Firstly welcome to some new followers it's good to see you here and apologies to all those of you whose blogs I can't comment on at the moment. I have been reading and enjoying all your latest posts.
Saturday morning dawned bright and dry after non stop rain the day before. We popped out to the local garden centre to buy sunflower hearts for the bird feeders. I miss Wilco's for bird food (and many other things too) but we have bought Red Barn sunflowers from the garden centre before.
We decided to drive back through Barlaston and stopped near the Wedgwood factory to look for Fly Agaric toadstools. I remembered we'd seen them there last year. First we decided to park and walk down to the factory and museum as part of the access road to the car park was under water.
Around the Museum and factory shops there were seasonal displays.
Above, Hedgwood's pumpkin patch guarded by two scarecrows
Also under the trees were windfall walnuts.
Meanwhile in the garden both Hardy Begonias and Hardy Fuchsias are doing well and the Hydrangeas have turned a lovely delicate colour.
Unfortunately the old plum tree at the top of the garden has had to come down as it was diseased and hollow inside and one push or heavy gust of wind would have broken it. Insects will love the logs.
Knowing that the tree would have to go this year we planted two new plum trees last year to compensate.
You've trumped the single perfect Fly Agaric I found earlier in the week - lots of battered ones though. There's a walnut tree growing wild near me but the squirrels always seem to get there first, though they do gift me an occasional one by burying it in my planters.
ReplyDeleteI'm never sure if they get battered by animals of humans - a bit of both I guess. I've seen people with sticks bashing at fungi of various sorts and can never understand why - superstition perhaps? We've been finding conkers buried all over the garden from a nearby tree:)
DeleteLovely to see the pumpkins and gorgeous photos of the Fly Agaric. The seedheads on the hydrangea are beautiful. I miss Wilco's too for bird food and cheap feeders especially. When we bought the caravan we bought loads of basic kitchen items from there at such a reasonable price. Fair enough we had to replace the saucepans and frying pans as they were a bit too cheap but the rest of the items were great.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a thrill to see the Fly Agaric they and the pumpkins are so cheerful. I brought in a few hydrangea heads which have dried well. I always used to buy cleaning and laundry products from Wilco and we've had paint from there too - I miss the bird food though:)
DeleteIt was well worth the stop to see those beautiful fly agarics and all the bright orange pumpkins too. It's always sad to see an old tree perish but the logs will go down a treat with the insects. Can't believe it's nearly the weekend again already! 😊
ReplyDeleteI hate to have to take down a tree but it would have fallen down and perhaps have been dangerous if an animal like fox, badger or cat had been passing by. The logs are perfect for insects and will go on the log pile. Weekend and clocks change too - how the seasons fly by:)
DeleteI have been thinking of you the last few days with all the flooding. Hope all is well. Just love those toadstools; nothing like that over here. B x
ReplyDeleteWe are on a hill so no flooding nearby but we have a very soggy and wet garden and no chance to mow the grass for the last time - it all looks very unkempt and sorry for itself at the moment. There was flooding in certain areas around the city and out into the moorlands and across into Derbyshire. Hope all is well with you too:)
DeleteI understand about the tree. I have an old peach tree that I will not allow to be cut until it no longer sprouts any leaves. Silly I know, but I have loved that old tree, and am willing to wait until it is totally dead. It is already laying on the ground, so no danger, and we have plenty of space so it is no problem.
ReplyDeleteThe fungi are gorgeous! They look so perfect they don't seem real.
Pumpkins! Ah yes, there are thousands more than I remember from even 5 years ago, and all kinds of colors and shapes. We had a nice crop of a dozen or so from volunteer plants this year, a nice surprise.
I really didn't want the tree to come down as it was a favourite tree and we inherited it when we moved here twenty six years ago. Many more pumpkins here over the last few years. When I was a child we didn't have them - we used to carve a turnip or a swede to make lanterns:)
DeleteThere do seem to be a lot of pumpkins around this year. Wonderful displays of both real ones and handcrafted.
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame about your plum tree but at least the insects can still enjoy using it and you had the foresight to plant some new young trees that can take its place.
I loved the old plum tree and its blossom and the fruit was always good even this last year we had a couple of crumbles worth. One of the trees we planted was from a stone of the original, the other is a different variety:)
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