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There are fewer flowers left in our garden than usual this autumn. That’s partly because I didn’t plant any annuals this year. But the main reason is because of the effects of heat and drought on the plants here.
There are still a number of Japanese anemones – even though they too have suffered from the lack of rain. Usually the anemone clumps would be bigger and would have more flowers. Many of the flowers are smaller, presumably because the plants have been able to take fewer nutrients out of the dry soil. So this year this anemone hasn’t been able to live up to its name – ‘Hadspen Abundance’.
In case you’re thinking that these anemones look OK, I need to tell you that the photographs are from last year. I haven’t got much left to photograph in the garden now, so let’s hope they’re a bit more abundant next year!
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
The detail in your top pic, of colour, texture and pattern, is so beautiful!
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Thank you Liz! These anemones are real thugs in the garden but I keep them because they are so lovely. (The drought has made them much less thuggish this year.)
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Just yesterday, I noticed that many of the salt-marsh mallows lining the ditches were about half the size they usually are. Mowing may have played a role, but I suspect drought did, as well. No matter. A bouquet gathered from last year’s blooms will do until better times arrive!
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I’d noticed the smaller flowers on the anemones (mostly on ‘September Charm’) in other dry years. Hopefully next year won’t be so dry!
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These are so beautiful…lovely pink, Ann!!
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Thank you Indira! These try to take my garden over but I forgive them because they’re so pretty. 🙂
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Such a beautiful photo in the first image – love the fallen stamens. I have three of these plants, a pink one like yours, but I inherited it so not sure what the variety is which is looking lovely at the moment, though had some distinctly browned edges to the petals when they first opened. ‘Wild Swan’ has not done so well, but ‘Pamina’ is looking good now. As you say, they can become thugs, but very welcome colour as summer shifts into autumn.
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Thank you Jude! The stamens are caught in very fine spider webs…a sure sign of autumn! I have two pink varieties here: this ‘Hadspen Abundance’ and ‘September Charm’, which is a slightly paler pink. They’re both thugs and I’m hoping to be able to corral them in the same ‘thug bed’ – wish me luck! I also have the white ‘Honorine Jobert’, which hasn’t yet spread very far, so maybe she’s better behaved. (I can hope!)
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It’s a shame that you have to mine the archives for the images, Ann. We are not quite as badly off here but the flowers do seem a little less abundant and are passing more quickly than I’d expect.
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Everything in the garden has been under so much stress. Some plants – especially echinacea – have been fine but I think the flowers have finished quicker. Happily, we’ve had a decent bit of rain over the last few days and the plants all look so much better for it. 🙂
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The blossoms are beautiful, Ann. I hope your pink (and all the other colours) will be more profuse again next year.
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Thank you Tanja! This winter DH and I need to create a proper rainwater storage system. It’s a little tricky because of the configuration of paths, walls etc. but it would be great to have the extra water to use. (And let’s hope next summer is less extreme everywhere!)
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I hope so, too!
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Hopefully next year won’t be quite so dry for gardens. We all want a nice summer of course, but also some rain for our flowers.
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I reckon this summer showed that you can have too much of a good thing – the heat was unbearable here for a while and rain then would have felt wonderful. I’m glad that the weather is being a bit more ‘normal’ at the moment!
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September has been nice in the Colne Valley but still very dry.
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