Each month I like to check that in my deliberately wilding garden, there is still some plant that provides structure and order or at least some pleasing surprise among the chaos. This month there's nothing as spectacular as the echiums in their prime (which, by the way are still attracting dozens of pollinators although most of the flowers are over) but there are three plants that between them form a triangle of interest from where I sit at the kitchen table and offer different pictorial views depending on where you are in the garden.
First is the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), a close relative of the artichoke (Cynara scolymus) with similar silvery leaves and thistle flowers but the cardoon is taller and more slender. This was given by a friend of mine when I first moved in here and I planted it in front of the yew hedge which acts as a good green backcloth to the silvery leaves of the cardoon. On the right, half way up the path is a white lace cap hydrangea, I'm not sure which variety because it was also given as a moving-in present (as a houseplant). It's a substantial presence whose abundant large white flowers, gradually become tinged pink as they grow older. Further up on the left, just in front of the shed, is the tree mallow (Lavatera 'Rosea') about 5ft, tall creating a sort of screen in that corner.
The cardoon flowers are not edible which is just as well because I can leave them to look gorgeous and to be visited by many flying creatures to collect pollen. The cardoon is a hardy perennial with a long season of usefulness as it starts off in spring with a short growth of strong silver leaves allowing spring bulbs and flowers to flower near it. Gradually it grows taller, standing out against the dark green of the
Cardoon leaves in spring Cardoon with flowers Cardoon in giant pasta holder
yew, and finally in July it produces its spectacular purple thistle flowers. But that's not all, when they dry up, I pick them and display them in some tall container where they look architectural all winter. I'm told the stalks are considered a delicacy in Italy so I did once try to cook them and they were absolutely uneatable - obviously there's a technique which I haven't managed to master. I am happy to keep it as a spectacular feast for the eye and invitation to wild things. I cut it right down to the ground after flowering when it begins to look tatty.
There are two things to note about its cultivation: first, although I thought it would be drought resistant, actually, if I want it to flower well, I do have to water it in dry periods. Also it is a prey to snails and slugs which will come from far and wide to climb up into its leaves and munch through its stalks. Since I have discovered a product called Slug Gone the problem has been more or less under control, though I still sometimes find the odd snail hiding in a fold of leaf.
The hydrangea always flowers well and its big white lace cap flowers stand out in a dry summer season. If I'm sitting right up at the top of the garden, under the trees, the hydrangea stands out beautifully in the sun through the arched shadows of the leaves. This plant needs cutting back right down to a pair of leaves in autumn and will grow again strongly in spring. It has become a real stalwart in the garden. I'm hopeless with houseplants so I planted it straight out and for several years it became terribly droopy in dry periods but now I never water it at all and it doesn't even seem to notice. The flowers, like the cardoon, dry very well and, in a large vase even just one on its own will look great indoors all winter.
Hydrangea Mallow
The mallow is a more delicate shrub, with single flowers, which wave about in the breeze on slight branches and fills a gap like a sort of semi sheer curtain. It's probably the commonest of the mallows with plain pink flowers, much visited by flying insects. Like both the other plants, I cut it right down to a pair of leaves near the ground in autumn.
All three plants get mulched in spring and otherwise I don't feed them.
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