The garden is still giving, but the seed heads reveal the season

This is just the sort of bouquet that shows the garden is still giving, even this late in the season. I can mainly see sweet peas in several colours; the large pale pink flowers look like lavatera, with apricot-coloured snapdragons in the middle. The dry, star-like parts are spent seed heads, probably from a clematis or another perennial with similar seed heads.

In early October in Västernorrland, Sweden, this mix of fresh and faded flowers in the same hand-tied bouquet is quite typical. Sweet peas and snapdragons can keep producing cut flowers until a hard frost catches them, while the seed heads show that other parts of the planting are winding down. That does not diminish the bouquet; it gives it that late-season character.

To keep picking for a little longer, cut the freshest stems regularly and promptly remove anything that turns brown or limp in the vase. Leave some attractive seed heads outside if you want to save seed or let the border settle gracefully into autumn. The next cold night can change things quickly, so make the most of the last sweet peas before a hard frost.