themagnoliatreeblog

Our late summer has stretched into October. However, no matter how bright, warm and sunny the afternoons are, there is a recognisable chill in the air although not quite reaching freezing point, it is almost there.

The plants are well on their way to dying off for the winter, I couldn’t help having a poke around the sweet potatoes though didn’t feel anything, I just hope to get some result, I did find a young shoot though so am curious as to where that came from.

The yacon had started to flower before I accidentally broke the top although it is still hanging on. I’m not entirely sure how I can deal with the oca, it’s likely to be another month before it develops tubers. The Chinese artichokes look healthy enough so they might be hardy enough to leave out for a few more weeks.

Usually by now the dahlia and begonia bulbs are being collected and stored but they are still in full bloom.

I was checking some of the plants to see if any were dead enough to remove when I came across a healthy looking stray vine. I thought originally it was the tromba squash then realised with the shape of the leaves it was an achocha. The achocha on the arch has a few fresh leaves but mainly they have almost given up the ghost. This one had taken off on it’s own and ventured under a bench on into the garden next door – and it had fruit on it. Whilst I was trying to tie up the wanderer, I noticed a tromba squash, very small but still edible growing behind it’s pot.

The next pot to check was the double potato pot, all greenery had long gone, I had planted three small salad potatoes from the cupboard when the rest of the potatoes were in flower so I was surprised to get any. I had already collected a few and left the rest in the hope they would grow. I feared the worst when I pulled one pot out of the other and saw nothing very exciting, so I decided to empty it out. There were a few snail eggs but further down I was surprised to get a few usable potatoes. There were several tiny ones which I think, had I planted them earlier would have had the chance to grow. The pots are much tidier than the potato bags so next year’s spuds will be potted not bagged.

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