The dahlias which flowered so late last year, thwarted repeatedly by the slugs and snails, are in full sail.
The penstemons, coreopsis and salvias are looking their absolute best and some of the hardy geraniums including Rozanne are still putting on a great show.
Ornamental grasses including several Miscanthus and Calamagrostis have reached their full height with lovely breezy flowers, while hollyhocks and sunflowers are in competition with them for the tallest plants right now.
Coreopsis penstemon (Image: Norfolk School of Gardening) Pheasant grass flowers (Anemanthele lessoniana) are looking fantastic, but we are wary of letting them set seed because we will be overwhelmed with self-seeders next year, so in the coming days we will comb out the flowers with our fingers, leaving the lovely, varied blades of grass to do their thing through the autumn and winter.
We made it back into the winter garden to cut the Lonicera nitida hedge and have pruned the large bays in the small, fenced garden.
They have been quite neglected recently and look so much better now that they are better shaped and slightly slimmer – giving the surrounding plants more space and light.
The moles have been very active in this area.
Tomato heart (Image: Norfolk School of Gardening) Every time we water a droopy plant they seem to create a network of surface tunnels, presumably in search of worms, which disturb the roots of other plants and make the ground very unstable, especially in this dry weather.
Over in the veg garden we have all of our tomatoes in either the polytunnel or two of the Rhino greenhouses.
They are flourishing in the strong sunshine and there is no sign (yet) of blight.
We sowed about 15 varieties and even though we tried to resist sowing many seeds of each, we, as ever, ended up with a lot of plants and now a bumper harvest.
I’m not complaining.
Lots of tomato salads, some delicious gazpacho, tomatoes in lots of recipes and a freezer increasingly full of tomato sauce for the winter.
There will undoubtedly be many jars of green tomato chutney in a couple of months, but in the meantime we are hoping for lots more sweet, sun-ripened fruit.
Miscanthus and Calamagrostis (Image: Norfolk School of Gardening) Cucumbers have been a bit hit and miss this year, maybe suffering from the extreme heat, and in some cases being overwhelmed early on by red spider mite, but we have one prolific plant.
Chillies and aubergines are doing well in the polytunnel and our main challenge is keeping up with the watering as the rain continues to steer clear of this part of the country.
It’s great to see plants which really love the hot summer.
These are some of the first courses next term which have spaces available.
Let us know if you’d like to join us:
· Introduction to Garden Design – 11th September
· Certificate in Practical Horticulture – 12th September
· Advanced Practical Gardening – 17th September
· Plants for Free – 24th September
· Border Renovation – 1st October
Bistorta amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ (Image: Norfolk School of Gardening) Plant of the Week
Bistorta amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ (formerly Persicaria) is a stunning, long flowering perennial.
It has long, slender spikes clustered with tiny, fluffy, crimson-red flowers which rise from mid-summer to early autumn above semi-evergreen, lance-shaped, mid-green leaves.
It is clump-forming and vigorous, quickly making dense ground cover in sun or partial shade.
Plant ‘Firetail’ in bold swathes to add vertical interest in the border right through till mid-autumn and give it plenty of space.
Bees and other insects love it but, as we saw last year, slugs and snails do not!
Contact us via www.norfolkschoolofgardening.co.uk or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Comments are closed.