Plant for all weathers

Only one plant has coped without complaint through all the strange weather this year, and that is Catananche.  It survived the hot,dry spell without needing to be watered (even in my sandy soil) and didn't sulk when the weather turned wet. The buds are interesting in late spring and the pretty flowers work well in a natural looking planting At this time of year,even the papery seed heads look good. I can't think of a bad thing to say about it.

We can't pretend that it's still early autumn now that the frosts have finished off the late summer vegetables. The whole garden looks a bit limp and blackened until they're cleared away. Once that's done everything seems to come to life again and we start to notice how promising the winter vegetables are looking.

I spent a day looking at the gardens at Westonbirt School in Gloucestershire and hearing about the research that has been done into their history. Created by the Holford family in the 19th century, features include a Pulhamite rock garden. Fundraising for their restoration is underway. With the help of a grant, work started on the unusual Victorian herbaceous borders in the Italian Walled Garden earlier this year. Remarkably, it has been carried out by volunteers and one member of staff on just one day a week. The results are impressive. The gardens are open to the public this week while the school is closed for half term. It's worth a visit or two to watch their progress.