Ripeness is golden
This ripe and bountiful month provides a really fresh dewy feel, often to both ends of the day.
Sunflowers epitomise the month well, with their huge golden flowers – giving way to huge golden brown seed heads, which provide a feast for birds.
Hydrangeas display their blooms without protest way into autumn en masse and fit in well to almost any garden. They look at their best underneath the house windows of a front garden.
Butterflies will flutter by in droves around hazy blue Buddleias. These spray out most effectively above the opening pinkish-red panicles of Sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Glory’ which also provides nectar for butterflies.
Patio containers boast double-flowered Begonias, which excel in the cooler damp conditions of shortening day-length. However, their tropical charm really is hard to beat.
Other containers can now be started with Cyclamen and Violas, for autumn displays.
Exciting new projects can also now begin, such as preparing borders for planting new shrubs and herbaceous subjects for the next season, and indeed for some forthcoming winter interest.
Watch the Buddleias soar
BUDDLEIAS are popular shrubs, which add height and delicacy to any mixed border. Their pleasant grey foliage has a silvery sheen, especially in spring.
The real attraction is their display of pointed inflorescences, which have a gentle sweet fragrance. Bees and butterflies find them irresistible, as they provide plenty of nectar right through into autumn.
The usual colour is blue or purple, although whites and pinks are available. ‘Globosa’ produces rounded shaped amber – orange blooms, which are just as attractive to wildlife.
Buddleias are easy to grow, thriving in any soil in sun or partial shade. They even self- seed quite readily, and are to be seen on many a railway embankment, as well as on waste land – even growing from old walls. The seedlings are usually pulled up and disposed of in gardens though – as they tend to revert back to the wild, ordinary blue type, which grows to many feet in height and width.
At the other end of the scale, there are some new dwarf hybrids available with very silvery leaves and more vivid blooms – these suit a smaller garden well.
VIOLAS are indispensable in any garden, as they flower profusely for many months of the year – if not virtually all the year round. They are particularly useful for planting in autumn containers alongside hardy Cyclamen and Gaultheria, and will all brighten your patio until Christmas or afterwards.
iolas are available in all colours of the rainbow, and self seed readily enough to bring unexpected pleasures around the garden, as new or interesting shades spring up.
They are easy to grow in most situations, as long as the soil stays reasonably moist. Patio containers suit them well, as these plants are fond of company. They look particularly superb in an old, or weathered, terracotta container.
How about a funky mop-head?
HYDRANGEAS are extremely versatile and perennially popular.
They form well-shaped domes of colour provided by large heads of bloom.
These come in shades of blue, ranging through purple to pink, and white is available too. Hundreds of varieties are available and the interest is not just restricted to the popular mop-heads or lace-caps.
Some varieties have attractive winter bark, and many have superb autumn foliage colour.
Generally, Hydrangeas need moisture-retentive soil and regular feeding.
They tend to perform best in part or dappled shade, in a deep well-drained soil that has had lashings of compost dug into it.
Why not take a trip to shrub-urbia?
IF YOU have a spare area in which you could do with keeping as a low maintenance plot, why not consider creating a modern shrub border.
The once-popular style is making a comeback, but with many new and exciting plants including Phormiums and ornamental grasses.
Japanese plants, such as Acers, Choisyas, Pieris, Aucubas (spotted laurel) and bamboo (traditionally Chinese) will all add the backbone to the border, whereas smaller shrubs such as Hebes, Potentilla and Euonymous will add a low mounds of colour punctuated by the grasses.
Any gaps near the front can be effectively filled with Hostas and Heucherias which are herbaceous but fit in well.
Sunny side up
SUNFLOWERS provide a sunny face of yellow to the back of any border and, as they fade, the birds will have a feast on the seedheads.
In the process, those seeds that fall may germinate again next spring – encourage this by sprinkling a layer of compost over them.
Alternatively, they can be collected and dried and stored in an air-tight container ready for next year.
It can be de-Sept-ive
SEPTEMBER is expected to be a generally warm and dry month with a good deal of sunshine. However, the last week or so may prove to be more autumnal with cooler north-westerly winds bringing bands of rain or showers along with chillier nights.
Tales of the unexp-Oct-ed
IN OCTOBER we celebrate our 50th, and last, edition of Bloomin’ Great. However, we have a re-launch in store, and plenty more gardening reading! More will be revealed next month! Meanwhile, we enjoy autumn foliage provided, surprisingly, by Hostas, and by taller plants such as Azalea Mollis.
See you next month!
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