My Gardening View #22

Despite the recent heat, there’s a definite feel of autumn in my gardening view this week. Veg with a long growing season are finally heading towards harvest and the first of the leaves are beginning to turn.

Summer hasn’t quite released its grip though and there are still plenty of flowers – not least the dahlias, which after an unbelievably slow start are at last putting on a good show. There are a couple that I’m not convinced will flower before the first frost – I’m just hoping that will be late rather than early.

The standout flower so far is an outrageous pink and yellow bloom with a similarly striking name – ‘Pinkie Swear’. It’s one of the large dinner plate varieties, which are not normally my choice as I find them difficult in a vase, but that colour!

The real surprise is to be still picking sweet peas in September – definitely a first for me. I didn’t sow them any later (a job for early January here) and they’ve been grown in exactly the same way as usual (read about my method here). It can only be the cool, wet weather we had earlier that has kept them going – at least it was good for something.

Around half the plants have now given up but, because I grow so many, there are still plenty to pick.

The real success story is the new greenhouse. We put in a raised bed down one side as an experiment and it’s proved really good. Melon, aubergine, peppers, chillies and basil are romping away and doing far better than when I’ve grown them in pots.

The peppers are just beginning to change colour and we’ve harvested the first of the aubergine – I’m growing long varieties as well as the traditional oval aubergine.

Over winter, we’re going to put in a second raised bed down the other side ready for next year.

Outside, the squash are nearly ready to havest. I’ve grown several varieties this year, including ‘Uchiki Kuri’ up the veg garden arch. It’s a great way of maximising the space and helps to keep the fruit off the ground where they can rot.

We’ve been picking lettuce all summer and the next lot have gone into the ground (the makeshift guard is to protect them from the neighbourhood cats). If the weather gets colder before these are finished, I will put a cloche over them.

Inspired by a talk I went to at Exedra Nursery by the ‘Queen of Pots’ Harriet Rycroft (read my review of her book here), I did my summer pots slightly differently this year. The resulting display has been really good – and brightens up that corner of the patio.

Less welcome is a rather drastic change to my garden thanks to the attentions of the box moth caterpillar. It’s been around in our part of Gloucestershire for a couple of years but this season’s influx was the worst yet and my box bushes suffered badly.

I know the box isn’t killed by the caterpillar and will regrow, and that there are sprays and traps that can be used but, to be honest, life’s too short.

I waited after the attack last year and the bushes did grow back but there were weeks of them looking pretty ropey and they were even worse this season. So, out they came. Now I’ve got to decide what to replace them with, a decision made more tricky given last year’s cold winter that now means growing pittosporum and hebe is risky.

Meanwhile, my indoor pots have been given a boost with a new product I was sent to trial by Carbon Gold (note, this is a gifted item).

Biochar Houseplant Booster is an organic mix of biochar, mycorrhizal fungi, seaweed and wormcast that’s designed to make houseplants healthier by improving the soil’s microbiome.

We tried it out on ‘Clare’ – don’t ask! – a houseplant that I’ve had for many years. I’m hoping that the addition of some of the booster into the soil will give her a bit of a lift.

As we’re now nearly halfway through September, the sight of the hylotelephium (I still think of it as sedum) turning pink really shouldn’t be a surprise but I can’t quite believe how far through the year we are.

Autumn cyclamen are also popping up under trees and shrubs – such a great plant for those tricky areas.

And the first of the leaves are turning shades of red and yellow. My gardening view is definitely showing a shift in the seasons.

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