Catching Up: Flower Colour

Michaelmas daisies, chrysanthemums, geraniums, sedums and more in late September

On 23 August I mis-stepped and cut my shin badly on the outstretched arm of a small bronze sculpture in one of the flower beds. Since then I have not been able to work in the garden, because I had to keep my leg raised most of the time and I was in pain enough to make it difficult to concentrate so this blog has been dormant for a while.  

The result is that I've been able to watch the garden do its own thing for ten weeks and I have been encouraged to find that my idea of  creating a wilder, more wildlife-friendly, more labour saving garden is paying off. 

Lots of interesting things have happened in the last ten weeks and I thought I would consider them under different headings. This week's blog is looking at flower colour. Around August the garden is inclined to dry up and many flowers that  flourished until then simply withered away. Over the last couple of years I have been planting things that would bloom after August and provide interest well into the autumn.

                                                          Clary sage making a comeback

First things to continue into September are the salvias. Of course I have the culinary ones and S. 'Purpurascens' is gorgeous in the purple of its leaves. Then I have two of the shrubby ones, one called 'Nachtvlinder' (meaning night moth), very deep purple - almost black -  and a startlingly bright red one with dark foliage called 'Jezebel' (which I stole as a cutting from an unkempt and unpruned shrub near my bus stop.)  Like many of the herbacous plants and herbs, I cut this back quite fiercely earlier on in the year - not the whole plant, just part of it so one part continued to flower but the bit I cut came back with vigour and is still flowering now. I also have Salvia 'Amistad', tall and stately, less bushy than the others with large flowers of a deep  purple which is  still flowering heartily. And then my clary sage suddenly came into flower again which was a surprise. 

Salvia 'Jezebel' 

 

Soldiering on bravely are three deep red pelargoniums - you only need one pot of those to infuse the whole garden with colour. Several geraniums are also still flowering  namely  G. sanguineum, a sharp bright puce, 'Rosanne', (blue with a white centre) and 'Rose Clair' (pale pink). The sedums are sturdily turning lovely autumn colours, specially S. 'Autumn Joy' which goes a gorgeous burgundy colour.  

Geranium 'Rosanne' with Salvia 'Nachtvlinder just visible behind it

                                     

 There's the bright pink dahlia - one of the Bishops, I don't know which, that also flowers on and on. Also a deep red hollyhock,  a present from a friend, which flowers late and is still there today. 

Red hollyhock

                                                      

But  the big eye-openers this year are the single chrysanthemums I planted in May. My favourite is Mrs. Jessie Cooper with her big yellow centre surrounded by shocking purple petals. She was one of a mixed pack I ordered from Victoriana Nursery Gardens which included some bright yellow varieties that brightened up the whole month of September and a mauve pom pom which sits nicely next to Mrs. Jessie. 

'Mrs. Jessie Cooper' with Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Yellow chrysanthemum with Aster 'Mõnch'

                                                                           

Lastly, there has been the amazing festival of roses. Nearly all my roses suddenly put on a spurt of growth of  the sort you would expect in spring, rather than a polite autumn second flowering. 'Mme Alfred Carrière' always puts out the odd flowers throughout the year, but this autumn she really surpassed herself with a mass of white flowers.  'Tickled Pink' produced several perfectly formed roses (no scent), The two once-flowering roses 'Margaret Merrill' and 'Josephine Bruce' both put out several new blooms, and of course 'Papa Meilland' just went on producing perfect enormous scented red blooms as usual. 

'Madame Alfred Carrière

'Tickled Pink'

My Chrysanthemums:   a collection called 'Cottage Garden Chrysanthemums', came from Victoriana Nursery Garden, Buck Street, Challock, Ashford, Kent TN25 4DG; 01233 740529; www.victoriananursery.co.uk