Summer shows its true colours
IT’S THE SEASON FOR RICH, WARM AND DAZZLING REDS, PINKS AND ORANGES
AUGUST in the garden can be a sizzling hot affair. Even if the weather doesn’t live up to expectations, the plants will dazzle with rich warm colours of red, pink and orange predominating.
Hanging baskets are glowing with neon violet petunias, scarlet geraniums, and peach, red and orange begonias, while borders are lit up with red hot pokers, radiant sunflowers and brightly coloured salvias. In my plot, garnet penstemon, purple osteospermums, red gerberas and pink cosmos add sunshine and cheer.
Perennials, annuals, bulbs, corms and tubers all play their part. Here are some of my favourites for high summer colour:
Tithonia rotundifolia ‘Torch’ is the Mexican sunflower, a halfhardy annual. The flowers are a glorious burst of orange which will brighten up the dullest summer day.
Reaching around 3-4ft, it will mingle in the borders, and flower freely until October. It also makes a good cut flower. Sow from seed in mid-spring.
Cannas really only come into their own in later summer, but they are worth the wait. Even before the tropical flowers emerge, the large jungle leaves provide bold form, and I love the bronzeleaved ones. Unless you are in a mild sheltered climate, the tubers need to be over-wintered somewhere frost-free. Planting in the ground allows them the room they need to grow, so if planting in a pot, make sure it’s a big one.
Lobelia tupa is also known as Devil’s tobacco and has very unusual rich red tubular flowers. It has handsome foliage as well – long elegant grey-green leaves – and stands tall at around 4ft. It likes a moist soil in a sunny garden where it will grow into a dramatic specimen each year. Cleome Violet Queen is an easy half-hardy annual that delivers plenty of colour – wonderful bright violet globes of dramatic, spidery flowers. Growing to around 4-5ft tall, planted en masse they can look like a really unusual shrub!
Deadhead regularly to encourage more flowers. The stems are a little sticky and spiny, so wear gloves when handling.
Alstroemeria Indian summer is a hardworking perennial that flowers profusely without being overdemanding as to its care. Yellow and orange flowers combined with purple-green foliage give it an exotic appearance, but it’s quite hardy in all but the coldest places – cover with a blanket of mulch to keep cosy for winter.
Crocosmia ‘Firebird’ is a superb variety with big red flowers. From South Africa, crocosmia love sunny, well-drained sites. That said, they will tolerate some shade and are giving me fantastic bright colour underneath the birch trees at the moment. I leave them in the ground over winter and they are multiplying well – but lift or protect in colder areas.
Osteospermums, or African daisies, are perky perennials, and I love the apricot-yellow-violet blossoms of ‘Purple Sun’. It’s compact and perfect for paving edging, front of borders, patio pots or rockeries in well-drained soil. It doesn’t like to dry out, so keep an eye on watering in the summer. It’s borderline hardy, so take cuttings now – cut a non-flowering shoot – to make sure you have some for next year.