It’s 20:30, and it’s still light… just. After a hot day the air is cooling, and the sun is about to set. The next time it will set this late will be May 2026.

The garden is still glorious, although it has a feeling of having had too much fun, and is now tipping over the edge into a decaying stupor. The Geranium ‘Rozanne’ continues to flower, along with Salvia ‘Royal Bumble’. It’s now joined by the pinkish-red of Persicaria, which looks stunning set alongside Anemanthele lessoniana and Cornus ‘Norman Haddon’. The Anemanthele remains the garden’s MVP (Most Valuable Plant, of course).

The bronzing leaves of Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ stand architecturally strong, though the flowers finished weeks ago._ _The blue heads of Eryngium and Echinops remain prominent, contrasting with Allium sphaerocephalon and Helenium (‘Moerheim Beauty’ or ‘Red Army’?).

Clematis, Trachelospermum, and_ _strawberries, all planted this year, have survived the testing summer thus far, although another heat wave is on its way. The latter has put on significant leafy growth, and we hope for a decent crop next year.

Many jobs are left to do, but I’m still happy with the exuberance, dynamism, and slight lack of control throughout the garden. Just enough wildness to keep things interesting…