As October advances, growth is slowing and suddenly there is less urgency to get things done in the garden. In a way, it’s something of a relief that the pressure is off, and the pace of gardening is less frenzied, but there are still things to do before winter sets in.

Autumn is a good time to divide herbaceous perennials, provided the weather isn’t very wet or very dry. Many perennials flower less over the years as they become congested and these will benefit from rejuvenation. In particular, a few clumps of daylilies (Hemerocallis) have not flowered well this year, so I am digging those up to divide them now.

Each clump will be cut into smaller pieces with the help of my trusty steak knife. The best parts will be planted back into the previous site, or added to the border elsewhere, and any surplus will get potted up for sale.

October is also a good time to move deciduous shrubs that are in the wrong place or have outgrown their current position. A few years back, I planted the often-overlooked but beautiful, early summer-flowering shrub Neillia thibetica a little too close to its neighbour. It’s now scheduled to move while the soil is still warm enough.

If there is limited rain, I will need to give the plant a good soak weekly.

Keeping the show going

Autumn leaf colour is a somewhat muted affair this October in our garden. Despite the shortening days and cooler nights, the garden remains a strange mix of matt greens and dried browns with just a few pops of the fiery tones that usually characterise this time of year.

In simple terms, the best autumn colour is created by sharp differences between day and night temperatures in late summer and early autumn and, this year, these have been remarkably constant.

However, in the borders, many perennial flowers are still blooming with Lemon Queen (Helianthus), rudbeckias and asters all still going strong until the first frosts.

In a shady, north-facing border, Kirengeshoma palmata is a welcome late arrival to the party, delivering a flurry of yellow, shuttlecock-shaped blooms.

The ornamental grasses come into their own now too. One of my favourites is Malepartus (Miscanthus sinensis) with plentiful, silky-soft, feathery plumes in reddish pink tones and lovely swishing and rustling movement from its tall, leafy stems.

Whenever we start out planning new planting combinations in our borders, we divide the plant list up into different seasons and made sure the mix includes at least a few late-flowering stalwarts to provide a focus at this less flowery time of year.

The star perennial for autumn flowering, in my view, has to be the sedum Herbstfreude (Hylotelephium), sometimes sold as Autumn Joy.

Its flattened heads of flower buds begin opening in August, in muted pink tones at first. Now the colour is getting more intense as the flower heads darken to rich pink, becoming copper red as the season marches into November.

Various floribunda roses, including a bed of Champagne Moment and individual plants of Hot Chocolate, Eyes for You and others are just gearing up for an autumn encore of flowering.

This has been prompted by cutting all their flowered stems back to around hip height near the end of August, after their main flowering was finished. They are now full of fresh growth topped with an abundance of flower buds ready to burst into bloom and, hopefully, these will escape frost damage.

If we keep deadheading the faded flowers, this will extend their flowering season until Christmas and squeeze the last bloom from them. Next month we will apply a plentiful mulch of farmyard manure around the base of each plant.

African mallow

Over the years, I’ve read several garden articles written by well-known Irish gardener Carmel Duignan, singing praise of the shrubby African mallow, El Rayo (Anisodontea).

Having sought it out and planted one about three years ago, I am in full agreement that it is truly a remarkable plant. It flowers continuously, all year round.

Since planting it in a sheltered spot, there hasn’t been a single day, not even in the depths of winter, when it hasn’t had at least a handful of flowers. It is currently awash with large, pink blooms as if it were still the height of summer.

Given the energy that it puts into perpetual flowering, I suspect this shrub may be short-lived and so I took some semi-ripe cuttings back in August as insurance.

Like many gardeners in Ireland, in recent years with our generally milder weather conditions, I’ve begun pushing the boundaries of hardiness and experimenting with growing tender and exotic plants.

These include gingers (Hedychium), bananas, aeoniums and other succulents, chocolate cosmos, perennial salvias, plectranthus, pelargoniums, fuchsias, brugmansia and eucomis.

However, before any hard frost bites, I will bring all these half-hardy plants under cover, into my polytunnel, to protect them during the colder months. On very cold nights, especially tender plants, such as the aeoniums and bananas, will benefit from being swaddled in a protective layer of horticultural fleece.

If you grow any of these tender specimens, remember that winter wet kills more plants than winter cold so it’s also important to reduce their watering to an absolute minimum.

Mary Keenan and Ross Doyle run Gash Gardens, Co Laois. gashgardens.ie