The weeks before and after the autumnal equinox were bliss - warm morning sunlight cast sharp shadows through fruit trees that glowed with a heavy harvest and cobwebs sparkled with rainbowed dewdrops - a veritable jewellers network strung through the borders.

If I had realised quite how many big spiders there were hiding among the plants, I might well think twice before stretching down to pull out a wayward thistle or clump of hairy bittercress snuggled among the autumn perennials.

Throughout the summer the sunny days have been quite special, and combined with the rainfall, it has meant that our gardens have thrived. Lawns have stayed green and growth has been lush and vibrant. To me, as a gardener, that’s what it’s all about and not about having to slave for hours each evening watering pots.

But why are the sunny days so easily forgotten? I blame the TV weather forecasters - if our British summer isn’t akin to that of the south of France then they are all gloom and doom. They ought to be neutral and let us make up our own minds as to whether sun is good and rain is bad. It becomes indoctrinated in people’s minds and the only comments heard about the weather are negative. There’s a name for that isn’t there?

So read this following sentence three times a day a mealtimes and once at bedtime… it’s been a lovely summer and now I’m going to enjoy a heavenly autumn…