Gardening.qxp_Layout 2 23/08/2021 11:55 Page 1
GARDENING
Late summer perennials are often found in warm, fiery tones, providing a vibrant display right when it’s needed
Blaze of glory
If you keep on top of some basic maintenance and choose your plants carefully, you can stretch out the season and keep the colour coming well into autumn, says Elly West
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he end of summer can be a tricky time in the garden. The soil can be dry, many plants are past their best, flowers are fizzling out and leaves are starting to die back. Most gardens are at their best in May and June, so keeping the show going into September can be a challenge. But if you keep on top of some basic maintenance and choose your plants carefully, you can stretch out the season and keep the colour coming well into autumn. Year-round interest is on most people’s wish lists when it comes to their gardens, and while we can be forgiven for a sparser garden in winter, September often brings long, sultry days when we want to sit outside and relax, and enjoy the fruits of our labours before autumn chills fully set in. When planning a border, I generally like to include a backbone of shrubs and grasses, including evergreens, that will provide structure and something to look at all year, with perennials and bulbs grown in swathes in between for colour and seasonal change. As a rough guide, if you think in terms of each season needing at least a quarter of the plants ‘doing something’, it helps to avoid bleak gaps with nothing new to see. Late summer perennials are often found in warm, fiery tones of oranges, yellows and reds, providing a vibrant display right when it’s needed. Dahlias, heleniums, hemerocallis, sedum, rudbeckia and crocosmia are high on my list for keeping the season going for longer. If you prefer softer pastel shades, then Japanese anemones have a more airy feel. Then there are the long-flowering stalwarts such as Mexican daisies (Erigeron) in cheerful pinks and whites, and hardy 88 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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SEPTEMBER 2021
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No 202
Dahlias, heleniums, hemerocallis, sedum, rudbeckia and crocosmia are high on my list for keeping the season going for longer Geranium ‘Rozanne’ in mauve, that will have started flowering in May and will keep on going until the first frosts. It’s also possible to get a second innings from many earlier flowering perennials if you cut them back hard when they start to fade in the summer. Salvias, penstemon, some roses, nepeta and achilleas can all go on to give a further flush after you’ve cut them back. I often find inspiration when I’m out and about visiting gardens, both private and public, and the Hauser and Wirth garden in Bruton is a good one if you need ideas for late summer. Originally designed by Piet Oudolf, it has plenty of grasses planted in swathes to create movement and texture in rich autumnal shades of brown, beige and gold. Most ornamental grasses flower in late summer and autumn so their seed heads add extra interest and often last well into winter as well. Or if you’re looking for more colour, then the University of Bristol Botanic Garden’s hot borders are a great starting point. For the ultimate in sources of inspiration, this month sees the very first autumnal RHS Chelsea Flower Show in its 108-year history. Last year it was cancelled, and this year the decision was made to move it from its usual slot at the end of May, so we’ll see very different types
