10 minute read
GARDENING
Late summer perennials are often found in warm, fiery tones, providing a vibrant display right when it’s needed
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Blaze of glory
The 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 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
of plants taking centre stage. The usual irises, verbascums, lupins, foxgloves and alliums will be usurped by a whole new palette and I can’t wait to see how designers and growers cope with the challenges and bring a new vibe to what is usually a late-spring affair.
Yeo Valley Organic Garden will have its first ever Main Avenue show garden at this year’s Chelsea, designed by Tom Massey, alongside garden owner Sarah Mead. I visited earlier in the year to see how the preparations were going. “We were all ready to go last year, but then things obviously came to a halt,” says Sarah. “Late summer is actually quite a good time for us here, we already have lots of seasonal interest and the Chelsea Garden will be a direct representation of this garden. There will be dahlias, cosmos and crocosmias, and also grasses and ferns. We’ll use a lot of the same plants that we were planning to use last year, but the hedges will have fruits instead of flowers for example.
“The colour scheme is zingier and the planting plans have changed, but it will still be super-naturalistic and pollinator friendly. There’s quite a woodlandy feel with birches and ferns, also cephalaria, crataegus, guelder rose and scabious.”
The overall aim of the show garden is to promote good soil and organic gardening, but Sarah is very much about providing the ideas and letting people take away from it what they want to – rather than preaching what to do with unrealistic expectations. “Going totally organic can be overwhelming, and it’s not practical to expect people to change everything at once. We do what we can do, and people can hopefully take a piece of that away with them if they want to,” she says.
The garden also promises elements of fun, with laser lights for when the sun goes down, plus an egg-shaped pod made from steambent oak hanging over water. This will be relocated to the Yeo Valley Organic Garden near Blagdon when the show is over. For opening times and to book, visit yeovalley.co.uk n • ellyswellies.co.uk; Instagram: @ellyswellies1
Plant of the month: Anemanthele lessoniana
Also known as pheasant’s tail grass, this ornamental evergreen is great for adding movement and structure to a border all through the seasons, with its arching, graceful habit and strappy leaves in shades of green, orange and gold. In late summer the flower heads appear in feathery sprays and the leaves take on more redorange tones. Plants prefer a sunny spot and well-drained soil, but also grow well in partial shade. Grow them in swathes through a large border, or dotted around a gravel garden. Comb out dead leaves in spring to make way for fresh new growth. If they start to look a bit straw-like after a few seasons, the whole plant can be cut back in spring or summer. This grass self-seeds readily, but the new seedlings are easy to pull out where they’re not wanted.
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