Autumn colour

 In the late autumn sunshine, the garden is a blaze of colour. My chrysanthemum is in full bloom, and though yellow is never my favourite colour in the garden, I can't resist these perfect sugary blooms. The interesting thing is that they won't stay this colour. The buds while opening were more of an apricot shade, and the petals will gradually deepen in colour until they are a dusky mauve. It's fascinating and lovely to see.

 The lowering sun means colours are intensified. Petals are backlit and leaves are rimmed with gold. Most of the plants are filling out and blending with each other in the blowsy, cottage garden way I was hoping for, but there is a major flaw in the scheme.

 Ugly ugly orange chrysanthemums! Oh, these make me shudder every time I step out here. They were given to me as seedlings by my neighbour from his garden. He wasn't sure what colour they would be, and I imagined there would be a bit of a colour range represented. I put the seedlings in, planning to wait and see what came up, and pull the ones I didn't like.

Well... I can't stand any of them! 1) They clash with everything. 2) The colour is just awful. 3) They remind me of the dandelions I went to such trouble to spray and remove from the lawn. Oh, their days are numbered all right. 

 I can't believe the sweet peas are still going. I sowed these in spring, and they have flowered madly from December onwards. Along with the flowers they've set plenty of seed which I'll sow again next year.

I do love autumn afternoons.