Blooming marvellous

20th August 2010, by Dan Walford

Rudbeckia ‘Black Eyed Susan’ flowers look great in August

Plant up autumn/winter plants such as polyanthus now

Dwarf Michaelmas daisies provide a splash of winter colour

Midsummer can be a tricky time in the garden. Many plants flower wonderfully early on but are now starting to fade – right at the time when you want to spend more time outside enjoying them.

Plants that set seed tend to stop flowering as soon as the seed pods are mature – the way we gardeners fool them into producing more flower is to take off all faded blooms and seed heads. This should ensure plenty of colour right through the summer months.

The ornamental gardeners is always looking ahead, and it’s time to think about growing plants on to provide colour in pots and hanging baskets during autumn and winter. It’s worth planting up hanging baskets early so the plants can get well established and fill out before they go on display.

For long-lasting interest use a mixture of flowering and foliage plants – Dwarf Michaelmas daisies, winter pansies and polyanthus will supply the flowering colour and ornamental cabbage, grey-leaved helichrysum or variegated ivy will provide interesting leaves.

Planting up patio containers with spring bulbs such as daffodils, snowdrops and crocus and topped off with hardy flowering plants such as pansies, forget-me-nots, and polyanthus will provide colour for the next six months. If the container is large enough then some trailing foliage plants will add some interesting texture between flowerings. Gold-edged ivy, silver-leaved cineraria or purple Heuchera will add coloured foliage for year-round interest.

2 comments | Filed under: Flower gardening | Freshness: 537 days ago

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