Life after the Sunflowers – oh yes there is.

The big fellas may have caught the public eye this summer when we have been blessed with so much sunshine but there has always been a nice wee garden going on down below.

Now that the sunflower heads are being dried out under cover to become so much bird feed this winter, some of the plants that are left are coming into there own.

I never expected this little patch of ground to give me so much pleasure and even now as we head into October it’s the first place I look for as I head out on my morning rounds.

The fossilised dinosaur egg is due a makeover for next year and we may yet see Braveheart peeping out of the shrubbery surrounding that cast iron drain cover that he sits on —

The two tiny lupin plants I got from a friend have really come into their own since the sunflowers were retired and even a colour blind ejit like me can appreciate them —

I’ve cut the three budlia bushes back a little since the flowers have gone for this year but the many bees and occasional butterfly enjoyed them when they were in bloom.

I’ve been well warned about these fellas though and by all accounts the aggressive plants will need regular attention with the secateurs if I am to restrain them to the confines of this lil plot over the next few years —

I’m not sure about that hydrangea as it could well be another plant that outgrows it’s welcome but it can stay there for now —

For the moment there are plenty of bare bits to plant up the snowdrops – crocus and tulip bulbs I have bought for an early spring show.

It will be interesting to see what survives a Scottish winter and I’m hoping it won’t be too extreme down here in the soft climate of the south-west —

This year’s success with the sunflowers will be a hard act to follow —

but no doubt something else will come along to this wee patch of soil that will bring the bees and butterflies back in their numbers next summer —

Life After the Sunflowers