As expected it was farewell to the venerable Mulberry tree at the music school. When it half fell over in a storm last month it was a foregone conclusion I'm afraid. [see entry dated 30th. August]

 Looking at the exposed stump the core had become quite rotten. Trees can survive with a mixture of living and dead wood to some extent but there are limits. Thick strands within the rotted wood show that mycelium have been at work. There is life within decay.

 Nonetheless hope springs eternal. I took a number of cuttings which I've potted up with the aim of propagating new life from old.

 

 After the drought and the heatwaves autumn has become a mini growing season: some rain, still sunny, and warm rather than baking. For example Musk Mallow flowers in early summer and wilted in the heat but has been coaxed back into flower here and there. 

 

Conservation grazing has become a familiar sight in nature reserves.

 

 What is this? A single flower that has just appeared in the kitchen garden, not something I planted. I can't recall ever having seen such a flower before. No doubt there are apps that will tell me but where's the fun in that?

 

 The weather is still warm enough for bees to forage and they seek out what flowers there are. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is generally described as spring flowering but a late - or early? - flush of flowers often appears in autumn and even through the winter .

 

 Ivy in flower- the last abundant source of pollen and nectar as summer turns to autumn.

 Autumn (and spring) is the time to transplant when most plants are semi-dormant. The key is to get as much of the root as possible. Globe Thistle grows well at the music school; I wanted to fill a gap in one of the borders so I separated this specimen from a cluster.