My Gardening View #28

My gardening view this month is decidedly brown despite the recent rain. Gardening on sandy soil means the heatwave has been particularly tricky. However, there are some successes among the disasters.

You know things are difficult when even the rugosa rose is struggling. Normally this is bomb-proof on my poor soil but this season’s extreme temperatures have challenged even this garden stalwart. It will recover – even if it looks a bit tatty at the moment.

Of course, some things have revelled in the heat and the usual suspects are looking good.

I wasn’t surprised to see echinops, catanache, salvia and perovsksia standing tall despite the very dry conditions. The campsis (top picture on this post) is also having its best year.

I hadn’t expected the gaura (now called oenothera) to cope as well as it has – it’s been a real star.

Naturally, not all the survivors are those you want to see. The heat hasn’t touched the bindweed or horsetail and my old foe saponaria is thriving. This is some I’d missed and it’s now flowering. A pretty plant but definitely one that should come with a warning (read about it and other danger plants here).

I’m planning a revamp of some borders this autumn as the dry summers are proving a problem. I will be planting more of these drought-tolerant things, including this rather lovely achillea – sent as a thank you gift from Thompson & Morgan #ad. I’ve got ‘Summer Berries’ and ‘Cerise Queen’ growing on in pots until they are bigger and the weather is a bit better for planting out.

I cut back this a few weeks ago as the dead flower stems were looking tatty and it’s rewarded me with a second flush of blooms. They’re a bit shorter than the first flowers but still very welcome.

After a slow start, the dahlias are now starting to bloom and I’m beginning to pick them for the house. I was late planting the tubers this year thanks to a trip to Italy (read about the lake gardens here) but they will keep going until the first frosts – hopefully late this year.

A surprise success is the brassicas. My soil really isn’t ideal for them but I like to try to grow a few. The sprouts are quite short but the cabbages are doing really well.

I’m particularly pleased with the cavolo nero. It was planted last year and did absolutely nothing. When the brassica cage was moved for this season – it’s essential thanks to the twin perils of cabbage white butterflies and resident hungry pigeons – the cavolo nero were still tiny plants. I considered composting them but decided to replant – they had two choices after all. To my amazement, they not only took, they thrived.

The greenhouses are starting to produce lots of tomatoes and we’ve got the first pepper and aubergine.

I also turned my back for a moment and got this. Marrow, anyone?

You can read about more of my gardening views here.

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