October is a wonderful month of autumnal colour and first frosts, so it frustrates me to hear gardeners, both professional and amateur, talk of “putting the garden to bed” as if gardening is purely a summer pastime that can only be enjoyed on balmy, sunny days. At Lewis Cottage our dahlias and the burgundy rich curtains of virginia creeper continue to give pleasure and we have the red oaks (Q.rubra and Q.shumardii), the last of the hydrangeas, the autumn crocus, sedums and kniphofias all to look forward to.
In the greenhouse it’s an ideal time to plant up bowls of bulbs that will be ready for Christmas. We’re planting up our favourite paper whites (N.papyraceus) along with bowls of white hyacinths. If you don’t have the time or space to grow these on, buy ready prepared pots of daffodil “Tete a Tete” or hyacinths and repot them in decorative bowls.
Don’t restrict your planting to indoors. Planters that have been filled with summer bedding can be put to good use throughout the autumn and winter to provide plenty of colour. Use perennials like hellebore, heuchera, cyclamen and heather and winter pansies or wallflowers (gillyflowers as we used to call them) which can be planted out in the garden next spring.
Many of us will have bought new plants this year and perhaps not put them in the right spot, whether that be for size, colour, texture or habit. Now is the perfect time to lift and move those plants to a more suitable patch. Also move those plants (particularly herbaceous perennials) that have overgrown their space. Lift and divide the clumps, discarding the central “core” of the plant and replant one piece, or several small ones. Plant the rest in another part of the garden or pot them up to give to friends or donate to plant sales in spring.
Mulberry Jelly
Our mulberry tree has produced another bumper crop of its dark, sharp flavoured fruits. If you have access to some mulberries, here’s our favourite mulberry jelly recipe.
Ingredients:
900g mulberries
900g jam sugar
½ red chilli
small shallot finely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tsp black peppercorns
170ml water.
Wash the mulberries and put them in a heavy-based saucepan with the shallot, chilli, bay leaves, black peppercorns and 170ml water. Stew them gently with a lid on for about 25 minutes. Remove the chilli, bay leaves and black peppercorn.
Mash the mulberries to reduce them to pulp and squeeze as much juice out of them as possible.
Add the jam sugar to the pan and allow the sugar to dissolve completely. This takes about 15 minutes. Now turn the heat right up and boil rapidly for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the jelly from sticking to the pan.
Meanwhile, heat a large bowl in the oven to get it nice and hot then place a sieve, lined with gauze, over the bowl and pour in the mulberry mixture. Using a wooden spoon, get all the liquid through as quickly as possible, squeezing the remaining pulp as much as you can - the jelly sets if you take too long (if it does begin to set, just reheat it gently).
Pour the mulberry jelly into sterilised jars, cover with waxed discs, cool and tie down.
Tips for the month ahead
• Harvest apples, pears, quince, medlars, grapes and nuts.
• If you choose to lift your dahlia crowns, do it now, along with gladiolus and begonia tubers.
• Prune climbing and rambler roses and tie in stems before the winter winds.
• Cut back spent perennials or leave this until spring to help insects overwinter.
• Clean and disinfect your greenhouse to help prevent pests and disease.
• Grow bags used for tomatoes can be re-used to grow winter salad crops.
• Collect seed from your hardy annuals and perennials and sow them now for overwintering.
• The days are getting shorter but the soil is still warm so there’s just time to split more of your herbaceous perennials and increase your plant stock.
• If you’ve cleaned your greenhouse, now is a good time to sow sweet peas and hardy annuals such as Ammi majus or A.visnaga. These will overwinter nicely and be ready to plant out into the garden much earlier than spring sowings.
• Don’t waste green tomatoes or peppers: bring them indoors and place on a sunny windowsill, they will soon ripen. Or put them in a paper bag in a drawer.
• Paint sheds and fences with preservative.
• Start potting up winter hanging baskets and planters with winter flowering bulbs and plants. We often use rooted evergreen shrub cuttings in our planters and plant them with cyclamen, ivy, snowdrops and miniature narcissi.
For more information on the garden at Lewis Cottage: http://lewiscottageplants.co.uk
