Although the weekly vases of flowers are looking less blowsy, the garden is still in bloom and Sedum is taking centre stage. I love sedum as a cut flower, it lasts well in the vase and a small amount goes a long way – though of course this is slightly dependent on the size of the vase. In early summer the heads are a fresh, pale green and I pick them to add bulk and structure to small posies; as the season progresses the colour deepens until, by around late October, each head looks like wine-red worn velvet, at which point I think they can happily do a solo turn.

Sedum works hard in the garden too: I have planted it in large pots just outside the kitchen door, and then in big clumps on every level of the garden where it provides a sense of continuity, as well as late summer colour. This continuity, or repetition, feels particularly important when everything else is dying back, and I love the way it actually props up other plants as they wither and collapse.

I think it looks particularly good garlanded with nasturtium, that other stalwart of the autumn garden.

I know it’s not to everyone’s taste, but I really wouldn’t be without it, and having noticed how much attention it gets from bees and other insects – by mid-morning each clump is alive with bees intent on gathering what they can as autumn rolls in - I realise that no garden should be without at least one small clump.