Girls Gardening in France: September

"We never know the worth of water till the well is dry"

- Thomas Fuller, 1732

A welcome sight on another hot afternoon

We did think that once August was over we'd be able to enjoy the relative coolness of September... but not this year, apparently!

High daytime temperatures have continued into another week; our 'run-off' well and the rain butt have both been dry for some time; now there's no choice but to turn on a tap and use the watering system occasionally.

At least our nights have been comparatively cool so the plants have a chance to recover, and early morning provides our best chance of doing some gardening.

Hot weather always brings out a few interesting insects and we admired this attractive and furry Oak Eggar moth resting in a window recess.

Brimstone butterfly feeding
on hardy plumbago

The pale yellow butterfly on the right is a frequent visitor in September, drawn to the hardy plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) and other blue flowers.

My book tells me that such a "buttery yellow fly" may have been the inspiration behind calling these fluttery creatures butterflies.

(As this fellow appears green in some lights, it may in fact be a Cleopatra rather than a Brimstone... they're hard to tell apart!)

Herb bed with flowering hyssop and salvia

On the left of this picture are the cloudy pink heads of Sedum 'Matrona', which we've found to be one of the best sedums for attracting bees and hoverflies. (Its fleshy stems and leaves can look untidy, so perhaps it's not best at the front of the border.)

The rosemary you see here on the mid-right (above) is one we grew from a cutting and Christina is keeping it carefully trimmed to form a columnar shape. As we're unable to grow cypress trees here, I'm keen to find out just how tall she can get it :-)

Silvery foliage of Cerastium tomentosum and Dianthus plumarius

Plants with silver leaves withstand dry conditions very well, although they'll produce more flowers with the occasional drop of water.

We also discovered that lavenders planted in semi-shade will bloom a couple of months later than usual and their nectar seems to be much sought after by butterflies visiting us now in late summer.

Hibiscus flowering with heleniums
and rudbeckia

Hibiscus is another plant whose flowers can be delayed when it's sited in a shady area.

We were drawn to this variety with white petals, blotched with a maroon centre, and took some seedlings from a friend's garden. (It's a plant which sets seed easily, particularly in sandy soil.)

White blooms always stand out well in dark corners; here they make a bright contrast with the ubiquitous autumn tones of orange and yellow.

Our other more mature hibiscus shrubs are practically trees now, sited in the front south-facing garden, and have all but finished flowering.

Salvia farinacea 'Fairy Queen'

Another plant which is performing well in semi-shade is this little Salvia farinacea from Chiltern Seeds which I sowed on a window sill at the end of March. When in bud, the stems look just like emerging spikes of lavender, but they soon open out into pretty blue and white flower heads.

Hydrangea 'Early Sensation' with
Japanese anenomes

Hydrangeas have suffered from the intense afternoon heat but we've tried to help them by putting a layer of leaf-mould around their roots.

They definitely prefer a shady area and we took care to plant them below the tall barn wall where other shrubs might find it difficult to thrive. As the soil is very chalky there, we occasionally have to water in some Sequestrene (chelated iron) to stop their leaves from turning yellow.

Anenome japonica 'Honorine Jobert' also does well in this border and looks rather fetching amongst the fading pinkish blooms of Hydrangea 'Early Sensation'.

Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Chinese Fountain Grass' with Rudbeckia hirta

Grasses, of course, blend happily with almost any flower, diffusing and enhancing the bold colours of popular 'prairie plants' such as rudbeckia and echinacea.

Maybe I'm biased because I love the effects of filtered light when I photograph the garden, so I wouldn't be without some kind of ornamental grass even though it can take up valuable space and look quite boring for much of the year!

Sunny rudbeckia with Salvia 'Black & Blue', Catananche caerulea,
Caryopteris clandonensis and Verbena rigida

Christina enjoys picking a few seasonal blooms to decorate the table and I particularly liked this combination of yellow and blue - plus a bit of mauve from the verbena.