The colours of autumn

The rake is leaning against the rowan tree which is almost red.  The self sown rowan seedling in the pot is a beautiful red and the leaves may stay for another week or two.  The rowan tree seems to be the last to lose all its leaves.  The yellow in the background is the cherry tree and the leaves on the lawn are from the Manchurian pear, which started the season with a range of colours from yellow to red.

The leaves are not the only colourful features in the garden.  The chrysanthemum in mauve and red are still looking good.

Not to be outdone the last of the sunflower stands tall.  The cockatoos have been busy on the rowan tree and hopefully will not notice this single sunflower.

pomegranate

Earlier I posted pictures of the fruits on my pomegranate tree.  I have picked a few of the fruits and I am enjoying the sweet juiciness of the ruby seeds.
This tree has a long history.  Over twenty years ago, a friend with a crowded garden needed some space for more planting so she decided her pomegranate tree had to go.  She offered it to me and together we dug up the tree (at least over twelve years old) and I managed to trim the top so it would fit in my car.  I planted the tree next to my compost heap in my previous garden.  The tree grew and produced fruits.  I taught my daughter to do air-layering (marcotting) for propagating and she did it on the pomegranate.  We forgot about the branch and a couple of years later I removed the plastic and coconut fibre wrapped around the air-layered branch and I found healthy roots.  I cut the branch and planted it in a pot and it stayed there, behaving like a bonsai.  When I moved to this garden the pomegranate was planted in the ground and it took off.  I was also successful by just sticking a branch in a pot and forgetting about it.  I knew I was successful when I noticed new growth sprouting.

Jerusalem artichoke

I have a small patch of Jerusalem artichoke in my outside garden.  I contain the patch, not wanting this vegetable to spread all over the garden.  The Jerusalem artichoke, which some people mistake for ginger has a habit of spreading tubers beyond their patch.  This is an easy to grow vegetable, good for roasting, stir-frying and making a delicious soup, especially with carrots.  I put back some of the tubers to grow, adding compost and manure to ensure good size tubers.  Planted now the tubers will be ready to harvest next autumn.