There are lots of trees at the music school so lots of leaves to sweep and rake during 'the fall'. But that's ok- a pleasing activity on a chilly, sunny Sunday morning.

 

 Wain Wood carpeted with leaves.

In open countryside the fields are fallow.

 

 Bulbs want to grow even when they aren't in the ground. Case in point this Narcissus February Gold. Today I planted various bulbs that I had not got round to planting in early autumn. Mid-November is a bit late but it hasn't been too cold and no frosts as yet. 

 An emerging stem is sometimes evident in bulbs that have been sitting around for a while. A bulb is bulbous by virtue of being a storage organ for nutrients and moisture during a period of dormancy. There is enough pent-up energy in the bulb to initiate growth even when out of the earth. Soon however the roots at the base soon need to draw sustenance from the soil or the bulb will shrivel.

 Finally some sun. The past few weeks have been very dull. I don't mean existentially, I'm talking about the weather. For whatever meteorological reason we have had day after day of low grey cloud without a glimpse of sunshine. So it's been a relief to see the sun this week and some blue sky. I've even felt the warmth of the sun on my cheek from time to time!

 As noted in my previous entry flowers are few and far between at this point in the year. Midsummer's Day (remember that?) is more or less the peak and the beginning of the decline. Most sun=most plants. Gardeners have long tried to fight the inevitable by sourcing plants that will flower in the latter part of the calendar.

 Generally that means using plants from other hemispheres that are hardy or at least half-hardy in UK conditions. Despite the relocation their biological clocks tell them to start flowering when others have faded. So it was nice to see pale sunlight playing across this border at the music school.

 The pink flowers in the foreground are Hesperantha I think, possibly one of the H. coccinea cultivars? This is a southern African genus. In the background the crimson spikes are one of the ground covering mat forming Persicaria. Probably a cultivar of P. affinis which hails from the Himalayas. 

 Flowers are few and far between till spring arrives. Nonetheless the occasional wild flower may suddenly appear out of season for no apparent reason. This looks like the annual 'weed' Nipplewort (Lapsana communis) on a bank that is covered with them during mid to late summer. This solitary specimen is very early (or very late). 

 

 

 The 'woodland walk' at the music school is really only a fringe of the grounds but it feels secluded. On a grey day like today it conjured a walk in the woods. The air was cold, still and damp. Plenty of greenery and the russet tones of autumn. Fallen leaves underfoot, squashy and scrunchy.

 Bumblebees are still on the wing here and there when autumn days are mild. Being furry creatures they tolerate a certain amount of cold and are generally indigenous to temperate rather than tropical zones. Indeed it is speculated that the Himalayas may be their point of origin.

 Honeybees need temperatures of around ten degrees Celsius or more to be able to fly and function. Nonetheless they too will venture out quite late into the year if it is warm enough. The hives at the music school were still fairly active as of a few days ago.

 Bumblebees will forage different plants seeking out sporadic flowers e.g. the Borage mentioned in my last entry. Honeybees work species that are flowering en masse; by this point in the year that means Ivy.

 The Borage on the allotment is still in flower and still attracting bees. Usually it's done by now. I'm wondering if they might overwinter. 

 Typically Borage is grown as an annual but sometimes lasts long enough into autumn to become a coarse, bristly-looking plant with thick stems as is the case here. In which case it seems to have the stamina to become a short-lived perennial in some locales.

 Then again the allotments are something of a frost pocket. Borago officinalis is a Mediterranean species and unlikely to cope with a prolonged spell of sub-zero temperatures. Go back a few decades and it would be unusual not to have had a hard frost by now in southern England. Now it's common to have to wait till December or January.

 The Jerusalem Artichokes grew mighty tall and lush this year. Now the leaves on the stems are starting to yellow and fade. Below ground there will be hundreds and hundreds of the edible tubers. 

 More than anyone could eat without exploding! They should be eaten with care (I speak from experience). Tasty and good for the gut microbiome but potentially 'gassy'.

 Being of the Sunflower family they have bright yellow flowers. Except they rarely and barely flower in UK conditions in my experience despite growing strongly.

 There are actually two beds side by side. On the left one of the usual varieties (not sure which) reached a good ten foot/three metres tall. On the left is a "dwarf" variety which nonetheless grew to about six feet! 

 I'll grow both again next year but I have read it's a good strategy to cut the stems at about five foot high. This prevents them being wind blown and directs more energy into the growth of the tubers. Not that it seems to matter here.

 No need to waste all that good organic matter. I adopted the 'chop and drop' approach and they can mulch themselves. I cut the stems just above the ground so I can locate the clumped tubers when I come to harvest them.

 It's said that Jerusalem Artichokes are a touch sweeter after frost. in any case I'll start harvesting them soon and then for the next few months. The best way to store them is to leave them in the ground until you want to eat them. 

 A very productive crop with little input required: plant them and they grow, chop and drop, harvest, replant spare tubers in February/March. Each tuber grows a handful more. Simple, delicious!

Life is a precious flower.

 A nice combination: Sedum and Hellebore as planted by Jif at the music school. Sedums flower in autumn, great for late colour in an herbaceous border. Helleborus foetidus is generally considered to be winter flowering i.e. January onwards. As I noted recently it seems to have reset its biological clock to begin flowering from mid-October. So there is now a striking overlap between the two.

 H. foetidus is native and I had always assumed that Sedums were introduced as garden plants. In fact S. telephium aka Orpine is native. And some of the popular garden Sedums are hybrids with the Chinese/Korean species S. spectabile for example 'Autumn Joy'. Actually I'm not sure which this is, probably one of the cultivars. Since Orpine is indeed native I'm wondering why I've never seen it growing wild? 

 Cyclamen hederifolium throws out long ground hugging stems...

 

...from a mass of coils that form after the flowers on the stalks fade.

 Thereby the stretching stems move the seed capsule away from the parent plant. When the capsule ripens up to a dozen seeds are cast from it. And C. hederifolium has another trick to propagate itself round and about. The seeds have a sticky, sugary coating which attracts ants who carry them away.  

On a grey day a look back at some colourful butterflies... 

beginning with the Chalk Hill Blue 

 

Red Admiral

Comma

Peacock

Brown Argus

Adonis Blue

Painted Lady

 The trees opposite the London bound platform of Hitchin station are a useful yardstick where we're at with the seasons. I see this view regularly as I travel back and forth so note the changes from day to day and week to week.

 

 This is the bulb of Erythronium dens-canis which is the European species colloquially known as Dog Tooth Violet. Other members of the genus (mostly North American) share the same common name for the bulbs' resemblance to dogs' teeth.

 E. dens-canis looks to be about the right size to be found in a large dog's jaw. Then again the American cultivar E. Pagoda would be a huge hound indeed for a gnasher like this... 

 

 

 Plants invariably have a social history as well as a natural history. Case in point London Pride (Saxifraga x urbium).

 Botanically speaking it is thought to be the hybrid of S. umbrosa from the Pyrenees and S. spathularis which is found in Spain, Portugal and Ireland. Nonetheless S. x urbium came to be known as London Pride. For several centuries or more it has been referred to as a Londoner. 

 How and when it first arrived in the capital is unclear. It is said to have colonised the rubble of the blitz during and after the Second World War but it was here long before that. 

 Common as it was I hardly ever see it in cultivation and I can't recall ever seeing it growing wild. Iain Sinclair once characterised London as a city of disappearances. I think he meant people but the same could be said of S. x urbium though they did at least name a beer after it.  

 The rosettes have a fractal morphology and the pattern spreads outwards as more rosettes form creating a gently spreading ground cover. Masses of pink flowers are held aloft by slender stems in early summer. 

 I find myself taking more walks in the late afternoon and early evening than I used to. The period when daylight becomes twilight after the tasks of the day are done.

 It has something to do with spending more time in Hitchin than London. I can walk to the edge of town in twenty minutes or catch a bus to one of the villages and amble back. A city ramble has its pleasures but even a short sojourn into the countryside makes the connection with nature.

 Having said that early evening is getting earlier all the time and the clocks go back at the weekend. I'll have to connect with nature in the dark! 

 

Zen

 After a rainy grey morning the sun broke through. I was surprised to glimpse a Red Admiral sunning itself among the leaves of a Fig Tree. 2024 has been a bad summer for butterflies, cool and wet in June particularly.

 I haven't seen many Red Admirals but perhaps they have been helped somewhat by being a comparatively late emerging butterfly? During spring and summer there are migrations from North Africa and continental Europe. The females lay eggs here and the brood emerges from July onwards. They will be on the wing into autumn, sometimes as late as November.

 For the second year running I am seeing Stinking Hellebore (Hellborus foetidus) coming into flower in mid-autumn. I expect H. foetidus to bloom early in the new year; October is placing it more in the category of a late flowering perennial rather than an early one.

 Flowering times for most plants can vary by weeks from year to year according to climatic conditions. That is not unusual but H. foetidus seems to have reset its biological clock. Time will tell whether this is permanent or temporary.   

Blue sky, autumn trees.

 

 I sometimes get a glimpse of deer when walking in the Hertfordshire countryside. There are Fallow Deer as seen here. 

 Also Muntjac Deer, an escapee from Woburn Park in Bedfordshire in the early 20th. century having been bought over from China. Muntjac bred and increased rapidly across southern England and their range continues to expand. They are considered to be an invasive species with a detrimental effect on woodland understory due to their grazing.

 Having said that Fallow Deer were introduced by the Romans, died out then were reintroduced by the Normans. Apparently several thousand deer parks were created at the behest of the aristocracy in England, Wales and Scotland circa 1200-1350. Few remain but the deer have naturalised. 

  Deer occasionally enter urban areas, for example they are apt to chew some choice perennials at the music school. I have never seen them so I don't know whether they would be Muntjac or Fallow. The grounds are large enough that they might even be in residence but deer are very shy of humans. The herd in the photo took flight when they became aware of my presence even though I was a long way away.     

 Common Ivy (Hederae helix) is the last wild flower of the year to flower en masse. And there's a lot of it! Not to mention Atlantic Ivy (Hederae hibernica) in the west and Ireland. Actually Gorse is also autumn flowering but not as ubiquitous as Ivy. 

 As such Ivy is a great source of pollen and nectar for the gamut of pollinators still on the wing: bees, butterflies, wasps, flies, hover flies et al. 

 

 Perfect day for an autumnal walk; a bracing chill in the air, sky blue, bright sunshine. Accordingly I followed one of my favourite routes via three pubs (and three pints). The 1140 bus from Hitchin stops outside the Strathmore Arms in St. Paul's Walden at midday. In other words: opening time. Had a pint of Side Pocket then walked along a stretch of the Chiltern Way.

 Turned left at Hill End Chalk Pit towards Preston.

 Ambled through the silent stillness of Hitch Wood. Leaf litter underfoot, in spring these slopes will be carpeted with Bluebells.

 As Ray Davies and the Kinks once put it: "We are the Village Green Preservation Society". Pint of Citra at the Red Lion in Preston which is owned by the villagers.

On to Wain Wood, another ancient woodland noted for its Bluebells.

 And out into open countryside back to Hitchin. Pint of Landlord at the Half Moon.

 Autumn leaves, none more fiery than Virginia Creeper. The rampant Parthenocissus quinquefolia is the species most usually seen in UK gardens though native to North America. Perhaps better to plant the slightly more restrained P. henryana aka Chinese Virginia Creeper which hails from Asia.  

 

 The bee keepers at Benslow harvest Ivy honey in the autumn. Ivy in flower is the last big hit of nectar for bees (and other insects) to forage on. The honey is noted for its deep, aromatic flavour.

 Cyclamen hederifolium in one of the courtyards at the music school. An invaluable coda for the shade garden by virtue of flowering in early autumn rather than spring. Tolerant of deep shade and drought. 

 Hailing from the southern Mediterranean it will naturalise when it likes the conditions as is the case here. Known as the Ivy-Leaved Cyclamen the leaves do indeed resemble Ivy albeit smaller and variegated.

 When C. hederifolium has spread the leaves make a decent ground cover over winter. The flowers attract bumblebees still on the wing...