My gardening diary
MONDAY The Hydrangea petiolaris that covers the east-facing wall of our co age is beautiful all year – shaggy, cinnamon-coloured bark in the winter, exciting green shoots in spring followed by charming lacecap flowers, and right now it’s a pre y picture.
TUESDAY Michaelmas daisies make this season their own. They’re ‘short day’ plants, needing a continuous period of darkness before their flowers can develop. As the days get shorter they burst into bloom. Favourites here are those close to the species. This year aster ‘Harrington’s Pink’ is be er than ever, shoulder-height stems laden with slightly raggedy, pink daisies.
WEDNESDAY We’ve tried growing rowan trees from seed several times but with li le success. Although we occasionally find self-sown seedlings it would be lovely to grow a batch of saplings – after all we’ve got a field to fill! Stratification should help – mixing with damp Vermiculite, having soaked the berries overnight, then subjecting them to cold temperatures.
THURSDAY Neil managed to persuade our one and only grapevine to survive – its history is complicated and at times it’s been touch and go, but this year it produced three bunches of grapes. They’re small and fragrant, it’s a Muscat variety but, since it was given to us long ago, we don’t know which one. Neil made grape jelly – wish you could taste it, but there’s not enough to go round!
FRIDAY The last of the nasturtium flowers weren’t deadheaded but allowed to turn themselves into seed. We grew one called ‘African Queen’, with dark leaves and vivid orange-red flowers, but even more exciting was an individual seedling with almost black
flowers – we’re definitely taking care of its seeds!
SATURDAY Many of the plants used to provide flowers for Alice’s wedding will continue through until the frosts. Calendulas in brightest orange and palest cream produce scores of blooms, especially if they’re deadheaded assiduously. It has a very special aroma too, and was once used in stews and soups, hence its country name of ‘pot marigold’.
SUNDAY There are several miscanthus in the garden, but one in particular that we use over and over again. Miscanthus ‘Flamingo’ has to be one of the most beautiful, scoring top marks. It makes a neat, compact plant. Dainty, silver-veined foliage eventually yields tight-packed flower heads, shaking themselves free until they’re transformed into open panicles of coppery pink with a silken sheen.