by Liz Stewart, Chief Executive, Scotland’s Gardens Scheme
We’re now well into October and what is turning out to be a beautiful and clement Scottish autumn, so far at least. A wettish September here in Scotland helped to revive the baked summer soils and boost our dry gardens into giving us another flush that is seeing us into autumn. Those who have assiduously deadheaded through the summer months will be noticing the difference and reaping the benefits now.
The usual wet and windy October weather which often puts paid to our gardens late summer gardens, leaving a soggy mess and battered foliage in its wake, has not yet materialised. And so the gardens keep on blooming and while we’ve had a touch of frost over the past week in many areas and very tender annuals like nasturtiums have collapsed, dahlias have not yet blackened and gardens are continuing to bloom!
A wise garden owner said to me once that, when creating their garden, they planned for their late summer impact and the rest of the seasons fall in around that, resulting in colour all through year. And while I think they were being a little modest as there’s clearly a lot of skill and knowledge in creating a garden that looks good through all seasons, it’s a lesson worth taking to heart.
And with the right conditions, some judicious care and a fair wind behind us, there is so much looking good in the garden right now!
Some plants will keep going all summer long and into the autumn and are definitely worth a home in your garden their sheer staying power. Annuals include Cosmos with their palette of bright colours; the giant Tagetes ‘Burnt embers’ or ‘Giant Orange’ which hit you round the head with their bright orange bubbles, or the elegant red Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia. Jewel-like snapdragons keep on, keeping on, and the enticing tassels of Amaranthus are a joy for fashionable flower arrangements and for the birds to nibble on too when they dry into seedheads.
Perennial favourites that are ‘doers’ from summer into autumn are the fashionable Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (no garden should be without at least one) which just… keeps…. going, as do the dainty, daisy-like flowers of Mexican fleabane, Erigeron karvinskianus. Penstemon of all colours earn their keep in the border with their spires of colourful bells; keep deadheading these to keep them going.
Dahlias, of course, need a mention here as they are flowering their hearts out in many gardens, although sadly not in mine as the slugs have not been my friends this year. It has been a good year for the roses, however; choose repeat flowering roses, deadhead and cut back after flowering and they will reward you by coming back for another show.
And for those plants where late summer and autumn is their time to shine, well we have what most of know as asters, recently renamed, with their little star-like flowers in blues, purples and whites on towering stems. A particularly lovely one can be seen at Willowhill with almost black stems blending with other front-runners during the summer, then coming into their own in the autumn with its soft violet daisy-like blooms – Symphyotrichum leave ‘Calliope’.
Verbena bonariensis is wonderful at this time of year and is another that seems to keep on forever, with its tall square stems proudly bearing their clusters of tiny purple flowers creating clouds across the garden, swaying robustly in the wind and providing late season nectar for pollinators to feed on, then seeds for the birds, as well as fantastic winter structure. An enthusiastic self-seeder.
Luminous blue aconite glows in the autumn border, while clusters of Japanese anemone run riot – this can be a thug in the garden, especially the more common pink one, as it can spread vigorously – but my goodness, aren’t we grateful for the colour at this time of year.
The unflatteringly-named Toadlily is looking at its best at the moment – perhaps worth including for the name alone. And although I’m not a massive fan of the vibrant pink colour of Nerines, dancing a cancan at this time of year, there’s no doubt that they bring a cheery splash of colour. The more sedate Naked Ladies Colchicum autumn crocus are also worth cultivating in clumps, and another worth including for the name!
I love a bit of orange in the garden and when dahlias were floundering, I turned to chrysanthemums, with the lovely ‘Dixter Orange’ picked up at a garden plant sale. This seems to be happily resistant to the slugs and is another do-er, flowering away to this date. Don’t forget to deadhead this one too. I will be trying out more chrysanths next year.
Remember to plant trees and shrubs in the garden and there’s lots of autumn joy here too (did I mentioned the wonderful perennial Sedum Spectabile now Hylotelephium ‘Autumn Joy’ as it’s now known – very popular with the butterflies – I digress). Hardy fuchsias are wonderful through summer and into autumn, not just with their dainty ballerina-like flowers but with the turning of leaves to gold in the autumn. Crab apples have wonderful autumn colour, with their yellowing leaves and harvest of shiny fruits of deep purples, apple-pink and warm orange, a feast for the birds. The leaves on Spindleberry trees are turning, with the little magenta and orange fruit pretty in the autumn, and an important winter food source for birds, while sorbus of different varieties are laden with berries – not just the traditional red but pinks, whites and yellows too.
There really is so much going on in the garden at this time of year and during this year when the late summer weather has been so conducive to colour, my eyes have been opened to how much there is still to enjoy. If there are any lessons I’ve learned, it’s these:
Don’t forget to plant with late summer and autumn colour
Keep your eyes open and see what’s growing in other people’s gardens
Have a look in your garden centre or nursery and see what’s flowering now
Be bold! Deadhead deadhead deadhead – for those plants that respond to deadheading (do check) it really does work and keeps things blooming.
And don’t put the garden to bed just yet – there’s still a lot to enjoy.
For autumn inspiration, here are a few gardens for you to visit now for autumn blooms:
