Serious drought is now affecting much of the country and it’s the third one in five years. We southerners are now envious of you northerners – I hear your sweet peas are just coming into their own – ours fried up a month ago!
All gardeners must soldier on whatever the weather though, how about taking some cuttings of succulents, pruning soft fruit, and harvesting seeds……..
Making more of succulents
If there is one group of plants that have been lapping up the summer heat it’s the succulents. Their spongy fat leaves with a thick waxy layer can store water very well and help them live through extreme temperatures.
We are going to need more plants with strategies like this! How about making some more of the succulents that you already have? August is a good time to split the offsets from the main plant to make new houseleeks (Sempervivum), or the closely related but tender echeverias. This is how you do it:
Turn your pot of succulents upside-down and tap the rim to drop the plant out into your other hand.
Pull apart or snip off the little rosettes round the side, making sure that each has a short stem or some roots.
Plant the offsets into pots of gritty compost then leave them a couple of days for the cut stems to callus over a little.
Water them in gently – remember that these plants hate sitting in damp soil. They will quickly make new roots and grow away happily.
Caning it
Do you grow cultivated blackberries, tayberries etc.? They will finish fruiting for this year quite soon if they haven’t already, so now is the time to cut the fruited canes out right down to the ground. New green stems will have formed at the base (the fancy name is a ‘primacane’).
It’s a good idea to pinch back these new canes when they reach about 5 feet (1-2m.) which stop them from heading towards the sky, and to develop fruiting side branches instead.
Cut out any unwanted suckers from the base of the plant too – they will only sap energy and nutrients without any benefit to you.
I grow a supersized version of this kind of plant called Rubus phoenicolasius (Japanese wineberry) which hales from East Asia, and carries masses of rather sticky but delicious mini-raspberries in the middle of July. The fruits were smaller and less juicy this year unfortunately due to the lack of water in the soil, but they have still thrown up vigorous new canes so it’s time to don the thick gloves (the stems are absolutely covered in fine red hairs) and cut out the old ones.
Bulbs for autumn colour
It won’t be long before we’ll be bombarded with offers of daffodil and tulip bulbs to plant in autumn ready for spring flowering, but did you know that there is one kind of bulb that you can buy and plant now and it will be in full flower in 6 weeks time!!
Colchicums are known as autumn crocuses (and ‘naked ladies’ – oo er!) but they are in fact more closely related to lilies than crocuses. They have the rather magical property of shooting their pretty goblet-shaped flowers (usually white or pink) up before any foliage appears and can add a real freshness to a
They have quite a narrow window of planting opportunity, as they flower in the autumn, put down roots over winter then produce leaves in the spring and early summer, so August and into early September is their only dormant period.
So plant them in a group now between 3-6” down in sunny well-drained soil or perhaps naturalised in short grass. Just one other little thing: quite a few people are allergic to these corms, so do wear gloves when you handle them.
Gardening shorts
- The apples are coming on a treat! To check if your apples are ripe, lift them up gently. If the stalk snaps easily, they are ready to pick.
- Finish pruning rambling roses, cutting out the flowering stems and tying in the new ones.
- A friend was telling me yesterday about how fabulously her dahlias are responding to the summer warmth, but that earwigs are being a bit of a pest by nibbling the flowers at night. You can trap these little critters by propping an upturned flowerpot filled with straw which they will crawl into. Rather charmingly, you could even rehome them in a fruit tree where they will help you control other pests!
- Collect seed from hardy perennials and annuals as they ripen, as I am doing in this week’s feature photo. Test for ripeness by holding one hand underneath and gently shaking the seedhead with the other – if they rattle and spill, they are ready to harvest. Cut the seedheads and put them into paper envelopes to drop their seeds. Don’t use a plastic bag for this which would make the seeds more liable to rot. LABEL the envelopes at once (Voice of harsh experience talking here……!)
Here’s a giant of a plant in every way – do you know what it is? Click on the photo below to satisfy your curiosity……..
These autumn crocuses only have a short window when they can be planted but if you get on to it now, they’ll be flowering for you this autumn! Laura shows you how in this short video
We have a sale on at the moment of some fantastic waxed bags. We 3Growbags all LOVE these canvas bags for shopping, for carrying tools, or a picnic? They have multiple uses and look super stylish as well. Do take a look:
Our most recent draw for these sumptuous oven gloves and chopping board closed this week and we’re delighted to be sending them off to subscriber Janet Newton from East Sussex.
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