September in the garden

I was surprised that our hollyhock has just thrown out another bloom.

A late hollyhock flower

A splash of colour in the chicken’s strip

We planted this in spring and it’s been in bud for months.

In bud in August

Still in bud in September but beginning to open

This must surely flower soon. We are interested to see what it will look like. The buds have reminded us of broad beans and have been taking forever to open.

I haven’t got much further with the amigos at bedtime. Their going in coincides with me getting our evening meal ready at the moment. The problem is that Dandelion insists on perching on their perch. The last two evenings I haven’t managed to get out in time to move her before the amigos go in.

Dandelion being on the perch at the spot where they jump up makes it difficult for them. She doesn’t intentionally put them off but they can’t easily find a way up and a couple will be trying to get up, one or two will try the back perch and then one or two will start to settle in the corner.

I move Dandelion to the other side and to speed things up I have perched the amigos on their perch where they quickly settle. They no longer attempt to jump down and I can tell that they want to perch here but Dandelion obstructs them.

It’s a shame Dandelion won’t perch on the other side. She never attempts to move once I move her over there but on her own she chooses the amigo’s perch. I know that if Dandelion didn’t choose to perch there this would be sorted by now.

As they go in earlier it will become easier for me to move Dandelion before the amigos go in but longer term I am not sure if they will be able to work it out for themselves. I don’t really want to have move one girl each night but I am not sure how it will go smoothly otherwise.

It’s such a pain because Dandelion perched over the other side for a while but seems determined to perch this side at the moment. It continues to be a work in progress. I am sure it will all resolve itself in the end.