A month peppered by torrential rain, high wind blasts and rolling low clouds, intercepted by dazzling sun rays breaking through on days when the sea appeared as calm as the proverbial mill pond.
This month saw the final demise of the tepee. It was its third fall thanks to the buffeting it received in the lower garden. It lasted much longer that had been expected. On this third collapse, the hazel poles became entangled in nearby branches and it could be seen that the bedraggled leaves were almost at a point of dissolving, having been wetted so often by the driving rain.
Carefully moving the tepee frame caused one of the hazed branches to snap unexpectedly. There had been no pressure, the weak joint gave a resounding ‘crack’ as the lower half of the limb fell away. Moving the collapsed structure to a sheltered spot where the nasturtium remains could be salvaged was quite a feat. The unruly twiggy top knot of the structure kept catching in shrubs and hedges as I carried it up to the house. It was also surprisingly weighty.
Nasturtium seeds in various stages of growth and decay peppered the slate chippings, whilst strands of the once rampant stems were taken indoors for preservation and observation.
The tough little pink hesperanthus (a survivor from the original garden of the house) and borage managed to continue bloom, the borage somewhat erratically on any stem that survived being damaged by night frosts.
There were several spectacular sunsets too. It’s always so difficult to drag yourself away from such a beautiful and momentary scene to pick up the camera.
