Late Summer

"Only with absolute fearlessness can we slay the

dragons of mediocrity that invade our gardens."

- George Lois

Harvesting continues to attract birds and other wildlife

Distinctly mixed weather for the remainder of August and, because it has tended to be on the cool side, I've continued to sow seeds and put in a few new plants for next year.

"Is there anything worth growing apart
from catmint?"

In this endeavour I've not been greatly assisted by Couscous, who has now decided that my zinc-topped potting bench gives him a nice warm perch for the evening!

Luckily he leaves the actual seedlings alone and saves his enthusiasm for jumping out and batting me when I'm trying to do some weeding in the border.

Amongst the seeds I'm starting are a new batch of hollyhocks (Antwerp Mixed) which might seem odd, given that they grow all over the place locally and you can easily collect seed. 

But I've done that for several years now and feel the need for some "new blood", especially if they turn out to be more snail-resistant. Rust isn't so much of a problem here but molluscs can do a lot of leaf-munching over the course of the season and I hate any plant to look ratty, even if it's just for planting in the verge outside.

Salvia horminum grown from seed

Other more unusual seeds include Sanguisorba menziesii, Lysimachia atropurpurea 'Beaujolais' and Bupleurum rotundifolium 'Garibaldi' which I selected with an eye to Piet Oudolf's recommendations for prairie-style planting.

It may take at least one season to evaluate whether any of these will be successful in our type of garden and sometimes you need to try out a plant in more than one location.  The Salvia horminum above, for instance, seemed to get lost when grown in its pink and white forms; but the one with velvety- purple bracts is definitely to be encouraged and seems to be doing well under the olive tree and mixed with other low-growing herbs.

Scabious caucasica
'Fama Deep Blue'

This Scabious caucasica proved harder to grow as it needs quite a rich soil but the intense violet-blue colour of the flowers is well worth the added effort required for cultivation.

It normally blooms in early Summer but perhaps the added rainfall this year has encouraged it to produce a few more flowers now in September - and that late season colour appears to be stronger than ever.

Trying out different varieties - whether grown from seed or purchased at plant fairs - is by far the best way to slay those "dragons of mediocrity"!

Verbena bonariensis with
Cosmos sulphureus

With the sun dipping ever lower in September, take advantage of the extremely bright light at either end of the day and sit where you can enjoy backlit flowers of cosmos and verbena, in addition to those indispensable grasses like stipa and pennisetum.

Much as we love this style of prairie planting, as advocated by the likes of Messrs Oudolf and Gerritsen, in practice we don't leave our stems to provide winter interest because they would simply generate thousands of seedlings to overwhelm us in spring!

Birds have more than enough food to feast on in surrounding meadows and frost rarely decorates our borders in that classic way of English gardens, so we take whatever seeds we need as soon as they appear and chop down most of the herbaceous plants as their flowering declines.

The exotic Diplandenia given to
us by a generous guest and
putting on its second flush
of pink blooms

When you first live here, it's exciting to grow a few exotics like citrus fruit and bougainvillea, which can sit outside happily for 8 months of the year - and perhaps longer in a very sheltered spot.

But December to March can bring short spells of both frost and ice, not to mention freezing winds, which quickly kill off any unprotected plants that are unreliable at temperatures below -10'C.

We've reined-in the number of semi-tropical things which we over-winter inside the house, otherwise there's a risk  of red spider mite infestations or scale insects if it's too warm, and unsightly amounts of leaf-drop if it's too cold.

Those with plenty of land can opt for a heated greenhouse, but on the whole we've found a cold frame is adequate for seedlings and cuttings. One advantage of having a lettings property is that, when necessary, we can use it as extra plant-housing in winter: I think that's where the "dipla-doodah" pictured above will find its home in a couple of month's time!

Argiope bruennichi -
the scarily efficient orb weaver spider

Talking of insects, I'm glad to say we don't have to put up with many in the house due to careful insulation and the use of mozzie blinds in summer. But outside is a different matter and I'm always fascinated by these Orb Weaver spiders which produce characteristic zig-zag lines of silk between plants. There's nothing worse than blundering into its web by mistake and getting caught in the sticky threads.

Common blue feeding
on a salvia flower

We haven't had such a diversity of butterflies this year, maybe because of the wet spring; but one of my favourites has just returned and I can't resist including a photo even though it's nothing more exciting than the so-called Common Blue.

Although quite small by butterfly standards, its colours are just magical: the male sports contrasting blues on both his upper and underwing, whereas the female has more brown on her upperwing. Fabulous.

Looks like summer is all rolled-up...

Evening border with yellow Rudbeckia hirta, Sedum,
Verbena bonariensis, Cosmos sulphureus and
white Gaura lindheimeri