4 AMATEURGARDENING 10 AUGUST 2019
B
YthemiddleofAugust,the
exuberanceofthesummer
gardencanstarttoflag.Heat
andtheoccasionalbattering
stormtaketheirtollandtheeffectsofa
dryspringandsummerareplaintosee.
Aswithmostthingsin thegarden,
thisisn’tirreversible.Continuingto
deadhead,feedandwaterexisting
plantsandreplacingthosethathave
diedwillallhelpaddnew
tothebodyof thegarden
Anaddedbonusis tha
thesenewandrevived
plantsshouldcontinue
toflowerthroughoutthe
restof summer,merging
seamlesslywithany
autumn-flowering
plantingsalreadymade.
Alotof gardensalesa
sellingoffthissummer’s
stockat reducedprices.T
beddingplantsmaybelookinga bit
grim,butif youlookcarefullyyoucan
buy mature perennials for a bargain.
Choosehealthy-lookingoneswith
lotsof flowerbuds,givethema good
drinkbeforeplantingandcutawaydead
anddamagedleavesandflowers.Place
themin anappropriatesite,andtheywill
rewardyouwithbloomsintothisautumn
andhopefullyforyearstocome.
I boughtthreebargainperennials
fromourlocalcentre(a Kniphofia
‘PineapplePopsicle’,a Salvia‘Wendy’s
d a Helenium‘Mardi
andsavedmyselfa
ner,whichcheered
e upnoend!
NowallI havetodo
makeroomforthem
n theborders...
TheAfricanviolet
avesI pottedupto
e ascuttingshave
takensoI have
edthemintotheirown
togrowon.Hopefully
theywillmatureandstarttoflowerover
thewinter,bringingcolourinside when
there’s little else around.
It’s time for you to revive flagging summer beds, saysRuth
I’maddingmore‘bargain
basement’bloomstoprolong
the colour in our garden
1
TheAfricavioletleaveshave
rootedandstartedtothrowout
leaflets,sotheyare ready to pot
up individually.
2
Filllargemodulesor3in(8cm)
potswithJohnInnesNo
compostanddiba root hole in
the centre of each.
3
Carefullylifteachleafand
itsrootballfromthecompost
usinga spoon,holdingtheleaf
steady between your fingers.
4
Plantit in thecompost,firm
in andwaterwell.Place
somewhere light and warm to
grow on.
Potting up
leafcuttings
In time to add winter colour indoors
Step
by step
Colourfulshrubssuchas
Berberisthunbergiiadd
low-maintenance colour
Africanvioletcuttings
are good to go
Abargainis a
marvellous thing!