An afternoon of chrysanthemums and asters

The season is now really on the turn: actually more than on the turn, it is turning - fast.  The week in particular it suddenly has that cold and dark feeling that means that winter is knocking on the door. The days are now much shorter and the possibility of getting home before dark becomes very rare, so every daylight hour I can spend outside is precious.  A sunny warm autumn day is the perfect excuse to go and find an NGS garden to visit and one that has a nursery and specialises in unusual plants is a must-visit.

Norwell Nurseries  near Newark in Nottinghamshire, which is a quick jaunt up the A46 for me.  They were having two chrysanthemum days this year and whilst originally I was going on the first one; the prospect of torrential rain made me postpone to the second.  Weatherwise this was the right decision,  on the day the sun shone and it felt warm.

I decided to visit the garden first before heading for the nursery.

It was buzzing with bees which is always the best soundtrack for a garden.

I followed the paths that wound through the borders, being led this way and that.

I paused in places, thinking how the blue asters work so well as backdrop.

Bearing in mind this was a chrysanthemum day, I spent a lot of time admiring the asters.

So I made my way to the nursery to peruse what was on offer.

Here I found more chrysanthemums and I spent time looking at their different shapes and colours.  I confess to a difficult relationship with chrysanthemums.  I really do not like the smell of them, so for me they are best in the garden.

I grew some last year for my daughter's wedding and they were good as cut flowers, so as ever I am not being consistent in my opinion.

But I did stray back to the asters as well.  I am forever of the opinion I need more in my garden.

Before leaving I crossed the road to the allotment where a lot more of the collection of chrysanthemums can be seen.  The amount of different colours and shapes made a fantastic sight.

I behaved myself and did not make any purchases, not because I was not tempted, I was - very much so.  I decided to make a note of names and add them to my list to buy next year. I went home happy, the visit was the perfect foil for the shortening days.