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In the realm of primetime gardening in Britain, this season has been divided into two parts. As we reach the midpoint of summer, I like to reflect on what has transpired so far. The summer started off with a dry May, which caused concern among gardeners. There was a fear that we would experience a repeat of the extremely hot and prolonged summer of 2022. However, to our surprise, the heat remained in Europe, and we were blessed with ideal gardening weather: cool, wet, and rarely too sunny, with occasional cloud cover.
These weather conditions have had interesting effects on the plants. Typically, by August, even newly planted dahlias, grown from cuttings taken in the spring, would be in full bloom. However, mine have only just reached the stage of flower buds and a few partially opened petals. It’s remarkable how some of them survived the winter, even when left in the ground, but they are only now beginning to bloom as expected. To encourage flowers, give your dahlias a feed of diluted Tomorite, using two tablespoons per gallon of water. Make sure to stake the plants well, as the weight of the flowers can cause them to flatten.
I always dread a dry final week in May and a dry first week in June, as this is the time for planting summer bedding plants in Britain. Planting in hard, dry soil can be a difficult task. To make it easier, I recommend soaking the ground with a hose in the morning before planting in the cooler hours of the evening. Additionally, it is essential to dip the root balls of each plant in a bucket of water until the bubbles stop appearing. Bedding plants from nurseries are usually grown in light compost, which can still be dry at the center when it arrives in shops. Planting them in dry soil can hinder their recovery, so dipping them in water is crucial.
Unfortunately, I forgot to dip three trays of homegrown sweet peas in May. Sweet peas are particularly sensitive to dryness, and when I found mine, they had shriveled shoots with only a few signs of green. I planted them with a sense of shame, but luckily, Mother Nature intervened. The wet and cool conditions since mid-June have revitalized the plants, and they are now green and starting to produce buds. The first crop of sweet peas in most gardens has been disappointing, so I haven’t missed out on much. In my calendar, it’s now time to enjoy April in Paris, a variety of sweet pea with beautiful off-white flowers and pretty lilac pink edges.
After an initial burst of flowers on all the roses, this year has been exceptional for lavender. It thrived in the dry May and has bloomed abundantly since then. Last autumn, I followed the advice of an experienced lavender grower and cut my old plants down to about 6 inches from the ground in April. The treatment has worked well, albeit causing a delay in the lavender season. The old bushes are no longer leggy, and their flowers are just starting to appear. I suggest trying this April cut on some of your lavenders next year to stagger their blooming period and extend the overall display. In my opinion, the Hidcote variety, with its dark blue and low-growing characteristics, is the best choice for British gardens. While lavenders from Provence and the Canary Islands are pretty, they often do not survive in Britain’s winters. However, they have fared well in the hot conditions in Europe.
In mid-July, I was still puzzled by the damage caused by last winter. For the first time, the plants of Clematis montana on the arches in my garden remained brown in April. These were the Mayleen variety with pretty pink flowers, which are considered hardy in zone 6. However, by July 14, they were still completely brown. After speaking with nearby gardeners, I learned that my plants were not the only ones affected. The winter had indeed killed them, along with an elderly Clematis Bill Mackenzie, which had survived every winter since I planted it in 1987. Rather than taking the opportunity to plant something new, I decided to replant the same varieties because they have always been hardy until this unusual year.
Other plants have rebounded from early July onwards, but hebes, daphnes, and most cistuses with aromatic leaves have not. Some buddleias also sprouted in the wrong direction. Even the vigorous Royal Red variety, which had shown new growth in April after being cut down to the ground by winter, wilted by mid-July and now appears beyond repair. I visited a nearby National Collection to compare results, and to my surprise, they had also lost about 25% of their buddleias, including Royal Red. Some eventually showed new growth lower down on the plant, which indicates that if they survive, it will be true to the original variety. Others, like mine, wilted and seem destined for the scrap heap, which was unexpected.
On a more positive note, the abundance of roses and lavenders has been followed by an abundance of hollyhocks. Their stems have remained strong, and rust disease has not harmed their leaves, likely due to the cool and wet weather. The flowers have been prolific, even on plants that have self-seeded in cracks in the pavement or below fences and houses. Hollyhocks fill the mid-July gap in gardens and add a touch of elegance with their tall, vertical lines. To celebrate this exceptional year, I recommend looking for young hollyhock plants in 9cm pots and planting them immediately with next summer in mind. There’s no need to spend a lot on larger pots. Hollyhocks flower well as biennials in the summer after planting, so consider mixing and matching dark maroon-flowered varieties with white ones.
The weather patterns this summer haven’t been limited to daytime fluctuations. Nights have been surprisingly cold, even in August, leading to dew on the lawn. These colder nights have slowed down the growth of annuals but intensified their colors. Inspired by this, I decided to embark on a daring experiment. Throughout May, the ground was too dry and hard to sow annual seeds directly. As a result, I am now short on nasturtiums, which are essential for my autumn gardening. To make up for this, I recently sowed a packet of nasturtium seeds, three months later than usual, in soil that was workably moist. I’m taking a chance and relying on the possibility of a mild autumn and a final burst of colorful blooms in November. Hopefully, they will thrive and bring warmth to a summer that began dry but has proven to be anything but.
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