Coming Up Roses

For beautiful big blooms on shrub roses, prune them hard now, before the growth starts. 

Cut back stems to just above an outward-facing bud, aiming for an open, ‘goblet’ shaped shrub. Inward-facing, spindly, dead or damaged growth should also be removed. Once you’ve finished apply a mulch and general rose fertiliser. 

Christmas wreath making

Bountiful Verbena bonariensis

     Butterflies love Verbena bonariensis

    

    Blue tits love Verbena bonariensis

    I love it too - especially at the moment, as it still looks good when many other flowers are fading,  

    even standing up well on windy autumn days, electric mauve flowers dancing in the fading light.

   If it likes you, it will seed everywhere (my husband calls it Weedara weedariensis). If only all 

   weeds were as pretty, we'd be in clover...

Autumn borders

Aster la vista!

These cheerful late summer daisies mix well with other plants in most sunny borders. They are a real boon through the early autumn days - and not just for us. As the other flowering plants dwindle, Asters provide a vital source of nectar for butterflies and bees. The larger flower heads make great landing pads for larger insects and their mass of blooms means that they can stock up in one visit and don’t have to waste energy flying from flower to flower.

Now you Sedum

The flowers of Sedum spectabile are a magnet for butterflies and bees at this time of the year.  They are a great addition to the front of the border and will provide long lasting colour right through the autumn, as the nectar-packed flowers fade into attractive seed heads in shades of russet and bronze. They are easy to care for and will put up with many situations, but given a choice they’d prefer sunshine and free draining conditions.

Dahlia daze

Just when many of the other flowers are fading, Dahlias are still in full swing, providing a  sumptuous late summer spectacle until the frosts - and if we have a glorious Indian summer that can mean several more weeks of beautiful blooms.  Dahlias are greedy plants and need rich, well drained compost. Dead head them regularly to keep the flowers coming and then, once the frost has cut them back, lift and store the tender tubers somewhere frost free for the winter.

Border Edit

Pep up fading borders with some late summer additions: Perennial Dahlias, Heleniums, Crocosmia, Echinacea and Asters will enliven any scheme and unlike annual bedding plants, they will go on performing year after year. Add some foliage specimens like Cotinus coggygria, evergreen Euphorbias and shimmering grasses for a border that will keep on singing right through the autumn and, if you add in plants with berries and bark, through the winter too...

Worth the wait

We have to wait a long time for the late summer shrubs to show themselves, but they provide a welcome shot of colour and structure in the borders at the tail end of the season. Buddlejas and Hebes are among the most popular with butterflies and bees, but need pruning so that they don’t become too leggy. Large flowered Hibiscus look exotic, but are surprisingly frost resistant and hardy. Hydrangeas are good value and their big, blousy flowerheads (actually papery bracts) last well into the autumn.

Daisy daisy

Daisy, daisy

Bring some late summer cheerfulness to your garden borders with Echinaceas, Asters and Rudbeckias. August can be a tricky month in the garden, but these stylish perennial daisies will provide a splash of colour when many of the other flowers are beginning to fade. They mix well with grasses and other plants that like an open sunny position.

Heleniums

Helenium 'Moorheim Beauty'

Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'