Farewell to the morning glory

I had a busy gardening day today, preparing and then lighting the big bonfire. Helena had lead the way by cutting back a whole range of plants, shrubs and even the bay tree. The latter had grown enormously in the last couple of years and I hadn't trimmed it properly. Now it had taken over a part of the garden and had to go.

The bonfire took a while to light, and I noticed that The Guardian newspaper isn't what it used to be, in terms of ease of burning.  I feel that modern newsprint leaves a lot to be desired.

Once alight the fire took off and I sweated as I tried to feed its hungry flames. The bay leaves seem to have a hidden ingredient that made the fire take off as soon as the leaves caught fire with a roaring crackle.

In a pot by the rear patio door the morning glory plant has been flowering all summer, even though I didn't train its leading stems very well, nor remember to cut off the flowers as soon as they had closed. Normally this would be by the lunchtime of the day the flower had first opened. We love these plants and will be sorry when the colder weather inhibits the flowers and then eventually kills the plant and we have the rather too long wait for next spring for the cycle to resume.