This summer has certainly thrown some interesting weather our way, with drought conditions and extreme temperatures (for the UK) up to 40 degrees centigrade. I have been reviewing the garden to see what has shown resilience. Above is Clematis heracleifolia New Love which is in a south facing border and which had no extra water. It is shaded by a jasmine and winter flowering honeysuckle and it is flowering away happily.
This aster novae-angliae September Ruby - is also doing well, albeit flowering earlier than usual.
Rose Ferdinand Pichard is having a second flush of flowers.
Buddleia has done well, but it is a survivor.
What surprised me was the hibiscus. Both have done very well indeed - this is the smaller triple coloured one I have. It is only young and I think has only been in the border for two years. It has has one bottle of water stuck next to it when it got really hot. Above is the pink flower...
...and here is the white/pink.
Here is hibiscus syriacus Oiseau blue, still in flower and having had no extra water.
The miscanthus grasses are a little shorter than usual, but have done well.
This salvia 'Nachtvlinder' has also done well and has been flowering for a couple of months now.
Finally, this fuchsia, Thamar, which is in a pot but which has been reliably perennial for quite a few years. It has had an occasional watering, but hasn't had a lot of care lavished on it; however, it has rewarded me with these pretty flowers.
So, what have I learnt? Shrubs have managed well. They have longer roots so that they can reach moisture further down in the soil. Having just had to dig out a very unhappy rose which had been in the border for twenty years or so, I can attest to the power of the roots. I would expect the grasses to manage well and Buddleia seems to be one of the toughest plants I know.
Re-evaluating my garden will be ongoing - removing some of the plants which didn't cope well and replacing them with tougher ones. I have a feeling that other people will be doing this too. Climate change is making its presence known and we will all have to adapt.
I'm surprised you've still got so much colour, many plants have finished flowering already, exhausted by the heat and lack of rain. I've very little in my garden at the moment, I'm glad that I didn't rush to buy new plants after my house move, I'm not sure how they would have tolerated the conditions this year. Thank you for your comments on my post about Anne Bronte, I really enjoyed reading Agnes Grey and shall definitely read more from her.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jo. Experts always advise you to live with a new garden for a year before starting to develop it, so it looks like you have done the right thing by waiting. I am surprised how well some of my plants have done over this summer and am very grateful. Some things have dried out (the clematis on the arch and some hydrangeas) but on the whole, things are coping reasonably well.
DeleteI am a bit of an Anne Bronte fan (as you might have guessed!). Her other book, 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' deals with domestic abuse and the lack of rights for wives at the time. I hope you will enjoy it too.
Best wishes
Ellie
I am glad that so much of your garden survived - and did well. I have largely given up (regretfully) planting annuals because of our usual extreme heat and water shortage. Sadly we have also had extended droughts (before this wet year) which took out trees as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, EC. I am pleased and thankful about how well most things have done in the garden. The climate is definitely changing and we need to adapt to it. I don't like the heat, but it looks like I shall have to get more used to it. I do need to cut down on the number of small pots I have too and choose plants with much more thought and care (rather than on impulse!).
DeleteBest wishes
Ellie
Beautiful flowers, such variety too, we didn´t plant very many pots this year with veggies, it was so wet then so dry that watering then becomes a problem, hopefully as the heat cools we shall see some of the plants revive and spring into action and flower xcx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chrissie. I hope your garden comes back to life as things cool down a bit. I have noticed autumn flowers in bloom earlier this year, so it will be interesting to see what happens when autumn proper arrives.
DeleteBest wishes
Ellie
It sounds like you are a wise gardener. There are many things that I would love to grow and know that they would not survive the conditions that we have here, you are so right that we all have to adapt. We have had hot temperatures but enough rain that our water butts have never completely emptied a different kind of adjustment but an adjustment never the less. I am quite glad that I have created wind barriers as it also provides shade so many parts of the garden have stayed moist despite the sporadic rain.
ReplyDeleteThanks, sustainablemum. I need to review my pot situation and perhaps have fewer but larger pots to help with watering. I am also thinking that I need another rain water butt too. I think there may be some plant casualties but I shall keep that under review.
DeleteIt sounds like you are also a wise gardener!
Best wishes
Ellie
Interesting to see your list of plant survivors Ellie. Also good to hear the hibiscus did so well, as I have had my eye on the beautiful blue one after seeing it on your blog! x
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lulu. The hibiscus have really surprised me and are still flowering now, although they are coming to an end. If I had more room, I would definitely have more of these.
DeleteI hope that when you get yours, it will do as well for you!
Best wishes
Ellie