Garden Talks with Elayne – September
September is a month of golden sun and harvests. A month when the bulbs and perennials planted last year come into their own and cheer up the fading grass. And yet, despite its name, it is not the 7th month of the year. A misconception derived from when the Romans used a solar year which was later converted (not till 1753) into the current Gregorian year – which required the removal of 11 days from September in the year of conversion.
It is the month when grass and wildflowers produce seeds (sticky or blown in the wind often), and is the best time to cut these, and your lawn, to provide food for your wildlife.
Mining bees will often be found in your lawn, and the ants and other grubs will be providing food for birds to stock up for the winter too.In the first talk, I will consider the importance of gardens for wildlife in the UK as so much of our green space has been built on. And how we can support that wildlife in the way that we garden.
In the second talk I will consider the plants we can grow in London and which can be harvested later in the year- now that our climate is changing, and the implications of our changing climate will be considered also in later talks (Feb/Mar 2024). But our last talk of 2023 will look at the plants we use in December to decorate our homes and why we still invest them with myths and religious importance.