THE GOLDEN DAYS OF SEPTEMBER

Hello - what a wonderful week this has been!! The first week of September - and we have had some superb weather - blue skies - and gentle warmth - I love September - the beginning of autumn - but still with that hint of the summer. I should think just about everyone has enjoyed this week - from holiday makers to farmers getting in the harvest - to us gardeners enjoying the lush growth.

Some difference to the weather last week - I was away on holiday in Ireland - where the weather was exactly as now - but back home in Suffolk - over 2 and a half inches of rain fell - together with gale-force winds - typhoons and goodness knows what else. When I returned to the nursery this week - parts of it looked like a re-enactment of the Battle of the Somme!!! Broken trees, damaged branches - support structures twisted and buckled - so much for August!

The beauty of September is that the soil is warm after the summer - but certainly this year - has plenty of moisture enabling an early start to autumn planting schemes. Trees and shrubs planted now will root very quickly - and establish themselves before the colder weather sets in.

We are already taking orders for hedging and fruit trees - the new HEDGING CATALOGUE is now available at the nursery - our new TREE CATALOGUE is also out - and the fruit catalogue is the next for a makeover.

A lot of plants are looking good at the moment - but one of our favourites is the ornamental crab apple - MALUS 'JOHN DOWNIE' - as the photo at the top of the page shows - this is a great tree for any garden - masses of scented apple blossom in the spring - and a profusion of large flagon-shaped orange crab apples in autumn - ideal for making crab-apple jelly!! As an extra bonus - this tree is also an excellent POLLINATOR for dessert and cooking apples.

Talking of apples - the APPLE-TASTING SHED is proving popular as always - there are new varieties ripening every week - currently we have DISCOVERY,TYDEMANS EARLY WORCESTER,BAKERS DELICIOUS,GRENADIER,REV.W. WILKS and SAINT EDMUNDS PIPIPN for customers to taste - and I will add more as they come into season.

This really is one of the best times of the year to look and plan for your autumn planting schemes - many of the trees are displaying great berries and the first signs of autumn colour will be with us soon - the late-summer flowering shrubs are still going great guns - everything is gearing up for a FABULOUS AUTUMN!!

Make sure you don't miss out!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

RICHARD