Garden Answers August 2022

Though August is peak holiday season, it’s sometimes when summer starts to cool off. I associate it with showery weather, but maybe being from Wales has given me a lopsided view! To make up for any lacklustre weather this month, and extend the summer’s heat, we have fired up this issue with all things hot. From the sizzling-bright perennials in our feature on late summer colour on page 16, the verdant jungle garden design feature on page 22, or the fiery and confident hot border we show you how to create on page 40, this issue turns up the temperature. We also go lush and leafy in Lincolnshire and Lancashire, two counties with cool climates that aren’t well known for exotic gardens. But owners Tez Donnelly and Chris Brown, respectively,…

1Large hardy banana plants such as Musa basjoo (H5m/16ft S4m/13ft) can live outdoors in a sheltered spot, given some winter protection. 2Dahlias add heat and colour among the lush foliage. In free-draining soils they can remain in the soil with a thick protective mulch. H and S90cm (3ft). 3An evergreen backbone of clipped box balls and a lollipop bay tree provide formal structure all year round. FOLIAGE FANTASY This authentically sub-tropical garden is thriving in a sheltered spot in the south of England. The hardier plants, such as the date palm and Japanese bananas, can stay outside all year given winter protection. The tender aroids, bird-of-paradise and bromeliad plants can be moved indoors for winter as beautiful houseplants.…

PURPLE PATCH Sultry shades are perfectly suited to balmy late summer days. Here, a plum-coloured container has been planted with the slender arching leaves and fluffy bottlebrush-like flower heads of Pennisetum glaucum ‘Purple Majesty’ (H and S1m/3ft 3in). The almost black flowers of calibrachoa ‘Can-can Black Cherry’ (H and S45cm/18in) tumble over the side of the planter, mingling with the deep purple, heart-shaped leaves of ipomoea ‘Black Tone’ (H20cm/8in S50cm/20in). Hovering above these are the small saucer-shaped, claret-coloured blooms of Cosmos atrosanguineus (H70cm/28in S45cm/18in) that emit a delicious chocolate scent.…

Fanny Wilkinson, believed to be Britain’s first professional female landscape gardener, has been commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque on the Shaftesbury Avenue flat where she lived and worked. TV gardener Rachel de Thame said: “Fanny Wilkinson was a horticultural pioneer. She blazed a trail for women who work as head gardeners, garden designers and landscapers at the highest level today. Many of her gardens survive, including Paddington Street Gardens and Vauxhall Park, and remain a great asset to the capital.”…

Dahlia Delights VISIT THE KEHELLAND TRUST in Camborne, Cornwall, the new home of the National Dahlia Collection and see the fabulous range of colours and flower forms these plants have to offer as they come into full bloom. Moving the dahlias from their previous location at Varfell Farm near Penzance was a mammoth task that involved transporting 1,700 cultivars and 22 different species 12 miles to the Kehelland Trust, a horticulture centre for adults with learning and physical disabilities. The rehoming project took place in 2021 and was masterminded by Louise Danks, who teaches horticulture at a local college, when the collection’s future was under threat. Now thriving in their new location, the dahlia collection is open to the public on Wednesday evenings from 5-8pm and Saturdays 10am-4pm; £5 per…

NEW INSECT VISITOR RHS scientists have recorded the first rockrose prickly leaf beetle in the UK. It is the first time the species, which is harmless to plants, has been recorded in Britain. It was identified on its name-sake plant – the rockrose (cistus) – in a Surrey garden. The beetle measures 5mm long and its orange-brown body is covered in black spines, giving it a striking appearance. It hails from mainland Europe, and RHS scientists believe that eventually it is likely to become established in areas of the UK where rockroses are common. Dr Andrew Salisbury, Principal Entomologist for the RHS, said: “It was not a species anyone had expected to appear in this country. This species does not pose a threat to gardens and native plants and can…