Tips

“Petite Butterfly” and its taller relative Polygala myrtifolia “Purple Butterfly” and Tecoma capensis “Apricot”, orange-red crocosmia and apricot gazania. Another colour option could be blue agapanthus, plumbago and felicia with pink anisodontea and diascia.

Plant beans, beetroot, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, melon, radish, tomatoes and squash. Plant a few lettuce seedlings at a time, and harvest while young and succulent. Summer lettuce is best grown by direct sowing of seed, and if the soil is kept moist and the lettuce harvested early, they won’t bolt or have a bitter taste.

Plants benefit from a deep, once-aweek watering rather than from daily spraying, which encourages roots to remain near the surface and dry out.

Hydrangeas produce a long-lasting display in summer of white, pink, blue and mauve flowers that fade when left on the bush to antique shades. They need regular and thorough watering, particularly on hot days. Hydrangeas are long lasting as cut flowers, provided they are picked when the flower heads are mature.

PLANT shrubs such as polygala.