Dahlias, roses and fuchsias in Dad's autumn garden

At the end of last month we headed up to Norfolk and one of the things that struck me was how colourful Dad's garden was still. The dahlias, roses and fuchsias were putting on quite a show. They were the attention grabbers, but looking around more closely at the garden, there was more to it than these.

A peach coloured dahlia in dad's autumn garden
A frilly - and heavy - fuchsia in dad's autumn garden

These fuchsias always remind me of dancers, not quite a ballerina but more a glitterless Strictly kind of ballgown, and it's easy to see why I needed to hold it up to get this shot. The leaves are starting to tarnish, but that just makes it more appealing. Like a dancer that's had a good time, or one that had done the rowing boat song. Yes, that's never a good idea is it?

In the greenhouse the Aloes were huge. Just look at them. I am the mum of these, all of them. Well apart from the babies at the front, Dad can be the mum of them as they arrived on his watch. But they're huge, clearly the Norfolk weather and the greenhouse work for them, I hope they've managed to survive the colder weather since then ok. 

giant aloes in the greenhouse in dad's autumn garden
oxalis under the greenhouse staging in dad's autumn garden

Also in the greenhouse the purple oxalis was creeping out from under the staging. I regularly take cuttings for my greenhouse and it never does as well as this. I've a sneaky suspicion I'll be taking another cutting quite soon. And helping myself to some of the many burgundy heuchera's that have been potted on to see how they do.

The leeks were also thickening and no doubt there'll be a good crop. The beetroot Dad pulled up for me, I politely declined. The side you can see looks perfect, but underneath someone - or rather something - had got there first and it went straight onto the compost heap.

the grey green of the leeks in dad's autumn garden
a beetroot in dad's autumn garden - this side's ok, the other side was completely nibbled!
mushrooms in the grass in dad's autumn garden

The mushrooms in the grass appeared overnight, and who knows what they might be. Knowing your mushrooms is a great skill to have, but not really something to take a chance on either. I think I'll stick to admiring the flowers. The nerines were still out and looking more swirly and curly than I remember.

Nerines curly and pink hugging the wall of the house in dad's autumn garden

And oops, this fuchsia came off in my hand. Thankfully there were plenty more, so I think I got away with it...

the fuchsia ballerina, which came off in my hand - oops - in dad's autumn garden

And just when you think the colour is done, you pop to the car and are reminded there's many more roses and dahlias in the front garden too.

an old fashioned tea rose in dad's autumn garden
pink roses flowering in the front of dad's autumn garden
pink dahlias in full bloom in dad's autumn garden

We're in Norfolk soon for a couple of days and it'll be interesting to see how much difference a month makes. I'm hoping that some of the colour remains, but who knows. It's been feeling more wintery here and I know if I were a plant I'd be considering shutting down too. Heck, some days I feel like that as a human too!

Have a beautifully colourful day.