The Echinopsis have put on a splendid show this year with 3-4 flushes of flowers throughout the summer. Just noticed that in one of the pots there is an imposter. #fairviewyearround

The colchicums are coming up rapidly on the roadside verge, they dislike the heavy rain though. #fairviewyearround #fairviewverge

One of the plants that really caught my eye at the Four Oaks Trade Show was Salvia Melba Magic ‘Cherry Melba’ from Kernock Park Plants/Alpha Plants which will be released in 2027. One to look out for.

‘Oullins Golden Gage’ has produced a bumper crop this year. I’ll be picking these for the next couple of weeks. #fairviewyearround

The colchicums on the roadside are coming out thick and fast. #fairviewyearround #fairviewverge

I’ve never had much success with autumn-flowering gentians, but last year decided to give them a try again. I’m delighted that the first flowers of Gentiana ‘Braemar’ have opened and so now planning a second trough. #fairviewyearround

This Banksy, which appeared overnight on the side of the Royal Courts of Justice building in London, is extremely powerful.

Well 1 hour after the new banksy was revealed that was mocking the courts for censoring people, the courts censored it by covering it up... Proving his point...

The chief pest controller is asleep whilst on duty. This handsome tawny owl roosts in my Parrotia during the day and has become increasingly trusting when I am about. We had wood pigeons nesting a few feet away earlier in the year. #fairviewyearround

In the late afternoon the red admirals are making the most of the fallen plums. At least a couple of dozen red admirals were seen. The big butterfly count that is now published, is at odds with the numbers seen in the garden here - butterfly-conservation.org/big-butterfly-… #fairviewyearround

Rhodophiala bifida in the greenhouse. #fairviewyearround

Hoya carnosa in the greenhouse. #fairviewyearround

Hylotelephium ‘Matrona’ (back) a good doer here, not as floppy as Herbstfreude Group (front) loved by bees and butterflies. Still looks nice after the flowers fade. #fairviewyearround

Colchicum ‘William Dykes’ with a floppy Eurybia divaricata ‘Beth Chatto’. I rather like the effect though. #fairviewyearround

Repotting in the tunnel has been delayed this year and so I have just weeded and top-dressed the pots with fresh gravel prior to watering. Things are waking up already. Every year I seem to end up with more pots. #fairviewyearround

One of the first flowers in the bulb tunnel, Sternbergia greuteriana. #fairviewyearround

Cyclamen graecum looking lovely in the alpine house, I think this may have originally come from Ray Cobb, anyone recognise the label? #fairviewyearround

Colchicum ‘Harlequin’, an unusual colour combination. #fairviewyearround

The roadside verge with colchicums including Colchicum speciosum ‘Album’ and Cyclamen hederifolium. #fairviewyearround #fairviewverge

Another Ray Cobb gift, the fabulous Arum pictum ‘Primrose Warburg’ (syn. ‘South Hayes’), with an interesting ‘fragrance’. Excellent article on the species at srgc.net/documents/irg/… #fairviewyearround