What an amazing summer!
Long sunny days and high temperatures have given parts of Kent an
almost Mediterranean feel.
Unfortunately the lack
of rain has meant that lawns have suffered and a lot of plants
will have given signs of stress in dropping foliage.
Flowering times can also
be affected, with some plants offering up a second bloom when
they’d normally be fading.
However, if our typical
English summer is slipping further south year by year then
gardeners have an opportunity to try new plants that wouldn’t have
been possible before.
Plants that will
tolerate dry places for longer spells will also take centre stage.
Russian Sage, Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ with its spikes of
violet-blue makes a perfect partner to Kniphofia ‘Nancy’s Red’, the two
colours in wonderful contrast.
Other plants like Eryngium
(Sea Holly) and Iris have adapted to survive long dry spells. Silver
foliage plants withstand the glare of full sun easier. Teucrium
‘Compactum’ and Hippophae rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn) are good examples.
Also for drier soils and
considered a weed in Australia , Verbena bonariensis is ever popular at
Chelsea and Hampton Flower Shows, self seeding to provide tall, swaying
masses of rosy-purple flowers through late summer into autumn.
