Surviving the heat
Phew, what a heatwave we have had during the last couple of months! This is when you really have to look after your plants. The time for planting trees and shrubs is over until the autumn, tempting as they look on the garden centre benches.
However, you can still plan any changes to your garden for when it starts to be cooler again. I am always being asked where to plant trees as some have extensive root systems that can disrupt water supplies as they spread out underground. We’ll talk more about them in the autumn. Have a look at your current trees and shrubs, as well as climbers and vines (as they are known in gardening jargon) and note those that do well in your garden.
Amongst the plants that can take the heat and like a warm, sunny spot in which to grow, are pyracantha, natives of this area of the Mediterranean, which after the yellow or white flowers have faded, turn into bright orange or sometimes yellow berries in the autumn. These plants like to grow in reasonable soil and up against a wall, where they get reflected heat.
Pandorea jasminoides, popular in Australian gardens,is usually to be found in tropical rainforests, where it grows rapidly in order to reach the sun above the tree canopies. The descriptive name jasminoides comes from the jasmine-like perfume that the plant exudes from the flowers, and which over time produceslarge seed pods. Growth can be rampant so some pruning is necessary after flowering.
Mandevillea splendens will flower right into the autumn. It would seem that they are best grown as pot plants, so that they can be sheltered from the heat of the day, but they are able to survive humidity.
Campsis radicans is a woody climber, sometimes known as the ‘Trumpet Vine’ and really does need some substantial support! It has been known to take over telephone and electricity wires if ignored!
Moving on to lesser climbers (in size not beauty) I must mention Hoya carnosa, whichis an ideal climber if you garden on a veranda. It could easily fit into a shady corner, so that you could enjoy the pretty clusters of pink flowers. Although much smaller than the others mentioned, again it would need some support. Hoyas are better grown away from areas with really cold nights, as they are classed as tropical plants.
Stem cuttings can be taken easily as long as each piece of stem has at least two leaves. If you plant these in a pot or even in the garden, they will eventually root, but they may sulk for a year or two before you get to see the charming flowers. Don’t repot the plant once the flower buds have started to form or they may drop and don’t cut off last year’s flower stems, as that is where this year’s flowers will grow from.
There are still jobs to be done despite the heat. Now that it gets light much earlier in the mornings I like to get out in the garden before the sun is too far up and heats up the day. I leave any other jobs, like watering or dead-heading until the evening, when I can work in more shaded areas.
Lavenders and rosemarys can quickly outgrow their spaces and run to wood. So, keep your eye on them and remove any dead flowers and stems. Osteospermums need constant dead-heading or you will be inundated with tiny plantlets later in the year. You may want this and you could possibly get some interesting colour combinations, which is always exciting. After a while the plants can grow very ‘leggy’, so whilst you are weeding cut the stems back to where you see new growths appearing along them.
Help irises along by cutting out the old flowering stems right to the rhizome as they will not flower from that point again. I always like to reduce the leaves at this time. My National Trust Head Gardener friend always did this and years ago when I asked him why, he said it was to make the beds look tidy! My opinion is that it exposes the rhizome to the summer sun, helping to form the flowers for next season. You can reduce the size of the clumps and plant the rhizomes in a sunny spot in your garden later in the cooler days.
Watering is a daily chore now, but use water sparingly as we were really short of rainfall in Cyprus this year. Count up to five whilst watering pots on a regular basis, which is enough and you can use ‘grey’ water, except for anything you are going to eat. If you do have new plants, the best way to help things along is to sink a cut-off water bottle, nozzle down behind the plant and put the water in that. Any excess will drain to the roots and any plants below will benefit too. You can also feed the plant that way if you need to feed.
I had a pleasant surprise this year when two large pots of amaryllis on the veranda decided to flower for me. One pot had at least six huge stems and the other three. What a joy! And more recently, a huge cactus plant, which was a gift from a friend many years ago, flowered itself silly this year, but sadly the flowers only lasted one day!
Cactus and succulents need light sandy soil to allow any water to drain away easily. This will avoid root rot and in the case of succulents, too much water may cause leaves to drop. A covering of grit will help matters, too.
Plant of the Month – Hemerocallis
This is another plant that flowers for one day only. Hemerocallis are part of the Asphodel family and we have plenty of those in the early spring time here. Native of Asia, they grow well in Northern Hemisphere gardens too.
They have a common name of ‘Ditch Lily’, but strictly speaking are not a lily and neither do they only grow in ditches! How they came by that name, I do not know. Maybe someone threw some out in times past and they survived in ditches! It is such a shame to call these lovely flowers by that awful name.
They also have other common names like ‘Corn Lilies’, ‘4th of July Ditches’ and ‘Tawny Daylilies’, which of course depends on the colour of the flowers. You can see how these names came about – flowering time for the corn to ripen, which could be around July 4th or perhaps Americans like to use them to decorate their homes on this special day for them!
How did they end up being such a popular plant in America? Apparently, the first settlers took them over there and they became firm favourites, as they are very easy to grow and they have been around there for a very long time. However, if you split them too often, rather like a lot of plants they sulk and there will be no flowers until they have settled in again.
You’ve probably seen them – tall, graceful stems with colourful orange petals sometimes streaked with yellow and red. Orange daylilies were once very hardy wildflowers, which spread rapidly.
But, as beloved as these flowers are to some people, there can be some issues with trying to grow them in a small garden. Many gardeners consider them invasive and problematic, and in need of division from time to time. Like any commonly-grown but invasive plants they are difficult to eradicate when they outgrow their space, so they are rather controversial. These ‘lilies’ are popular not only because they grow and spread so assertively, but because people also find them attractive.
It is thought that these wonderful plants (to some) were brought to Europe from Japan and China along the Silk Road and were sometimes used in Roman medicines. The Chinese and Japanese ate various parts of them and they were known as ‘The Plant of Forgetfulness’, as the leaves were said to be slightly intoxicating. Ingesting daylilies can be fatal for cats but are okay for dogs and humans, although I wouldn’t recommend them as part of your daily diet!
Hemerocallis prefers a sunny or partly sunny spot in the garden, but remember that each flower lasts for only one day, so remove it after flowering so that it doesn’t spend its energy making seed pods.
This delightful plant might come in a net package early in the season, but for best results buy a potted one. You may see groups of bright orange ones in old village gardens here, although there are thousands of named cultivars with different shaped flowers and colours. These colourful perennials (meaning that they come up every year) will quickly grow into an attractive clump.