Sweet peas get a boost by layering
Grows a huge variety of spring bulbs in his Northern Ireland garden.
The weather has been mixed with sunshine and showers, some of which were heavy. Over the years I’ve selected flowers that show some resistance to this sort of damage. The sweet pea plants were layered just over a week ago as they’d reached the top of their 2m (6ft 8in) supports. They were lowered to about 45cm (18in) and the flower stems removed. This rests the plant – and new flowers were out a week later. Thinking ahead, I’ve sown
seed of parsley and two different violas. These should give sturdy
plants before the cooler winter weather arrives. In the veg patch, the early potatoes (‘Pentland Javelin’) are finished and I’m now harvesting the second early potatoes (‘Kestrel’). The late potatoes (‘Valor’) won’t be mature until mid September. The pea and broad bean pods will be ready to use in the next few days.
Calabrese, grown from seed, are cropping heavily. I find these much easier to grow than cauliflower and I hope they’ll provide a second crop from sideshoots after the main curd has been removed. Later-flowering perennials are now in full flower. Despite my attempts to remove it, crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ is putting on a good show, in competition with a large
pampas grass, and will likely get a reprieve! Double delphiniums,
from cuttings rooted last spring, are now in flower.
The agapanthus grown on from a small plant has produced five flowering stems this year. Lavender
grows well on my sandy, coastal soil. When the flowers go
over, I’ll remove the flowering stems and take some cuttings.
The geraniums (both Zonal and Regal) have been flowering from early summer. I’ll take some cuttings from them as these
will give well-established small plants that are easy to overwinter in the greenhouse.
My lovely pink fuchsia has been flowering from early summer and I’ll also root a few cuttings from it in case we get a really hard winter. Dahlias are also coming into full flower. Attention must be given to tying in new growth to the supports, deadheading old flowers and disbudding the larger-flowering varieties.
Tall tree lilies are opening their flowers at a height of just under 2m (6ft 8in). Just as well they’ve strong, thick stems! Small-flowered gladioli have overwintered outside successfully and are now flowering. The begonia tubers that I was late in starting have come into flower with their yellow-orange picotee blooms. Hopefully their late start will result in flowers keeping going into early autumn.
A plant-packed suburban London garden that’s accessible all year.
With the pressure off, and everything flowering at full tilt, it’s been a matter of gentle maintenance. Salvias and roses need constant deadheading at the moment to keep them flowering. Patio displays are abundant so regular feeding and watering is the order of the day.
I’ve had more time to spend on the allotment, tidying up the strawberry bed, harvesting kilos of blackberries and bringing home armfuls of dahlias. French beans and runners have all come at once so are being shared with family and neighbours, main crop potatoes are abundant and sweetcorn ripening steadily.
Indoor tomato production has been very disappointing as ivy has stealthily smothered the greenhouse roof and blocked out most of the light. Surprisingly though, the cucumbers don’t seem to mind.
I’ve started taking cuttings. I’m hoping that a recommended 30/70 mix of Vermiculite and multi-purpose compost will be more effective potting medium. Sambucus ‘Black Lace’ and ‘Sutherland Gold’ will be first, and shrubby salvias next.
I’ve still managed to heel in one or two more perennials to prolong the flowering season into October, and Ricinus communis and the larger salvias, S. involucrata and S. confertiflora, are only just into their stride.
The most admired plant on our open day at the end of July was coleus ‘Campfire’, which I’ve used extensively in the patio displays. The cannas have grown into giants and are in full flower. Shrubby salvias in deep purple, apricot and peach are a perfect complement to the pastel-coloured roses.
The island prairie bed has come into its own, dominated by towering thalictrum, Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Fascination’, eupatorium and miscanthus grass. Among the grasses, bidens ‘Hannay’s Lemon Drop’ caused quite a stir on open day, too, as visitors were surprised that it’s a perennial, and a rampant one at that! Tasselled sanguisorba ‘Lilac Squirrel’ alongside persicaria ‘Painter’s Palette’ made a lovely combination.
Two crocosmias, ‘Emberglow’ and a new variety, ‘Jackanapes’, are very eye-catching. Don’t know what I’ve done differently, but it’s the first time I’ve managed to get the smaller crocosmias flowering two years running, I usually get masses of leaves but no flowers.
Our open day was the most successful yet, raising £1,320 for the NGS. We welcomed more than 200 visitors, served over 100 home-made teas and ran out of cake an hour before the end!