The hard work of summer is over and I can reflect on the season’s surprises, and failures

Can you feel it? The shift? Sunday is the autumn equinox, when night and day will be almost exactly the same length. Summer is over; autumn and longer nights lie ahead.

For sun lovers, I know this is not a day to be celebrated, but this is my favourite part of the year. For one thing, it’s a magical time in our gardens. I recently returned from a holiday and fell in love with mine all over again; it was overgrown and indignant, with flowers elegantly swaying with the final energy of a summer’s growth – on the brink of teetering from their final triumph into seed.