Its August folks, can you believe it? Where is the year going to, it will soon be time for Strictly again! It already feels like there is a shift towards autumn. I was up early for a run this week and there was a definite chill in the air, it was foggy and such a heavy dew on the grass and flowers. The hedgerows near me are full of blackberries, its been a good year for those, and the white flowers of the bindweed are covering the hedges like bunting. There were hundreds of spiders webs speckled with the heavy dew. I don’t mind too much as I love autumn but I was hoping to have a summer first. I’m sure we will still have some nice weather to come but there is a definite change in the air. To be fair this summer has suited me, I don’t really like those boiling hot days and scorched gardens, good job living up North! We have had some lovely sunny days but then some days of heavy rain and the garden has liked that, everything is still very green and lush. The sweet peas have loved it but the slugs have also had a party this summer.
One of my favourite bouquets this month, with Cosmos ‘Purity’ and Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ and ‘Cherry Caramel’, Oreganum, Ammi visnaga, Scabious ‘Fata Morgana’, Lysimachia clethroides and Dahlia ‘Rip City’.
After a bit of a slow start the cutting garden has come good on the whole, there have been some losers but I’ve had plenty for cutting. August is a quiet time work wise in the cut flower garden, all I really do is try to keep on top of cutting the flowers, or deadheading them if they get away from me, and watering if its needed. I tend to lose my gardening mojo a bit in August, its all a bit manic in May and June that by August I’m a bit exhausted and need a break. I’ve realised this now so just accept it and use the summer to try and recharge a bit and just let the garden be. We tend to go away in September and then I’m back ready to get going with autumn seed sowing and bulb planting and so the cycle goes on.
The sunflowers are here in abundance. This year I’ve grown ‘Red Sun’ at the front here, then as you go round clockwise there is ‘Summer Lovin’, dark red ‘Claret’ at the top, I love the little ‘Valentine’ yellow and then ‘Ruby Eclipse’ that has pink blushed through it.
I used ‘Summer Lovin’ and ‘Ruby Eclipse’ with some of the Red Amaranthus which is looking glorious now, Ammi visnaga and Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’. The red of the Amaranthus picking up the reds and pinks in the sunflowers beautifully.
I love the smaller lemon yellow sunflower, Helianthus ‘Valentine’, its such a lovely colour and the smaller flower heads are easier to incorporate into bouquets. Here it’s included in a softly coloured posy with the beautiful Aster ‘Little Carlow’, the perennial sunflower Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ and the seedheads of Bupleurum falcatum and more of that fabulous filler Ammi visnaga. 
So some areas of my garden need some attention now, the autumn sown annuals have all gone over now and they need digging up and composting but before I do that I always see if I can collect some seeds. Nice easy ones to collect are the spiky hedgehog-like seeds of Orlaya grandiflora, which I think likes to be sown fresh, the big black seeds of Cerinthe and the weird alien-like ones of Calendula. The big pods of Corncockle are ready for collecting now and I’ve left some of my larkspur to set seed. Or you may want to pick some for the seedheads for drying, like Honesty and Nigella for flower arrangements in the winter. The sweet peas have mostly gone over now and I still need to clear some of the biennials, but there is no rush.
The Cosmos is coming fast now and needs picking or deadheading regularly, I love combining Cosmos ‘Apricotta’ with Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’. Here with the beautiful Larkspur ‘Misty Lavender’, Salvia ‘Oxford Blue’, Sweet pea ‘Nimbus’ and Sweet pea ‘Swan Lake’, the white spikes of Lysimachia barystachys, white Oregano and Sedum.
More Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, now joined now with Cosmos ‘Double Click Cranberries’, Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ and ‘Cherry Caramel’, Scabious ‘Magic’, Nicotiana ‘Starlight Dancer’ and Ammi visnaga.
I also have to keep remembering to keep an eye on the biennials that I sowed in July, they need careful watering and also protecting from slugs. I will plant some of the wallflowers and Honesty as soon as I have space as they are going fast and strongly now. Though I noticed that my Honesty was being eaten the other day by cabbage white butterfly caterpillars! They are in the Brassica family so are susceptible but gosh if its not the slugs its something else.
Its a good time to visit some gardens now too to give you inspiration for your cutting garden for next year. One that always inspires me is the one at Chatsworth in Derbyshire, which is a really interesting mix of annuals, perennials and shrubs with such an amazing backdrop.
Also Arley Hall in Cheshire has a lovely cut flower area. The main big herbaceous borders are what everyone goes to Arley for and they really are amazing and the real star feature of the garden but I loved the planting in the Kitchen garden too. There seemed to have a lot of beds with cut flowers in this year. The border here are full of herbaceous Paeonies in late May/June and they have filled the gaps with an array of Cosmos, Cleome and Cornflowers to flower through July and August.
Also loved the bed of Limonium suworowii, tried growing that this year but not very successfully, this is how it should look!
Hoping that summer holds on for a bit longer and its looks set fair here for a few days so hopefully I will get in the garden and get a bit on top of things but then again might just get my book and just enjoy the garden……
Higgledy Anne
(I’m on Instagram anne_hinks if you fancy a follow)