At busy times of the year it’s easy for us to forget to enjoy our gardens and spend time simply sitting and looking. Having done just that, we're happy to say that the Genus garden is full to the brim with colour and life, despite the fact that some of the trees are suggesting that autumn is taking hold.
One thing that occurred to us is that many of the plants giving us such pleasure at the moment are the result of acting early in the year and spending time in the greenhouse to grow things that will perform well in the late summer garden. All our annuals are grown from seed started off in April with the sowing date chosen to coincide with the moment when frosts are most likely to have passed. This usually means early March, which gives us six weeks to produce strong, robust plants ready for planting out halfway through May.
Those candidates that are now repaying the early effort are the beautiful cupcake series of Cosmos, along with the other annuals Tithonia ‘Torch’, Sunflower’ Earth Walker’, Gaura ‘The Bride’, and the stunning climber Ipomea lobata or Spanish Flag (pictured). Backed up by the permanent residents of the borders; dahlias ‘David Howard’, ‘Purple Flame’ and ‘Rip City’, heleniums, Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ and ‘Mrs J. Bradshaw’, we’re almost tempted to down tools and enjoy the last few weeks of the summer garden from the comfort of the loungers. Well almost. We’ve just spotted a Dahlia that needs deadheading!!
Clothes in action today: Women's Eden Gardening Jersey in Charcoal
