A day late due to the exceptional circumstances of the death of our beloved Queen Elizabeth II. I was away with our family when I heard the news.

A very sad few days for the whole country and more to come, but our gardens provide us with great solace and a place to think, reflect and draw strength. There is still plenty of colour too, including this rare and special Tradescantia (Andersoniana Group) ‘David’s Blaby Blue’, named after a young man who died in tragic circumstances in Blaby, Leicester.

The ginger lily, Hedychium flavescens, is just coming into flower. The smell is rather like sweet cinnamon but the flowers are here and gone in a flash. It didn’t like the intense heat this summer and needed gallons of water which makes it a very needy plant in my book. Probably not one to grow in periods of drought!

The front border is still performing well and the powder blue Salvia uliginosa alongside the acid yellow of Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ is a nice combo. You can just see the second flowering of the delphiniums which I cut down to the ground only a few weeks ago.

The Fox Grape, Vitis labrusca ‘Isabella’, is almost ready for harvest, the sweet juicy pink fruits gradually turning a dark pink. Not even enough for a few bottles but delicious on my morning granola!

The Box Moth caterpillar ridden Box ball featured in my last Six has gone and has been replaced by Teucrium chamaedrys, or Wall Germander, a short, upright and well behaved evergreen flowering plant which, I am assured, is pest and disease free, probably due to its aromatic leaves.

Let’s finish on a dahlia, a delightful hybrid dahlia which I grew from the seed some years ago and whose flowers are different every year. This year the pink has diminished and lemon yellow is the dominant colour. All I know is the bees love it, and so do I.

Enjoy your garden this weekend and reflect on the life of our late wonderful Queen and all those who perished in 9/11 on this day 21 years ago.

David