Wealden Times | WT186 | August 2017 | Wedding supplement inside

Garden
KITCHEN
GARDEN
WEEK
Above: Plume poppy (Macleaya cordata)
Try the Cup and Saucer plant, Cobaea scandens, Black-eyed
Susan (Thunbergia alata) or Spanish Flag (Ipomoea lobata).
Annual impact
Tender annuals need to be sown under cover in early spring
and kept in a frost free place until it’s safe to plant them out
in the garden. They grow quickly – many will be flowering
by June and, because setting seed for the next generation is
their only aim in life, if regularly deadheaded they will keep
on flowering until the first frosts. Reliable favourites like
Cosmos (try a gorgeous bright pink one called C. ‘Dazzler’),
Tithonia, Antirrhinum and Nicotiana will ensure that any gaps
in the border will be packed full of colour for the summer.
Late summer dazzlers
Whites and pastels can look insipid and dull in the sunny parts
of the garden; the colour bleaches away and looks wishy-washy
in strong light. Perhaps it’s something to do with the change
in light at this time of the year, or the stillness of August, when
nothing seems to happen, that makes me want to shake things
up and cause a stir in the borders. Or is it the holiday mood/last
hurrah that makes me relax and enjoy the clash of hot colours
around now: a searing pink Dahlia next to a clear bright orange
Tithonia? Why not? Or lime green Nicotiana, even a bright
yellow daisy (‘surely not yellow?!’ I hear you cry) up against the
deep burgundy leaves of Cotinus coggygria, or Heuchera ‘Plum
Pudding’? Clashtastic! Dahlias, Fuchsias, Rudbeckias and Cosmos
will happily put on a carnival of colour and will last for ages if
deadheaded regularly. Jazz it up and let the brash blooms abound.
It is exciting playing with colours and leaf shapes,
whether that’s in the garden borders or a few containers
on the patio. Our seasons seem to be changing and the
summer and early autumn stays warm for longer now,
extending the time we can spend outside. So we can stay
in holiday mood, throw caution and colour co-ordination
onto the compost heap; let’s make a jungle out there.
Celebration
of the kitchen garden; ‘From The
Garden’
cookery book, based on Pashley, on sale
Also…
lilies & herbaceous borders in bloom
Ticehurst TN5 7HE 01580 200888
pashleymanorgardens.com
Also… gorgeous lilies & herbaceous borders in
PashleyManorWT186.indd 1 17/07/2017 09:57
Garden Design & Planting Plans
Contact Jo for gardening courses, border planting and
advice: 01233 861149 jo@hornbrookmanor.co.uk
Kate Ball
Individual and bespoke garden spaces
07870 627145
www.kateballgardendesign.co.uk
135 wealdentimes.co.uk
KateBallWT186.indd 1 11/07/2017 15:32