. It must be something to do with soil conditions, but I’m sure I didn’t have prostrate stipas in my previous garden, and I would have thought they would prefer the free draining soil here.
I cut back some of the Stipa early last month so mostly what you can see is new growth. Mine get huge and they do flop so it isn’t just yours and you’re right that you have great conditions for them now but there’s always going to be more rain in Wales so that they grow more. Mine usually grow in the winter and rest in the summer.
I think some experimental cutting back is required, because they are currently making me feel quite cross!
Beautiful light. I noticed the other day just how early it is getting dark now. It’s a bit sad to feel that the light nights are now gone for another year. Still it’ll be nice to snuggle up in front of the fire. Do you find that weeds are a problem in your garden or does a dried climate mean you get fewer of them? Your garden looks so beautiful, I’m struggling to keep up with it all this summer. I might need to let the plot go.
The drought conditions in a ‘normal’ year do mean less weeds; I’ve noticed a huge amount more growing this year and having to cut the grass under the olives has been a chore that usually is done once or twice and that’s it until we harvest, but not this year!