Wealden Times | WT187 | September 2017 | Education supplement inside

Garden
The show can go on!
Jo Arnell looks into glorious late summer colour
Late summer and the gardening should be easy. There are still
plenty of flowers around, joined now by grasses, seedheads and
fruits. It could all be peachy out there, but equally it could
all be over, or at best, be looking a little careworn and scrappy. I’m
always full of enthusiasm back in the spring and the garden centres
are stocked with plants that are about to flower. It can be hard to
find late flowering plants – and the end of the summer is a distant
thought. Many gardens are, or just end up being at their flowery best
in June when all the cottage garden lovelies are in full swing – and
then they seem to pack up and the garden reverts to green (perhaps
speckled with some ubiquitous orange Crocosmia) – just when we
are spending lots of time outside. Our autumns are getting longer
and warmer too, so we could be enjoying the garden for months
yet. If you’d like to be surrounded by colour until Christmas,
there are masses of good plants to choose from for a late display
– and ways of prolonging the show into autumn and beyond.
Daisy daisy
Daisies are a big group of plants in the Asteraceae family and
each flower is actually a collection of tiny flowers, which is why
they are so popular with butterflies and bees; lots of nectar can be
accessed from one place, saving flying time. The flower heads make
convenient landing platforms too, with their wide centres and
sturdy stems. The daisies that bloom in late summer and autumn
are the Rudbeckias, Echinaceas, Asters and Heleniums. The range
of colours are suitably sultry, verging on autumnal – shades of dusky
pink, mellow oranges, russet and mahogany, with splashes of
Keeping the show on the road
• Deadhead regularly to stop flowers going
to seed and the plants thinking that their
job is done. This is especially important
with annuals like Cosmos and Nicotiana,
as they only live for one season.
• Feed container plants as the food in the
compost only lasts for 6 weeks. Fertiliser high
in Potash will keep the flowers coming.
• Try to choose plants that have a good
overall shape, interesting foliage, berries
or stems to continue the interest into
winter, even just those that ‘die’ gracefully
will bring something extra to the party.
• Help the soil retain moisture and
prevent weeds growing by applying
a mulch in the spring.
• Choose plants that flower for a long period
– Geranium ‘Rozanne’, Verbena bonariensis
and Gaura ‘Whirling Butterflies’ flower
continuously from June until the frosts.
• Check flowering times when buying
plants and make sure there are plenty
of late bloomers in your basket…
159 wealdentimes.co.uk