I have been harvesting herbs today. Bay leaves, thyme, sage, marjoram, lemon verbena. 
These are tied in bunches using lengths of raffia that in a former life I scrounged from a fish vendor in Hong Kong.
The bunches hang in my warm, dark basement until dry, before being crumbled for use in cooking, as teas and as gifts for work.
Soon there will be poppy seeds. These are bread seed poppies. The seedpods don’t open up like salt shakers, so you can either leave them to dry in place or hang them. 
The garlic is in.
A really good haul this year. I planted only 24 cloves to harvest a whole muck-bucket full. 
Unusual in that quite a few of the singly planted cloves have sprouted 3 or 4 very large heads of garlic. I couldn’t say what variety, as I haven’t bought seed garlic in years. I just plant the biggest and best cloves around October 15th.
I pulled the little brown onions. 
The Alisa Craigs are still putting on weight so I’ll leave them to grow for now. 
Blueberries have been fantastic this year. I’ve been picking every other day or so, and from only 2 bushes have enough to eat and stock the freezer. This is today’s haul.
It’s all about netting. I use plain net curtains from Ikea. The birds can’t get tangled in the very fine mesh. There’s nothing worse than trying to rescue a furious grackle!
Chillies, peppers and squash can be picked daily. The weather is perfect.
And it is tomato time at last! They will have their own Six!
Check out all the other Sixes by following the Propagator http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com. Enjoy the harvest!
1. Anemone japonica ‘robustissima’. As the name suggests this is a very hardy individual, taking over the marsh-front border with gusto. It throws up its tall flower heads in late summer, and will flower prolifically from now until frost. For me it is the first floral harbinger of fall. In a couple of weeks it will be infiltrated by wild jerusalem artichokes, causing me to chunter on about ‘clearing out’, ‘redesigning’, ‘no more pink and yellow combos’ and so on. But it will still be August, too hot & humid for such intense activity. By the time the weather co-operates I will be ‘over it’ for another year. 
2. Germander. Teuchrium Chamaedrys. This one is also a sign of summer’s end. A lovely edging in the sunny border. Some years I clip it. This does not feel like a formal edging year. In a normal climate it would be evergreen. It is a nice alternative to boxwood, which is not really hardy through our winters.
3. Phlox. Another harbinger. I don’t know which one this is but it is medium height and hides all kinds of ugly rose stems and burned out clematis vines.
5. Crookneck Squash. One plant, still too many squashes!
6. Onions! I have at last grown a decent crop. They are not show quality by any means, but they are big enough to slice rather than pickle! It’s only taken 30 years…..these are no-dig which I am turning to more and more.
1. Prune. Before the heatwave my big old rose Cuisse de Nymphe had a major renovation prune in order to keep it in check but also to remove a lot of fossilised old wood from the base.
Here’s the pile of clippings waiting to be chipped up on a cooler day. I hope to promote stronger young growth that won’t flop around so much. The thorns are evil, especially when they get you in the scalp as you meander by with a cup of coffee at daybreak.
2. Plant. I have been trying to extend my flowering season into summer. These Shasta daisies and gaura should complement the hydrangeas in the hottest months.
4. Harvest. Surprisingly Winter Density lettuce continues despite the heat. The first blueberries of the season. The birds start screaming at me the minute I open the netting to harvest the berries.
5. Grow. An experimental Charentais melon in a big pot. Growing at a rapid rate up the bannister of my deck stairs. Lots of flowers but so far no melons.
1. Boundaries re-established. The wild kingdom has no respect for straight lines or tidiness. A couple of times a season I hack back the weeds and remember why boundaries are essential to healthy co-existence.
3. Goodbye old friend. My trusty old gas powered Toro gave up the ghost and has been replaced by an electric self-propelled mower. Its much lighter in weight and so quiet. I’ve never owned a brand new mower before.
4. Hello Sweetness. Baby girl is now old enough to enjoy the great outdoors. During her visit we played with rocks and stones, watered the pathways and ate alpine strawberries right from the garden. A new generation to love the land.
5. Lilies. The beetles moved in at the same time as I did, so for the last 25 years or so I had no lilies. This year, so far so good. These have been brightening up Mikey’s corner for weeks without blemish. I do see a big hole in that nicotiana leaf though…
1. Graham Thomas. One of the oldest of my English roses, this was planted in memory of my tough little sister who passed away before her time in 2000. Every one of her 38 years was a bonus. She loved yellow.
2. Zephirine Drouhin. ZD the first succumbed years ago from being planted in the flood zone. This cutting on higher ground survived, producing foliage last summer and flowers this year. The thornless rose is wonderful in a vase.
3. Mme Plantier. Another survivor, this time from the feet of construction professionals and their tools. She is highly fragrant and very unruly, over-run by several similarly wayward clematis. Jackmanii is photo bombing.
4. Leander. A big strapping lass of a rose starting apricot and fading to buff, with a lovely fruity aroma.
5a Heritage. Quintessentially David Austin. Perfect shell pink.
5b Abraham Darby. Also one of the best David Austin roses in its day. I still love its changing colour and strong scent. Underplanted with germander and the odd weed…
6. Cuisse de Nymphe (Great Maiden’s Blush). Another of the great old roses, my original shrub is huge, scents the whole street and produces very easily rooted suckers. consequently I have a number of these around the place, none as large and impressive as the mother. She only flowers once a year, a huge, generous flush of buds, perfect flowers and fallen petals. Great hips too if left un-pruned after flowering. This last one is for grandma. She would know why, but I am not telling.
2. Cosmos Xanthos. Those seed catalogs in January should be banned. A pale yellow Cosmos – how wonderful! Not really. Compared to “Purity’ or ‘Psyche white’ that I usually grow to fill odd patches in the sunny borders, Xanthos is underwhelming at best. Flowering early but only a foot or so high it can’t compare to the 6 foot pure white classic beauties I wish for at this time of year. Although they would probably be face down in the mud like everything else…..
4. Scrumptious Honeoye strawberries. Newly planted, mulched with straw and properly hydrated (thanks to the weather) these are the best ever.
1. Doublefile viburnum. This spectacular shrub usually flowers on Mother’s Day (which is in May here). It’s a bit late due to the cold and rainy Spring. It will be perfect for another week or 2 before setting the bird-beloved berries that if left to ripen would be blackish purple in the Autumn, against wonderful burgundy foliage.
3. Cranberry Viburnum. The flowers on this one are a little more subtle, but the garnet Jewel like fruit are fantastic.
5. Moving on from viburnum to vaccinium. The blueberries are absolutely loaded with flowers. I have my net curtains ready this year.
6. Finally Fothergilla. Another good shrub with vanilla scented ‘fothery’ bottlebrush flowers. These are dotted around for their scent and their wonderful Autumn colours. They are so much prettier than the ubiquitous ‘burning bush’ euonymous that we see us much here. Even though it’s a native I never met a euonymous I liked.