Hello November

October finished unseasonably warm, but we were abroad and unable to enjoy it.  Back in early November to very November-ish weather; occasional sun but mostly damp and chilly.  The last couple of nights have seen a frost, but it's supposed to turn mild again (with more of the damp).

November is supposed to be "no-flowers", and certainly most plants have finished for the year, but the chrysanthemums have flowered nicely, and there have been quite a few dianthus flowers for picking, and the Bidens aurea in one of the pots is still doing quite well.  In the wild-ish patch by the drive entrance the primroses are in flower, paired with the winter jasmine.  Otherwise it's now the winter-flowering shrubs that are providing the flower colour, with a few pansies planted in pots for winter colour.  I'm gradually pulling up and composting the remains of the annuals, as well as clearing fallen leaves.  Lots of tulip bulbs waiting to be planted, in the bottom bed and in pots.

The last of the tomatoes were still clinging on in the greenhouse when we got back from holiday; they've now been picked and brought indoors to ripen.  The two larger aubergines never softened, but I cooked them anyway; the tiny one rotted off.  The greenhouse needs a good clean out, especially as the cineraria have got greenfly and I really should do something about that before the winter.

Despite our absence of nearly three weeks, the bird population hadn't taken itself off elsewhere, probably because the fallen apples and other wildlife-friendly corners provided lots of food for them.  Within a few days of returning I had clocked up 25 species in the garden: woodpigeons and collared doves; rooks, jackdaws and a magpie; pheasants and partridges; the fieldfares and redwings, already here from Scandinavia, and a mistle thrush; a green and a gt-spotted woodpecker, feeding on the fallen apples and peanut feeder respectively; blackbirds (quite a lot) and starlings; a chaffinch which obviously survived the trichomonosis outbreak, a male bullfinch and two females, and goldfinches feeding on the seeds of Big Yellow Thing; many sparrows, several robins and a couple of dunnocks; blue tits and a coal tit; a wren, a pied wagtail and a treecreeper.  Possibly also a goldcrest - I couldn't get a close enough look.  Not a bad list, really.