Thanks, Edward, for your all-year round wallflower

In the Garden
There are two type of gardener at this time of year, those who clear everything from the beds and those who desperately cling on to summer colour by leaving the clearing up until only the last petal has fallen from a saturated dahlia. I fall into the latter category but rather admire those who keep everything in order.
What spurs me on to clear out the beds is to make way for more new plants, mainly the slower growers that eke out a living through winter. As its all change in the beds at some point of your own choosing, winter or early spring colour is high on the agenda.
Among the top of this is list are wallflowers (Erysimum), These are actually a clever flowering cabbage variety but don’t let that put you off. Some are beautifully scented (obviously not of cabbage!). You can buy them in vast trays for next to nothing at this time of year. Some varieties like the reliable ‘Bowles Mauve’ are perennial. This variety was found by the plant hunter Edward Augustus Bowles who has still has ancestors living in South Devon. I can reliably inform you that this is one plant that if all the stars are aligned, has the ability to flower all year round. Theoretically as its a perennial, it gives you a non stop purple patch if its looked after.
‘Fire of King’ is a deep burnished orange colour and works well with the common wallflower colour of yellow.
They are hardy but like all hardy plants they can succumb to hard frosts. A neat trick is to nip off the tips to get them growing across so it trains them to bush out more whilst reducing the risk of frostbite.
Take care not to buy young biennial plants as they will only flower next year. If you enjoy them they are even easier to grow from seed ready for next year when you can be smug about not buying them in. Another aspect of note is that they readily self seed, as the name suggests in walls which isn't really a bad thing. I love it that at some point behind your back nature has been discreetly reproducing under its own steam.
On the Plot
The raspberry patch is needing attention now in the form of pruning. Summer fruiting varieties only grow fruit on last seasons canes so leave them well alone and cut away the stems that look dead. This will prevent disease and allow light and rainwater in. If you tie them in now it will help the root system by not being blown around like its a bad hair day. They will also grow where you want them too instead of over anything else like an elephants trunk in a cake shop.
I used to feel like a nervy bomb disposal officer cutting raspberry canes in autumn but it really is quite simple if you just leave this year's stems well alone and cut out dead wood. Spent stems look old and knarled with a covering of bark and might have the odd raspberry stalk hanging off it too.
Just to make things slightly complicated, autumn fruiting raspberries can be cut down en masse but only in midwinter. You might want to tie a bit of ribbon on to the later variety in case you can’t differentiate in December. Do it now whilst the fruit is a handy marker, then eat the fruit!
There are still therapeutic tasks to be done like the start of the ‘raking up leaves season’ and mowing the lawn. We are owed some more warm nights where we can sit out in the evening and enjoy the garden. As mad as it seems this is still possible in October even if a cup of tea replaces a glass of wine.