Contrasts

"No subject is more beset with rules and taboos in

gardening than the use of colour" - Christopher Lloyd

Helenium autumnale

Late summer's mix of hot colours can bring about some interesting contrasts, not to mention outright clashes... 

Salvia greggii putting rudbeckias in the shade

Here in France people seem to love all shades of pink and it's not unusual to find municipal plantings where gaudy pinks shriek alongside bright yellows and oranges: Quelle horreur!

Christopher Lloyd probably would have approved, since he encouraged a daring mix of colour and shape in borders.

If anything, we found his garden at Great Dixter a little too over-stimulating on a boiling May afternoon some years ago. Whilst you can certainly get away with using lots of hot colour in the bright light of this southern climate, a garden also needs quieter passages of cool blue and white to soothe the eye.

Dried flowers of Catanache with
Geranium 'Azure Rush'

Geraniums are indispensible for filling up spare patches and they provide a soft edge to borders, being easy to cut back if they look like getting out of hand.

Every year we are tempted into buying yet another geranium to add to the collection and I've sadly lost track of many names and varieties, although we do make more effort to keep labels these days.

So I know for sure that two of the most prolifically flowering plants in our garden are 'Rozanne' (mauve) and 'Azure Rush', which is seen here. They will be worth dividing in early spring so that we can pop off-shoots into other semi-shaded corners.

A cool and airy shrub

Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora

Something else we were tempted into buying again was Hydrangea paniculata, after enjoying several floriferous years with the variety 'grandiflora' (above), which really is the grand-daddy of them all.

Along the same high barn wall, in semi-shade, we planted one called 'Early Sensation' whose white florets quickly become blotted with pink; and another called 'Limelight' with denser, cone-shaped blooms which have a distinctly greenish hue.

This summer all three came into flower at more or less the same time and really stand out against the stone wall. Whenever there's a storm, they benefit from heavy rain which pours onto them from the barn roof - alas our expensive guttering didn't extend that far, but luckily hydrangeas and ferns don't appear to mind!

Anenome hupehensis var. japonica
- possibly "Bressingham Glow'

Another plant which seemingly enjoys the odd downpour but otherwise survives in quite a dry, shady area is the Japanese Anenome.

They're well-suited to a woodland setting but can become invasive and we spent ages removing the spreading shoots of a pink type which had got mixed in with our beautiful white 'Honorine Jobert'.

However, we love the one on the right here which was obtained from a friend and stays within the confines of a buried pot. It looks similar to pictures I've seen of 'Bressingham Glow' but there do seem to be a range of stunning pinks on offer so I'm not entirely sure...

Complementary Colours

Physocarpus opulifolius with Rudbeckia

As well as imposing some contrast between plants, the shrub form of Sambucus nigra can echo certain hues of red, brown and purple.

It's a useful foil for many flowers but we had trouble finding one in a garden centre last year, finally settling on a stunted, unhappy bush called Physocarpus opulifolius which looked similar and was in the reject pile!

Physocarpus opulifolius

or Purple-leaved Eastern ninebark,
contrasting with Echinacea purpurea

Fortunately our nurturing has paid off and the sad little shrub grew steadily throughout spring, rewarding us with fabulous leaves and stems which really glow in early morning and evening light.

Cosmos sulphureus 'Polidor' mixed

Not so lucky were some of the Cosmos seedlings I planted out a couple of weeks ago to fill our gaps...!

It rained, and of course the snails came out in force to eat anything which looked particularly desirable. Like this sweet little bi-coloured flower from the Polidor range, grown from the Chiltern Seeds selection which I always recommend for their reliability.

I tend to grow 'extras' for insurance, so we still have several plants to mix in with the 'hot' colours of Rudbeckia and Helenium.

Lunch for two in the garden

Summer wouldn't be summer without moules marinieres...!

Butterflies by the Estuary

We came across a host of these exquisite butterflies whilst walking along the cliff edge on a hot sunny day.

I think they're nothing more exciting than the Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) but - as with geraniums - I have trouble telling all the various blues apart!

They have different colours and markings on the undersides of their wings, just to add to the confusion, and of course the males will be somehow distinguishable from the females. It's a real challenge to capture them on camera when they're busy flitting from sea holly to thistle, but here are two of my favourite pictures... of possibly the same butterfly.

A slightly ragged blue butterfly!

Profusion

"Going halfway, half-heartedly, will give less than

a quarter of the satisfaction"

- gardendigest.com

There are several reasons why we started growing perennials from seed instead of relying on local garden centres and the occasional horticultural event. 

Agastache mexicana 'Sangria'
Mexican hyssop

First and foremost, it's a way of finding new and unusual specimens, or variations on a plant which you've already used successfully in the past. For instance, I didn't know much about the herb hyssop - Agastche - until I read the colourful descriptions in Chiltern Seeds catalogue and realised there were at least fifteen varieties!

Having planted a couple of South American salvias which did well in this climate, we figured that exotic hyssops were definitely worth a try.  If anything, they're even more prolific and long-flowering than salvias and their tubular flowers are magnets for the nectar-thirsty hummingbird hawkmoth.

Beauty on a Budget

Rudbeckia ordinaire or Black Eyed Susan

Secondly, of course, it's relatively cheap to buy a packet of seeds and produce a dozen plants which can put on a spectacular show of colour within a few weeks. This is especially useful now when you need vivid splashes of Cosmos or Rudbeckia to fill gaps left by plants which have gone over.

We find garden centres here mainly stock the ordinary yellow rudbeckias, whereas we wanted something with a bit more 'oomph' that would really stand out from the crowd.

Rudbeckia hirta 'Autumn Forest'

Enter the wonderful Rudbeckia hirta strains offered by Chiltern Seeds in a range of rich yellows, reds and mahogany. We started with 'Prairie Sun', a fetching mix of yellow and green, and have recently tried some of the more autumnal colours which are in bloom now.

They're all characterised by a raised central boss which makes an interesting feature on its own, never mind those arresting bi-coloured petals.  The chocolate centre on this one has risen so beautifully that it could almost be a contender for Bake-Off... "a truffle fondant decorated with dark chocolate shavings and topped with a golden couronne".  Yum!

A cheerful medley of late Summer colour, including
red spots of Geum chiloense 'Mrs Bradshaw'

A third reason to raise stock from seed lies in the fact that many plants do better when acclimatised to your garden conditions from an early age, i.e. before they grow big and thirsty, which is how garden centres tend to sell them here.

We plant out most of our seedlings from 6cm or 7cm pots once they've established a firm root system, adding a bit of blood, fish and bonemeal to the soil if they're perennials.  (In France they sell 'hoof and horn' which presumably assists root development in the same way.)

Nicotiana alata 'Lime Green'
with emerging Sedum spectabile

I really enjoy the process of pricking out and potting up seedlings and have learned from experience that it's worth paying more for good quality compost - rather than run the risk of weak, straggly growth which might just put you off trying again.

A successful group of plants lined up on the potting table makes me feel like a proud parent - whereas I'm happy to give some away, Christina often wants to keep the whole lot and make a really big display!  (Greedy or what??)

Lasting Value

Oregano in bloom, along with
Dianthus gratianopolitanus

Some plants have more to give than others in terms of repeat flowering or a long-flowering period.

This summer we noticed that our Cheddar Pinks, planted in almost pure chalk, never really stopped flowering after the first blooms appeared in June. Pinks are happiest in full sun and seem to like growing here against the stone blocks of our herb bed.

We've also enjoyed a succession of flowers from Galega officinalis, which we've just cut down to give it a rest (and to access the shutters that needed repainting!) as well as Geum chiloense 'Mrs Bradshaw', who bloomed well in early summer and has continued to draw the eye with little dots of scarlet across our rear border.

Scarborough Fair -  still going!

Amongst the roses which come back well for a second flush is David Austin's yellow climber 'The Pilgrim' and my old favourite 'Scarborough Fair', seen here. (The latter makes a very pretty match with Sedum spectabile which is coming into bloom.)

Although the actual rose flowers may be smaller second time around, they're no less abundant and are fine for picking.

Among interesting plants I'd recommend Catanache caerulea because its mauve flowers morph into papery seed-heads and Lysimachia purpurea 'Beaujolais', whose maroon flower-spikes gradually turn into extremely spiky seeds!

Rosa 'No-name'

Way back in January, when there was very little to write about, I remarked on some local roses which were still blooming bravely... and I took three cuttings of a climber I particularly admired down at the port.

Out of those, one cutting actually survived - much to my surprise - and has now given us its first flower! I've yet to find out its name but am intrigued to see whether it will manage to produce a new bloom each month.

Once again, our acer has put on an early flush of red leaves, having decided that autumn is around the corner. 

It's starting to encroach on my work bench and will need transferring to a bigger pot this winter unless we can find a space to plant it out somewhere.

With a small garden, we're always being faced with these difficult decisions - and this tree has probably doubled in size over the past year.

'His Maj' enjoying an early-evening doze
next to a patch of perennial plumbago