It is mid August already and the garden and weather is beginning to feel more like Autumn. July gave us some really nice summer weather but this August has been poor so far. We have had more than half the normal rainfall in the first two weeks and it seems that the jet stream is in the wrong place such that even when high pressure is in control the air is very humid and the sky is overcast. Never the less most plants are performing and here is a selection from the garden in August.Rudbeckia ‘Herbstone’ grows to almost two metres at the back of the border but does need staking to stop it falling on other plants.
Butterflies have been plentiful in the garden this year. Here on a variety of plants. We do have a Butterfly bush Buddleja davidii which of course gets covered with butterflies too.This circular bed (stone edged bed on the garden map) was newly planted in 2016 and one of the things I was trying to achieve was a succession of plants forming a snake through the centre. Here Anemone ‘Wild Swan’ is achieving the snake with the leaves of Brunnera ‘Mr. Morse’ also snaking through.
Rudbeckia fulgida sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ should always have a place in the August border.
At first this looked like a new plant formed when a Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ decided to climb up a Foeniculum vulgare ‘purpureum’.
I always grow some Ricinus communis ‘Impala’ from seed each year starting them off in the greenhouse and planting out when the dahlias go in. The leaves are fantastic architectural additions to any border but note that they donot overwinter here.
There are many different Dahlias in our garden This is one of my favorites, Dahlia ‘Bishop of Aukland’.
This is Phlox paniculata Uspekh a plant I saw on a garden visit and just had to have for its strong colours.
Colour combinations are important in the garden. Often it is the plants themselves which seem to combine in good ways. Here we have Achillea ‘Credo’ with Salvia greggii ‘Emperor’, as close to complementary colours as you can get.
Here Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ is absolutely stunning but look closely a Cerastostigma willmottianum ‘Forest Blue’ has got into the picture. Complementary colours again!
Hemerocallis ‘Lemon Bells’ has been a real success this year and has been flowering now for around 10 weeks.And other day lilies have also done well, here is Hemerocallis ‘Stafford’.
A shrubby clematis, Clematis ‘Wyevale’, comes back every year and has a long flowering period.
Cone flowers, Echinacea purpurea, are loved by insects and look fantastic in the garden.
There is a huge range of salvias on the market. Recently I have been adding a couple each year. Here is Salvia x jamensis ‘Sierra san Antonio’ and Salvia microphylla ‘Icing Sugar’ Osteospermums have a long flowing period and look great. This is Osteospermum ‘Tresco Purple’ which is hardy in some places but so far not here so I take cuttings every year.
Sowed a bit late but this Rudbeckia came from a packet of seed described as Rustic Dwarfs Mixed and has produced some stars. I will try getting Rudbeckia plants from seed every year now.
Another plant from seed is Cosmos, this is Cosmos versailles tera and produces some very strongly coloured flowers.
This is new to me, Maurandya ‘Magic Dragon’. Sue Turner at “from sewing room to potting shed” very kindly sent me some seed last year.
Another climber, Clematis ‘Jackmanii’, has been doing great things although this year has not produced the best from clematis which I suspect was due to lack of rain through the spring.
Last but not least, Anemone ‘Honorine Joubert’, a great plant not least because it copes with shade well.
2017 Gardening Hours | ||
Week beginning August 12th |
Total 2017 to-date | Average per week |
10 | 671 | 20 |
So many beautiful bloomers! Our flowers tend to “sleep” in the hot months.
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Maybe the rain is not so bad if we get blooms
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I agree the olive oil plant is quite sculptual bu here in Auckland and further north it is a rampant weed an I think poisonous to animal. I like ll your rudENBEKIa. JPnwaw NWMONW GROWS LIKE qeed here NS NEEDS TO BE PLnted where can’t take off too far. I only like the white one with yellow centre. I had it in summer shade on very dry bank bhind the house where i ot ery hot afernoon sun and dneeded watering in alst house. suckers were quite easy to pull out when too rampan. nice late summer splash of colour. not so keen on the pink.I planted swet pea seeds (a bit late) yesterday so hope getting my gardening mojo back. Haven’t done much gardening for 6 months since stroke. I hope I do get it about would never have thought I wouldn’t want to do any gardening. I get very tired so ned to be patient still. Still not driving so real pain as bus too far away to walk to.and have to get a ride in a car and don’t like bein a nisance.
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Hi Yvonne, thanks for your thoughts. I tended to think that the climate in New Zealand was similar to England but clearly the north is much more tropical. Sorry to hear about your stroke. Hope you continue to recovery and can get back into gardening.
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I’m so glad you named the anemone at the top of the page — Anemone ‘Honorine Joubert’ is so sweet. I planted anemones for the first time this year and they are just about to bloom. I hope they are as healthy and pretty as yours. Your August garden is fabulous. Mine is winding down fast and there is a definite feeling of fall in the air some mornings. P. x
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Hi Pam, yes Autumn has come too quickly this year, here too. I think Honorine Joubert is the best of the Japanese Anemones and pops up from the back of a border. They do take a few years to really establish.
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Gorgeous as always, and such a range of wonderful color. I love the Honorine Joubert; such a happy looking flower.
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Many thanks. Everyone seems to like the Honorine Joubert
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I can see how much your plants have liked the wet conditions because they all look great and it was a sunny day when you took your photographs for this post.
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Thanks Christina. Yes whenever the sun came out I went out to take photos. It really seemed like that and you can see that only 10 hours gardening is well down on the average!
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I love all your August beauties and what fabulous photos.
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Thanks Chloris
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You have some beauties there. D. Bishop of Auckland is a favourite of mine too. I am looking up Maurandya because it is new to me!
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Many thanks.
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