LATE SUMMER COLOURS

| gaiainaction

It’s amazing how much colour and produce the garden has at this time of the year. Around here it is considered late summer and some days might really have the feel of autumn about them.
But that is not to say that there is less growth, lately we have had a few warm days, temperatures going up a high as 20C, delightful of course and naturally resulting in good growth. The leeks, kale and other winter vegetables that I planted out over the last few weeks have established themselves really well. I am also drying very many herbs and wild plants for winter use, and it gives me great satisfaction to do this.
Among the vegetables are the flowers which give plenty of variety in colour and beauty. Plenty of bumblebees visit especially the oregano and the wall flowers.
I’ve been infusing oils lately, the latest now is the hypericum perforatum, started that today, more flowers need to open over the next few days so I get enough to make a good infusion.
It is an interesting time of the year what with so much harvesting going on, granted in my garden it’s mainly herbs and wild foods this time due to having had a bad season, but that is also interesting in itself.
The slug and snail hunt is still on every night and it is helping to keep my vegetables safe, so worth the effort.
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Kale, onions, and some type of marrow – lovely patterns and colours.

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Bumblebee on a wallflower

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Two very favourite herbs, the St.John’s worth (hypericum perforatum), and the tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)  I seem to remember that my dad used to make us a pancake every spring time adding the leaves of the tansy, it was to protect us kids from worms.  Not sure if this was a regular herbal remedy, I think it was rather a traditional thing to do in the town where my dad is from (Diest in Belgium).  I remember the very peculiar taste, and enjoyed it.  (not saying it is safe to do this by the way, do your own research please.)

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Some sort of fly on the calendula flower, nice to have come across this today.

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My sprouts are growing very well, can’t wait to see the sprouts coming on the plants.  And a bumblebee on the oregano flowers.  Real nice to get them come into flower and so the insects can enjoy them too.

17 thoughts on “LATE SUMMER COLOURS”

  1. Lovely photos – especially the bumblebees. They have been enjoying the flowering oregano here too – making their way into the greenhouse to get to it!

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  3. More bees! The one in the bottom photo is very different looking from anything I’ve seen here. The fly on the calendula looks like a syrphid.

    Tansy has been used as a flavoring and as a treatment for worms, too. It’s toxic in large amounts so it might be best to just let it grow.

    I am curious about the squash. Is it a winter squash?

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    1. Yes I am careful with the tansy as my memory might be somewhat clouded about it, but I do remember the scent well. The flowers are most attractive to put into a rustic vase inside.
      The squash is actually not a squash at all, I just looked it up in my garden diary, I sowed it in April! It is a courgette, a round little one. I have a problem with it actually, when the flower is finished and the courgette gets bigger – it starts to rot. Not sure if it is all the rain that is doing it, and as far as I can see it is not touching the ground.

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      1. I wonder if you should remove the spent flower? Sown in April! The ground is still frozen here and sometimes it snows..

        There is tansy here along roadsides and in over-grazed pastures. It’s the same species as yours. We have a native tansy that grows in a few places near the Great Lakes. It is a short plant with larger leaves, and fewer but larger flower heads and few stubby petals. Not quite as scented.

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      2. Yes, I think that is a good idea, I will have a look at it again. I sowed the courgettes in April but that was inside as the ground would have been too cold still here as well. But snow we don’t even see that in the depth of winter 🙂

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      3. Too bad you don’t get snow (haha).

        The earliest I’ve sown squash outdoors is during the last week of May which is risky since the nights are cool.

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      5. We get too much snow here sometimes but it is beautiful.

        I’ve planted some vegetables in the first week of May. Potatoes and onion sets being two of them. The soil is not as warm as the “rules” call for but I haven’t had any problems.

        Raining here today so I’m taking a much needed rest but in a little while I’ll be cooking up apples for sauce.

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  4. hi sis, I looked up on the Tansy, it is also called Cows bitter apparently, very interesting. This is the site I found: http://usesofherbs.com/tansy, it confirms the use to expel worms but also states that it is poisonous, it does not recomment using it, especially as a tea! I love your blog, it gives me great enjoyment!

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    1. Yes sis, I guess that I need to point this out more strongly on my blog, but then you assume that people are being careful. There are different types of tansy too I think and some are more toxic than others. Actually now that we are discussing it I am motivated to do more research on it, I will bring it to the discussion forum of my herbal course presently. Glad you are enjoying my blog so much, it’s so much fun writing it and taking the photos 🙂

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