Still a little warmth in the sun

It was our first frosty morning of the autumn on Thursday. The grass was white with frost and the greenhouse glass was frosted. The overnight low had dropped to 2.8°C.

There was a good deal of sunshine in the afternoon and it was pleasant on the plot as the sunshine still has some warmth left in it. It was more tidying up on the plot. We decided to cut down our dahlias which had survived the frost without damage. The soil is still dry and could easily be knocked off the roots. These were placed upside down in the greenhouse to dry off. Just how best to protect them over winter is still to be decided but I think some straw is probably going to be our preferred method.

As beds are gradually cleared of their summer crops the flowers in more permanently planted areas around the fruit trees are still full of flower or have attractive seed heads which will be left for the birds to feed on over winter.