This summer it has been very challenging to keep the borders looking their best. Lawns if they look anything like mine, resemble sandy beaches and the borders struggle to keep flowering.
 
My favourite plant for many years has been the Agapanthus. This year the ‘beast from the east’ slowed it down a little but then it enjoyed the summer sunshine and survived very well in drought conditions.
 
Pot grown ones did need watering  and feeding regularly. Commonly known as the African Lily, it is a
vigorous perennial with fleshy roots from South Africa. Despite their South African origins, they are easy to grow in the UK. Some species are evergreen and these tend to be less hardy than the deciduous varieties that die down completely over winter. 
 
Agapanthus grow best in full sun in a well-drained soil. Planting in shade will result in poor flowering. If your soil is thick or heavy, plant with grit or compost to loosen surrounding area. They dislike being waterlogged in winter and in colder parts of the country prone to frosts, should be grown in large pots which can be protected in winter in a cold frame, greenhouse or conservatory. I grow them in pots, and shelter them in winter. The hardier varieties will grow in borders covered with a mulch for protection.
 
The last 2 years I grew some in window boxes with great success. They had 3 foot stems dancing above the pelargoniums and fuschias. It is important to feed them weekly or fortnightly with a balanced liquid feed during the growing season until flowers begin to show colour.
 
Agapanthus will be reluctant to flower next year if subjected to drought conditions after flowering. To ensure a good display next year, keep plants moist until autumn after flowers start to fade. This will encourage the development of new flower buds.
 
If you are fond of the colour blue, Agapanthus are the plants for you. There is nothing better for an infusion of midsummer blue than a border or pot lined path of Agapanthus. They come in a range of colours and heights from almost black through to purple, from French navy to royal blue, to subtle lilac, pink, grey and white.
 
With careful planning borders in July to late September could be filled with varieties of Agapanthus of all heights from 20cm dwarf forms to giants up to 2 metres.
 
As usual space is running out. Look up more information on varieties and start planning for next season. I mention one unusual variety I bought a few weeks ago, Agapanthus Graskop. The buds emerge almost black and are held erect atop tall stems, slowly elongating and finally becoming pendulous as they open. It is hardy and can be grown in containers or borders. This winter I will nurture it in the conservatory.                                                                 
 
Hazel Wyatt

As I write this the temperature is hovering at 30 degrees. My gardening advice is to find a shady spot and enjoy. I am sure that by the time  this is printed we might be experiencing normal British weather, hope so!!
 
I had intended to give a few tips to keep your plants happy and watered  during your holiday. I am sure you have thought and been given enough advice to do this during this heat wave. Parched lawns, wilting flowers and shrubs under stress will soon recuperate after a prolonged shower of rain. We must stay positive, all is not lost and there can and  will be vibrant colour all around once more.
 
Late summering plants are seen as high maintenance yet there are plenty of easy to grow plants ready to deliver a riot of colour and form at this time of year. Sedum spectabile, Autumn Joy is one. By the end of August its heads are bursting with promise and covered with butterflies and bees. There are many varieties to find in garden centre.
 
Just as the garden seems to run out of puff, Helianthus Lemon Queen will give it an extra boost and score the winning goal. It will return every year and at 2 metres high creates a dramatic sky line. Despite its height it needs no staking. Another is Rudbeckia Herbstonne. It has chunky flowers and an intense yellow colour.
 
Tall plants look their best when they have a few short plants to hide their knobbly knees. Phlox plants are  perfect for this, they look great, smell great and are easy to grow. Phlox prefer a sunny spot, give them some leaf mould in autumn.
 
Another favourite which rarely disappoints are the Japanese anemones. They come from China and most gardens have these. There are many varieties the most common is Anemone x hybrid. Honorine Jobert is tall elegant and white, look up some pink varieties, they are popular for a good reason. They are reliable, easy to grow, multiply easily and despite their delicate appearance are as tough as they come.
 
I hope when I write next the grass will be green and we as well as the plants will have survived. Enjoy!
 
Hazel Wyatt

The title is of a popular song written by Ivor Novello in 1945. It's not heard often now but lilac is still a popular garden shrub. Here are some facts about lilac.

The lilac bush or Syringa vulgaris is a deciduous plant and a member of the olive family. It originates from South Eastern Europe and Eastern Asia and thrives in a sunny position. It will grow in a range of soil conditions but prefers a well drained humus-rich soil. Lilac should be planted in spring or autumn.

Lilac is perhaps best known for its delicately fragranced blossoms ranging in colour from purple to blue, pink ,white and yellow. 25 species of lilac are available. Its most fragrant varieties are usually medium to dark purple.

Lilacs produce tiny shoots around the base of the trunk and these can be used to propagate new plants easily. It can also be grown from seed, slowly. It is a hardy low maintenance shrub and a well planted bush can last for decades. It can grow to nine metres in height providing shade in the garden or even a natural fence.The dwarf variety will grow up to  8 feet. Lilac does not need pruning until it has reached 6-8 feet tall. After this keep it at desired height by pruning after flowering.

French flower breeder Victor Lemoine was the creator of many of the varieties enjoyed today. He is thought to have developed more than 150 cultivars between 1876 and 1927. In Lemoine's honour the term (French lilac) is still used to refer to all double-flowered lilac varieties.

Some white blossomed varieties have no aroma. Other scented varieties will not smell when the weather is cold or damp. Warmth releases the essential oil produced by lilac flowers and thus regularly used in perfumery. I am sure many of you, dare I say mature ladies, remember Morny's French Lilac talcum powder.

Lilac flowers are edible and can be used in jams, jellies and liqueurs even fried to make lilac fritters.

There is often folk lore associated with our plants. In Greek mythology, Pan, the god of the forests and fields became besotted  by the nymph Syringa. Afraid of Pan who chased her through the forests, Syringa metamorphosed into  a lilac bush to escape from him.

I am sure there are many more facts about lilac that you will find and maybe decide to plant a lilac and enjoy its beauty and perfume for many years to come.

Hazel Wyatt

Plants in Song
1. Something to tie a yellow ribbon around.
2. This could be from either Texas or Tralee.
3. Imported from Amsterdam 
4. Was Gracie's really the biggest ...in the world .?
5. It's branches are spreading ..if boy scouts are to be believed.
6. It's a bonny heathland shrub.
7. Would you see a partridge in a place like this at Christmas.?
8. On a beautiful morning this grows as high as as elephant's eye.
9. She says she could never tell why she is called this.
10.  Pure and white, clean and bright.

Trees
11. Dapper.
12. Old joke.
13. A District of East London.
14. Sometimes spread on a vegetable plot.
15. This could not be me .
16. A tool for smoothing .
17.  Popular with children in Summer holidays .
18. Punishment ordered by the magistrates of old .
19. Cricket bat.
20. Communist timber 

Final Question...Is there anyone out there who would like to write an article for the Gardening page? If so, then please contact ednacause@john-lewis.com. 

A love of gardening and an interest in wildlife are natural bedfellows. So I ask, why do garden centres devote so much shelf space to substances that kill? Perhaps it is that we have a mental picture of the perfect garden where everything is beautiful and orderly and the gardener is in complete control. But if you want a garden bustling with wild life you will have to compromise and must be prepared to forego perfection.

The key to success is to think of food chains. Wild things will not come to your garden if you do not have food for them. Welcome visitors such as robins, tits, wrens and hedgehogs feed on insects and other invertebrates so it makes no sense to wage war on these creepy crawlies.

The greater the variety of creatures that visit the garden the more likely they are to balance each other out and the plague of nasties will not decimate the plants.
Here are a few ideas for a wild life friendly garden.

Bird box in a sheltered site, out of reach of predators (clean it every year to get rid of mites). Put out protein rich food and a variety of seed for different species. The feeder if possible should be near a dense shrub so that small birds can dart in and out to feed, safe from cats.

Ivy and Climbers. The flowers and seeds of ivy are nutritious and are a good source of pollen. Ivy being evergreen provides a protective habitat all year round.

Clematis and rose all create good habitats at varying heights and attract bees and birds to feed.

Water source. All creatures need fresh, unchlorinated water. Build a pond, bury a shallow bucket. Read a good gardening book for ideas to suit your garden.

Compost Bins  use up waste and also feed the soil.  They are also a habitat for worms, woodlice, fungi, frogs  grass snakes and spiders supplying a cordon bleu feast for garden visitors. Read up more on composting.

Flowers. Grow as many flowers as you can from spring bulbs to late flowering perennials. Choose flowers that are true to species not bred by humans for lots of  petals. Petals grow at the expense of pollen and nectar and make it harder for bees to get inside. Examples include foxgloves, marigolds and cornflowers. There are many more pollinator friendly flowers to read up about.

Weeds. Dare I  mention that they are some of the best plants for pollinators. Buttercups, daisies and wild foxgloves flower for a long time and thrive in bad growing conditions. Do not be too tidy behind a shed. Out of sight, these will thrive and when they die insects like spiders and earwigs will live under dead plants and in turn will keep aphids in check.
I should not mention this to the lawn perfectionists but if you can leave a bit of long grass the butterflies will thank you because it is an important habitat to lay their eggs.
As usual space is running out, I hope I have whetted your appetite and you will consider a whole host of wild ideas and features or just pick one and then sit back and welcome your visitors.
Hazel Wyatt

One thing you can be certain of is that nature will always do her or his best to clothe any patch of bare soil quickly. This she does with wild plants that we call weeds. It is a constant battle to keep a plot or flower bed weed free.

My answer to this is to cover it with acceptable plants. As soon as a canopy of foliage covers the ground, any weed trying to germinate is kept in the dark and will not survive. The name given to this is '' ground cover". There are a host of plants that can be used for this purpose and once established they look after our weed problem in a perfectly natural way. No need for weed killers.
These plants will not make your garden flat, boring and colourless but will surprise you with a colourful tapestry.

Efficient ground cover comes in different heights, from ground huggers to large shrubs. Most of them flower and many have attractive, even ornamental foliage. A surprising number are evergreen and there are ground cover plants that are happy in sun or shade, dry or moist soil.

By growing the right ground carpeting perennials around shrubs you can get a double show of flowers either together or at different times. If the ground cover plants are under planted with bulbs that happily spear them, you can have a succession of flowers.

Failure with this planting regime occurs because careful clearing of perennial weeds such as tap-rooted docks and dandelions or creeping horrors like buttercup, couch grass and ground elder, has not been done. So begin with clean ground and success will be yours. Start with a small part of the border and once matured these plants can be split up to plant in the next area. 

During the first season make sure the plants are well watered and you will have to do some weeding and mulching but once established simply look over the area two or three times a season and remove any weeds that have defied you before they seed.

My favourite ground cover plants are Tiarella, Bergenia, Ajuga, Brunera, Epimedium, Saxifrage,Thymus and Tellima to name a few. A good book to read is Plants for Ground Cover by Stuart Thomas.

Happy new gardening year and a weed free 2018,

Hazel Wyatt

1. What is made from Jersey kale?
   
2. What do Sarrencenia, Drosera and Darlingtonia have in common?
3. Which Surrey estate was presented to the RHS in 1903?
4. Which London hotel shares its name with a popular hardy vegetable?
5. Which plant genus bears the same name as a stringed instrument?
6. From which country does the Lupin originate?
7. What name links a British truck/lorry maker and a conifer?
8. Lily beetles are destructive pests. What colour are they?
9. Who designed the palm house at Kew Gardens?
10. What type of tree is famous for growing to 4000 years old?
11. The hard white wood of Euonymus Europaeus was once used to make an essential item in the wool industry from which it gained its common name. What is it?
12. Is Old English Lavender truly English?
13. The Victorians introduced a tall growing invasive weed with a potentially irritant sap as a garden plant. It escaped into hedgerows and became a pest. What is it?
14. "Oh Adam was a gardener and God who made him sees, that half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees."  Who wrote this poem?
15. What flower could be said to have a good memory?

 
Answers

from guest blogger Robert Beetham ...

‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’  was an adage often used when I was growing up. The apple is known to be a source of vitamin C, flavonoids and fibre which may be contributors to
the health-giving properties reflected in the saying above. Fermentation, to produce cider, preserves most of the vitamin C and also contributes vitamin B12.
 
The apple as we now know it probably arose many thousands of years ago in a region of central Asia, some of which we know today as Kazakhstan; wild fruits gathered in that area bear considerable resemblance to many of the cultivated varieties currently available.

The National Fruit Collection at Brogdale Farm, Kent www.BrogdaleCollections.org numbers 2,200 apple varieties in its collection from around the world. Yet there are probably only 50 varieties in commercial production and I expect many of us would be stretched to name more than 10 that they have come across as readily available in our supermarkets. This is a pity, because we are missing out on a vast range of flavours and textures that could be available to us were it not for commercial considerations that militate against their large scale production.
 
For the widest choice and to obtain an apple that we really enjoy, we can grow our own. Apple trees nowadays come in a range of shapes and sizes and many people will have room for one (or perhaps two for pollination reasons) in their garden. Trees can be bought from garden centres or preferably specialist fruit tree nurseries, with most offering an on-line service.

How to choose an apple tree is complex. Size of tree, season, how long the apple will store and when it flowers are all considerations, but most nurseries will assist with your choice. Some good advice can be found on the Internet, search ‘choosing apple trees’. The author is also happy to offer advice.

The overriding consideration however will be flavour and texture and this is a very personal choice. Try to form your preferences by tasting varieties that are recommended by friends, neighbours, family, nursery catalogues or other reading sources. To obtain these, you may have to go to apple tasting days or visit orchard outlets or farmers markets.
 
Finally, you could enter the whole new fun world of producing a new tree yourself by learning to graft; for example see www.WinterbourneBarn.org.uk/events

Robert Beetham

Our summer is nearly over and it is time to think of bulb planting in the borders or in containers. There are a variety to choose from including daffodils  and tulips. This year I am going to concentrate on alliums.

Alliums are members of the onion family. They are stylish plants, most varieties with tall stems and large blooms with the added bonus of being easy to grow. If I could only choose one it would be Purple Sensation. It is easy to cultivate, demanding only a sunny spot in a reasonable well drained soil. It flowers in late May and early June, it seeds itself generously without being a pest At around 3ft it towers airily above border perennials that are still to flower and when they eventually finish flowering the seed heads are still a joy to see. Flower arrangers value them for spraying gold and silver for Christmas arrangements.

Globemaster is a variety that will give the garden a wow factor, it is a lighter shade of mauve than Purple Sensation but has spherical clusters of flowers nearly the size of a small football, again used lots in flower arranging. Plant in clusters of three or five along the whole length of the border. A magnificent sight in May to June .

There are lots of smaller front of the border alliums. My third choice would be one that grows between 12 and 18 inches high and has starry flowers that look as if they have been cut out of pink metallic foil. This is Allium christophii. It is a real stunner with orbs of flower up to 9 inches across that shimmer and sparkle in the late spring sunshine.

Bulbs should be planted in early autumn, not long now! Plant at a depth of 4 times the diameter of the bulb. Find a spot that drains well and will get full sun. After planting, water well to settle soil around the bulbs.

Allium bulbs should be divided every 3 to 4 years. Do this after plant has died down. Simply dig around the plant with a trowel and lift bulbs out. Separate gently, replant some in original position, plant others straight away in new spot or pot up and give to friends.

There is far more to find out about alliums so good reading. Buy some bulbs, plant out and enjoy!                                      
Hazel Wyatt