Colour for your July Garden

Sep 17, 2022 | 0 comments

Typically, we think of July as Summertime in Britain.  Hampton Court Flower Show, Wimbledon and The Proms all feature this month and are markers of a British Summer.  Then picture the quintessentially British Summer Garden and I bet you see beds of jumbled up Cottage Garden favourites, jostling with each other for space and competing with their colour!

Actually, July in the garden can be somewhat different!  It’s a bit of a green month; sometimes providing a bit of a lull between the fresh greens and colours of Spring and the more intense colours that come with those plants flowering in late Summer.  So, if you’re feeling a bit jaded in this heat and your garden is too here are some ideas for planting to pick you up in this July gap!

Lavender – the colour seems more intense than usual this month and I wonder if the dry weather is helping to lock in the colour and scent!  It typically likes dry conditions, not liking heavy clay soils and the potential for soggy roots!  Shear off the flowers after they have flowered and then shear again in the Spring to keep the bushes compact as they are prone to getting leggy and woody.
Hibiscus – the flowers on Hibiscus look so tropical but love the conditions in Britain.  It’s just getting going in July and will last into the Autumn.  Prefers a well-drained soil too and a hard prune in Spring.
Roses – Is it just me or have they been spectacular this year?  Whatever your favourite colour or scent you will find a Rose for you.  Just keep deadheading or picking them and they will flower for you all Summer long, if not year long!  Prune them over the Winter, removing anything that is dead, damaged or diseased and a 3rd of stems and they will thrive and flower for you.
Allium Sphaerocephalon – is the later flowering Allium and was all over the Flower Shows this year.  It’s a dark purple and tear dropped shaped and looks great planted through a border.  Remember to plant in groups of odd numbers for bigger visual impact but a great plant that even when the flowers have faded will leave a striking seedhead for you to enjoy for the rest of the year.
Yarrow (Achillea) can be spotted at this time if year with it’s flat topped umbels and feathery light green foliage.  It comes in a variety of colours, prefers well-drained soils but again gives you striking seedheads when the flowers have faded.  All you need to do is cut them down when they look too scruffy and wait for the flowers again next year.
The Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) is tough as old boots!  But produces the most beautiful flowers and (as its name suggests) the bees and the butterflies love it!  Cut it down every Spring so it doesn’t get out of hand and it will reward with you flowers and scent!

Just a few ideas to bring some colour to July.  Let me know what your favourites are.

Renée x

Flowers to make you change your mind about yellow!

Feb 20, 2019 | 0 comments

Early Spring seems to be the season of yellow: Daffodils, Winter Aconites, Primroses, Crocosus but lots of people have a thing against yellow flowers in their gardens, and I have to admit I was one of them!  I’m not sure why it is, perhaps yellow was unfashionable, a bi too ‘in your face’.  But  I think I was won over to yellow by orange!  It took me to yellow and I have started to love it now, especially with orange!!  Yellow also looks great with reds and blues and really zings infront of dark foliage or even a black fence!  Here are a few flowers that might win you over to yellow!

Primroses – Quite a delicate shade of yellow to get you started!  These hedgerow favourites are a great source of colour during Winter right through to Spring.  They selfseed really easily and so will multiply for you.  I love them planted in my gravel path, so they have a really natural look and once SApring is here you can transplant them to where you want so is the time of year to ask if you can have a couple from any rfiends with them in their garden!

Inula – This was a gift from a lady I gardened for.  Her garden was on the North Downs so very chalky and alkaline, I’m on very sandy soil which is rather neutral in acidity and most of my garden is quite shady.  These Inulas seem to love both conditions and from a couple of bits I dug up they have now formed a patch which flower from Summer through to Autumn.

Primrose

Inula

Mexican Satin Flower (Sisyrinchium striatum) – This perennial forms clumps of vertical sword-like leaves and in the summer straight stems shoot up with clusters of the tiniest pale yellow flowers.  It loves being in the sun on really well drained soil and is so delicate and gorgeous.

Rosa banksia ‘Lutea’ – A beautiful rambling rose with sprays of small double, deep yellow scented flowers in April and May. Pros: its thornless and great for covering an arch or pergola. Cons: it only flowers once!

Lupin ‘Chandelier’ – Lupins were all the rage last year at the Flower Shows and they come in a wide range of colours; some bright and gaudy but some a bit more toned down and pastelly.  I love this yellow Lupin with its geometric spire of flowers.  They like it sunny and look great in a border of other plants, and remember to deadhead once its looking scruffy as it may well flower again for you.

Sisyrinchium striatum

Rosa banksiae Lutea’

Lupin ‘Chandelier’

I hope that gives you some ideas, I’m almost certain that yellow makes us feel good, it does bring a smile, so have a go at injecting some sunshine into your garden!  Have a look at my board The Yellow Planting Edit on Pinterest for more inspiration.

Renée

x

Colour for your July Garden

Jul 19, 2018 | 0 comments

Typically, we think of July as Summertime in Britain.  Hampton Court Flower Show, Wimbledon and The Proms all feature this month and are markers of a British Summer.  Then picture the quintessentially British Summer Garden and I bet you see beds of jumbled up Cottage Garden favourites, jostling with each other for space and competing with their colour!

Actually, July in the garden can be somewhat different!  It’s a bit of a green month; sometimes providing a bit of a lull between the fresh greens and colours of Spring and the more intense colours that come with those plants flowering in late Summer.  So, if you’re feeling a bit jaded in this heat and your garden is too here are some ideas for planting to pick you up in this July gap!

Lavender – the colour seems more intense than usual this month and I wonder if the dry weather is helping to lock in the colour and scent!  It typically likes dry conditions, not liking heavy clay soils and the potential for soggy roots!  Shear off the flowers after they have flowered and then shear again in the Spring to keep the bushes compact as they are prone to getting leggy and woody.

Hibiscus – the flowers on Hibiscus look so tropical but love the conditions in Britain.  It’s just getting going in July and will last into the Autumn.  Prefers a well-drained soil too and a hard prune in Spring.

Roses – Is it just me or have they been spectacular this year?  Whatever your favourite colour or scent you will find a Rose for you.  Just keep deadheading or picking them and they will flower for you all Summer long, if not year long!  Prune them over the Winter, removing anything that is dead, damaged or diseased and a 3rd of stems and they will thrive and flower for you.

Allium Sphaerocephalon – is the later flowering Allium and was all over the Flower Shows this year.  It’s a dark purple and tear dropped shaped and looks great planted through a border.  Remember to plant in groups of odd numbers for bigger visual impact but a great plant that even when the flowers have faded will leave a striking seedhead for you to enjoy for the rest of the year.

Yarrow (Achillea) can be spotted at this time if year with it’s flat topped umbels and feathery light green foliage.  It comes in a variety of colours, prefers well-drained soils but again gives you striking seedheads when the flowers have faded.  All you need to do is cut them down when they look too scruffy and wait for the flowers again next year.

The Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) is tough as old boots!  But produces the most beautiful flowers and (as its name suggests) the bees and the butterflies love it!  Cut it down every Spring so it doesn’t get out of hand and it will reward with you flowers and scent!

Just a few ideas to bring some colour to July.  Let me know what your favourites are.

Renée x

Seeds to Sow in May for easy Summer Colour

Apr 9, 2018 | 0 comments

The seeds of Annuals can be bought in the supermarket, garden centre or high street homeware store for a couple of pounds a packet and they literally can provide hundreds of colourful flowers in just 1 packet!  Buy in May to sow outside straight away.  You’ll need to read the back of the packet to make sure you have the right ones but they include:

  • Love-In-A-Mist
  • Pot Marigold
  • Nasturtium
  • Poppy
  • Zinnia

Annuals are plants that complete their life cycle in 1 year.  Summer annuals grown from seed will produce flowers within 6-8 weeks of sowing, flower all summer and then the plant will usually die with the first frosts in the Autumn.  They are a great gap filler between shrubs and perennials; working really hard for you during the Summer putting on a great display.  They then do you a great favour!  Once the flowers fade they set seed which drops to the soil creating plants and flowers for you again next year!

It’s all in the preparation . . .

  1. Weed the area that you are going to sow to taking out anything you don’t want however big or small (it might not be that easy to weed for a few weeks as all seedling tend to lo the same!)
  2. If your soil is quite dry water it now so you don’t wash away the seeds when watering after sowing.
  3. Then rake over the area to break up the soil particles and give you a level area
  4. If you’re sowing several different types of seed, consider mixing them up to sow a random selection. Look at the expected heights to help you gauge.  I tend to mix two blends according to height and sow the taller plants at the back of the border and the smaller plants towards the front.

There are 2 different sowing techniques:

  • 1 is very random: you liberally sprinkle the seeds over your area with your fingers. Once sown gently rake the soil again to cover up the seeds.  It will be hard to distinguish your seedlings from weeds when they grow so this may not suit everyone!
  • 2 is more controlled: draw a line in the soil with your finger or a bamboo cane and sprinkle the seed along the groove you have made. This could be a straight line or a curved one.  Rake the soil back over the groove when sown.  When the seedlings appear you will see the line and know they are plants as opposed to weeds!

If it doesn’t rain you will need to water your seedlings in the coming weeks.  They should poke their heads out of the ground within a couple of weeks – if they are bunched up together in places thin them out by snipping the emerging stems off with scissors.  This gives the others more room to grow and doesn’t disturb their root growth.

You should see plants and flowers in 6- 8 weeks after sowing.  Deadhead the flowers with scissors or by pinching them off with your fingers throughout the summer to encourage the plant to flower some more.  Leave the flowers in place as we get to September though so you get your free seeds for next year!

Just have a go – it’s dead easy and kids love sowing seeds too and they also love seeing all the different sizes and shapes of seeds.  You can see a video of me showing the 2 sowing techniques here: