Issue 12 - August 2002
BOLD, GOLD AND NOT COLD
(Well, so I’m told!!!)
AUGUST is a magical month - many plants flower with a new found vibrancy and even a newly created garden displays maturity at this time of year.
Ornamental grasses are at their best, double Begonias begin to glow as the evenings dampen and shadows stretch a little longer.
Nevertheless it is still mid-Summer and many of your cottage garden plants, containers and baskets are awash with colour and there is also a sense of a second Spring as Michaelmas Daisies and Autumn Sedums prepare themselves for their early ‘Fall’ show.
Later in the month is a time to think even further about Christmas, as prepared Hyacinth bulbs can be planted in pots of bulb fibre compost and kept as cool as possible - in the fridge if you have room!
There is so much to enjoy in the garden this month and when you are sitting outside on a warm evening, maybe after a barebecue - it really does feel like the Summer is never going to end.
Make the most of it!
(Paul Tovey)
SOW WHAT?
SEEDS of Pansies, Bellis, Sweet Williams and Wallflowers should be sown as soon as possible in pots or trays of compost positioned in a shady corner of the garden.
They will germinate quickly and then can be transplanted into small pots or a nursery bed for a few weeks until their final Autumn positions are determined for that major Spring show next year.
Keep those young darlings watered in those potentially vicious hot spells.
Also, keep them fairly well shaded.
THE CHOICE IS PLANTASTIC!
ONCE again, it’s been hard to decide which plant to have as my plant of the month - so, like July, I have decided to have a top five plants for August:
1. Rudbeckia - Chocolate brown centres and amber petals.
2. Hydrangea - Huge heads of pink, blue or white.
3. African Marigolds - Golden pom poms to ‘cheer you on.’
4. Thunbergia - A climber with yellow, black centred flowers.
5. Gladioli - Huge spikes of vibrant blooms in all colours.
THE CLOUDS OF
LIGHTNING HAVE A SILVER LINING
AUGUST will begin hot at times but rather unsettled and thundery in character! From the second week it looks generally drier with a cooler northerly influence.
After mid-month, there looks like being a prolonged spell of fine sunny weather with some quite hot days to be enjoyed.
LET’S GO TOP-LESS
CLIMBING Hydrangeas finish flowering and can be cut back but not from the top. Reduce the thicknes, not the height. Don’t be too vicious when pruning these; the leaves have wonderful Autumn golden colour.
Tovey's Tips:
MAKE SURE YOU GET A-HEAD!!!
Keep de-heading all of your bedding plants; don’t just remove the old flower head, but remember to snap off the seedpod - petunias are a prime example. The result is more abundant blooms and you should feed, feed, feed! It will give you fine flowers throughout the Summer.
HOW HAVE YOU BEAN?
RUNNER beans are often plagued by blackfly. Each time you do the washing up - don’t empty the bowl in the sink. Throw it over your beans and the suds will wash those aphids away.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
FOR Christmas Day blooms, plant paper white Narcissus now.
See you next month!
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