The trouble with going somewhere as amazing as West Dean (see my last post) is that your own garden can’t help but suffer by comparison. But, having said that, it’s always good to see fabulous gardens as they hopefully inspire us to do better.
Like West Dean, I do have some Asters, including this inherited one which is very tall and has flopped badly, but still makes a wonderful show
but this one, Aster Frikartii Monch, in the left hand Swing Bed, is much better. It’s still a little floppy, but a better colour and a much bigger flower. I love the way it goes with the Verbena bonariensis. (I think the colour is a better match in real life than in the photo).
In the right hand Swing Bed, you can see the matching Aster as well as the out of control Rosa Snow Goose. I think a ladder and a pair of gaunlets is called for.
On the posts either side of the swing the rose Rosa St Swithun is having a lovely second flush. I really need to tie these branches in too, but think I’ll leave it until they’ve finished flowering now.
The Grass Bed is looking a little better now that the Nasturtiums have recovered from the drought. I like the colour combination of the orange of both the Nasturtium and the Fox and Cubs with the purple Salvia, but this bed still desperately needs a good sort out.
In the veg patch, likewise, the runner and french beans have all recovered from the drought and are cropping well. However the Pumpkin Munchkins have finished and need to be brought in. Some of the courgettes are still going strong, but nearly all have succumbed to mildew.
By the conservatory the (inherited) Nerines are coming into flower. They always strike me as a rather incongruous plant for this time of year, but at least they add some colour.
In the greenhouse, as well as lots of tomatoes (yum),
and Cucamelons (not so yum!)
I’ve finally got peppers, both the long pointy red ones (well they will be one day)
as well as some rather sweet little orange ones
Many pots are still going strong, but most won’t survive the winter and so will have to be moved into the greenhouse – never a trivial task!
And to finish, a quick catch up of my ‘borrowed’ garden. The Tithonia and Sunflowers featured last month continue to bloom their golden socks off
but the real development is a bed I created underneath the hornbeams we pleached earlier in the year (see part 1 and Part 2). The hornbeams need a bit of a hair cut now, but have taken really well and I’m looking forward to seeing the blossom in the spring.
Again, like the Tithonia and Sunflowers, all the flowers here are annuals, but this time on a pink theme including Cleomes and Cosmos as well as the greens of Molucella and Amaranthus. It really is amazing what you can achieve in one season with a few hands full of annual seeds!
With many thanks, as ever, to Helen at the Patient Gardener, for hosting everyone’s End of Month views.
Duver Diary 
I’m very envious of your tomatoes. Mine only got to going red before before badly hit by blight, so I’ve had to give up on them. I love that basket with the succulents. I have some that are too large for my alpine wall and have been wondering what to do with them. I’ve seen some of these baskets at a reclaimation place and think I might just steal your idea!
Love the hornbeans with the planting underneath up against the wall. This will develop wonderful over time. Will pop back to see how it’s going.
Thanks Julieanne Shame about your tomatoes, were you growing them outside? I think they’re much more susceptible to blight outside – I’m lucky enough to keep mine tucked up in the greenhouse and even when all my potatoes got blight a couple of years ago, the tomatoes under cover didn’t.