Welcome to my blog all about the things I love to grow and cook. You'll find a collection of seasonal gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan-friendly recipe posts, as well as a round up of my gardening throughout the year. I wish you good reading, happy cooking and perfect planting!
The first ground frost of Autumn 2022. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
As another month draws to a close, it’s been a rather wet and dreary end to the season of Autumn here in central Scotland. Photographically speaking, there have been very few blue-sky days to capture the warm, glowing colours of this time of the year. Nevertheless, I have a few images which I hope convey the natural glory of the month just passing.
Late Autumn, River Earn, Perthshire, Scotland. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
I took these photos a couple of weeks ago whilst out on a walk along the local riverbank. Even though the sky was a dull grey and the waters looked cool and steely, the colours of the leaves still clinging to the trees looked spectacular.
Golden leaf colour. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
Back home in the garden at the same time, the Japanese Maple (Acer) tree was ablaze with glowing yellow leaves. But following a few heavy downpours and some strong winds, the last of the leaves have fallen.
November sun-rise and sun-up. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
Usually, the month of November brings with it glorious sunsets and sunrises, but I have only managed to capture one sunrise, and that was during the last week. You can see the same Maple tree now bereft of leaves in the early morning sunshine.
A welcome splash of vibrant pink. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
Throughout the month, these Nerines have been giving a very welcome show of bright pink colour. They look so exotic and fragile but are incredibly hardy. Still going strong is the planter of Bidens and Astors I planted back in June. Such great value. Usually by now the planter is full of bulbs ready for spring but I can’t bring myself to dig these bedding plants up just yet.
Still flowering in the Autumn sunshine. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
And so to a reminder that winter is just around the corner. The holly hedge is abundant with great clusters of berries this year, as is the snowberry bush in the back garden. I hope this isn’t a sign of a particularly cold winter ahead. It’s been a good year for blueberries as well. This late variety is still ripening at a rate of a small handful a week.
Red, white and almost blue, late Autumn berries. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
Thanks for stopping by. Until my next post, take care and keep warm 🙂
Hello again. I’m back in the garden this week. It’s been a topsy-turvy few days of weather. We have had a lot of rain, a few strong winds, and plenty of grey, gloomy skies. However, there have been one to two blue-sky days, one of which was today, and as well as being a great opportunity to get outside and do some tidying up, I have been able to take all my pictures in the glorious November sunshine.
Flaming yellow Acer before and after the fall. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
The two images above capture the essence of Autumn for me. One day you can admire the brilliant colours of a tree in leaf, and then the next day, following a heavy downpour, the leaves are washed to the ground and the paths and beds are covered in a rich golden carpet.
Beech hedge in the Autumn sunshine. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
The beech hedge is more robust than the Japanese Maple, and is still fully clad although the golden leaves have dried and browned this week. I love this hedge. It is quite tall and thick and is alive with the sound of bird-song – many sparrows live in this hedge and at times their chitter-chatter tweeting is quite something to hear. You never feel alone in this part of the garden.
Sunlit Cotoneaster. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
There are several Cotoneaster shrubs growing around the garden. This one hangs over the front drive-way. It is rather spindly compared to others that grow up against walls, and to be honest, I rarely notice it. In the sunshine the other day, the tiny leaves were glowing red, it really caught my eye.
Late-flowering Hebe. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
Just the other side of the Cotoneaster, this pale lilac Hebe has come into flower for the second time this year, and in the back garden a lonely, and tired-looking Foxglove is still clinging on to a few of its precious pink flower heads.
Fading Foxglove. Image: Kathryn HawkinsLast greenhouse tomatoes of the year. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
I’m feeling a bit sad this week as I have finally harvested all my tomatoes. The plants were slowly withering away in the greenhouse due to a lack of light and warmth at this time of year, and with the prospect of some very chilly weather in the offing, I decided to pick off all the fruit and bring the tomatoes indoors. I am hoping some will ripen off a bit more, but the majority will be going in chutney. The greenhouse is looking pretty bare today now that I have taken down most of the vines.
November Chamomile flowers. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
It seems slightly unseasonal to me to have so many Chamomile flowers in bloom. The rockery in the back garden has four large plants, all with several daisy-like heads. They certainly make a cheery feature in this part of the garden now most of the other plants are dying back.
A flurry of snowberries. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
Before I started writing this post, I looked back at images I have taken of the garden in previous Novembers and I came across a picture of a small cluster of snowberries taken a couple of years ago. The same plant is now covered in berries after being given a new lease of life earlier in the year. It was given a lot more space to develop when an old shrub was taken out. I’m so glad it has made the most of its new found freedom.
Japanese Anemone hybrid “Loreley”. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
My final image this week is of another new pink Japanese Anemone which wasn’t in flower in time for last month’s piece. This one is called Loreley. It has gone from strength to strength since it was planted, and still has flower buds yet to open. I wonder how long it will keep flowering given that we are heading for winter.
That’s all from me this time. I hope you are all keeping well and staying safe as we head into the winter months. Until next time, my best wishes to you. See again you next time.
Just a few apples left for the birds. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
I think it’s safe to say that Autumn is over now, at least it is here in central Scotland. A couple of weeks ago it was still mild and dry, but last week it felt like there was a definite season change. The last of the leaves came off the trees in heavy rain, the temperature dropped, and the daylight hours have dwindled significantly. The garden looks quite sad now. All things told, it certainly feels like December is just round the corner.
A frosty November morning. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
It’s not all doom and gloom though. There are signs of life amongst the fading foliage and fallen leaves. Spring bulbs are shooting up everywhere: in containers, borders and flowerbeds; they seem more advanced than usual.
Sprouting bulbs. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
The late flowering heather is just coming into bloom. Such a pretty colour and delicate flower for this time of year.
Just beginning to flower, Winter flowering heather. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
As a reminder of the forthcoming festivities less than a month away (I can hardly believe it!), the Santa-red Skimmia berries and the glacial-white snowberry, give seasonal cheer.
Seasonal berries, Skimmia and Snowberry
And, here is the most regular visitor to the garden at the moment. He seems to appear whenever I go outside, and chirps away from first light. This is his regular perch, in the hollow of a large conifer, not too far from the back door.
Master of all he surveys. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
And so to my final image. This Salvia was planted back in late spring and has been in flower ever since. A truly great value plant. Have a good week 🙂
Still blooming in late November, Salvia. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
Early Winter sunrise over a Scottish garden. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
It’s been a busy month of work for me. I haven’t been around at home for more than a few days at a time, so subsequently, I haven’t had any gardening opportunities.
We haven’t had any snow yet in this part of Scotland, but there have been a couple of very heavy frosts which put pay to most of the flowering shrubs in the garden – I took this picture a few days ago when the temperature had dropped well below zero overnight, the ice beautiful patterns are on the inside of the window!
Icy window. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
Today, I have been able to get outside for a couple of hours – hoorah! There is lot as of clearing up to do after the frosts: plenty of bedraggled shrubs with drooping leaves which make the garden look very sad and now need cutting back. The weather forecasters are saying that we are due some milder weather this coming week, so I should get some out-of-doors tidying up done.
I was happy to see that there is still some colour, here and there, in the more sheltered parts of the garden. A shrub that grows well in several places in the garden is Cotoneaster horizontalis, but usually by now the berries have dropped off or have been eaten by the birds. This one is still covered with fruit and gives a welcome blaze of colour growing up against a small outbuilding wall.
Cotoneaster horizontalis. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
By next month, the sprawling Winter Jasmine, which grows outside the back door, will be in full bloom. Today there are a few buds breaking open to reveal the cheery yellow blooms I love. It is one of my favourite plants of the season, so delicate and pretty.
Winter Jasmine flower and bud. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
Another favourite is the Snowberry. I see them each Winter growing in other people’s gardens and in the hedgerows, but never get round to planting one for myself. This year, a few straggly branches have appeared growing through an old Camellia bush in the back garden. I will take care now I know it’s there, and see if I can get a better crop next year.
Snowberries. Image by Kathryn Hawkins
I like to end my monthly garden report with something quirky and unseasonal. I found this wee fellow growing at the top of the rockery, under a big conifer tree, in the back garden. Not sure how he’s managed to remain unscathed from the effects of the frosts, but he was looking very healthy and strong, and truly magnificent in bright blue bloom.
Solitary Periwinkle in bloom in early December. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
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