It’s been another strange year, weather wise, as we begin to feel the effects of anthropomorphic climate change. After a hot and dry June, July and August were cold and damp, and many plants were slow to get going. I lost most of my dahlias in the cold winter (even those stored in the shed). The one survivor is this Dahlia ‘Bishop of Leicester’, which against all odds came through, despite being left to fend for itself in the border, with not so much as a thin mulch to keep it warm. It’s only now beginning to produce a good crop of flowers.

My ever-expanding collection of Cannas was also decimated by the cold winter (probably just as well – they were multiplying faster than the broomstick in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice!) Growth has been so slow in this (mostly) cool, damp summer, that none of the survivors have flowered yet. They’re running out of time.

The roses were late to flower this year too, and have only just started flowering again, after a lengthy break. These two are R. ‘Wollerton Old Hall’, a new addition thriving against a mostly shady garage wall, and R. ‘Munstead Wood’…

R. ‘Dame Judi Dench’ has proved to be the most consistent for flowers…

Looking at the successes, scabious sown from seed last year were slow to establish but are looking good now…

Geraniums are garden stalwarts, able to do well in most soils and conditions. This one is G. ‘Eureka’…

The single flowers are good for the bees too. As are Hylotelephiums (formerly Sedum) which are coming into their own now. This is Xenon…

Other plants that are having their moment in the limelight, at the end of the season, include Anemone (this is A. ‘Honorine Jobert’)…

And asters…

Which were actually renamed as Symphyotrichum (how those botanists love to make the lives of us horticulturalists difficult!) They seem to love our soil. Curiously Aster ‘Monch’ (which wasn’t renamed) has been sulking since I planted it three years ago.

Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ has been good this year…

And the Hesperantha’s (which used to be called Schizostylus – best keep to the common name of Kaffir Lily!) are going from strength to strength around (and even in) the pond…

I know from past experience they can be invasive. The clumps quickly become congested and less floriferous. I’ve found an easy way to keep them under control is to just pull out the flowered stems (before the seed is ripe, else they’ll set seed everywhere). A section of plant will generally come out with the stem, but that leaves the newer offsets, which will provide next year’s blooms, with space around them.

Another plant which thrives in the thin, sandy soil, is Gaura (which, you guessed it, has been renamed -it’s now Oenothera lindheimeri ‘Whirling butterflies’)…

It self-seeds everywhere, and creates clouds of small, white flowers on long stems. Very pretty, although it does tends to sprawl all over its neighbours.

Yarrow (Achillea) is a wildflower (or weed, if you prefer) that we let grow here and there in the garden…

This is the wild form of a widely grown cultivated plant. The flowers are actually almost as good as the cultivated varieties, though without the range of colours, and look good and last well in a vase. The foliage is attractive too.

It’s been a dreadful year for apples, with almost all the fruit affected by moth larvae, and many of the fruits small and not properly formed. Keeping wasps from destroying what harvest there is, has been a challenge. Conversely, the pears are having their best year so far. This variety is ‘Concorde’…

It’s been another challenging year. Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from the variable conditions, and weather extremes, is to observe which plants hold up well in your garden, whatever the weather throws at them, stick with those, and introduce others that are related, or like similar conditions. Having said that, I do like a challenge!

text & photos © graham wright 2023