Its been a sunny summer here in the north of England! We are in the middle of another dry spell and, its fair to say, the cutting garden is struggling. Thankfully it has cooled down a bit this week but there has been no significant rain for a few weeks. I think we are due for some next week, I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’m having to be a bit judicious with my watering now, I do have 5 water butts in my garden but they soon get depleted and I’m trying to be very careful. I don’t water the garden itself unless I have planted anything new but won’t be planting anything now till the autumn. Its mostly my Dahlias in containers, my tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse and a few raised beds that have my annuals in that I need to water. I’ve been saving my washing up water and throwing it over the roots of the hydrangeas in the back garden. Some things have gone over much quicker than normal and I haven’t kept up with all the deadheading so some things have gone to seed and some like the Zinnias have just got smaller flowers than usual. Its definitely a challenge this year, but we have had a sunny summer.
Its not all doom and gloom, the Cosmos are doing really well, they do seem pretty drought tolerant in good soil. The Ammi visnaga has arrived and as subtly beautiful as ever. Both are in this arrangement. Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, ‘Double Click Cranberries’ and ‘Fizzy Rose’, with Lavatera ‘Mont Blanc’ (one of my best new finds this season and I’m hoping that we may stock it at Higgledy soon), Limonium suworowii, Lysimachia clethroides and Origanum ‘Rosenkuppel’.
I really must celebrate the Cosmos, they really are so good and much more drought tolerant than many other annuals. I have a couple of small patches of them and they are looking fresh. I will give them a bit of a water after a really hot day but otherwise I have hardly watered them. Here is a little flaylay of the varieties that I’ve grown this year. From top, left to right, we have Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, ‘Fizzy Rose’ and ‘Purity’, bottom, left to right, ‘Xsenia’, ‘Double Click Cranberries’ and a new one for me ‘Xanthos’. 
Still nothing beats ‘Apricotta’ for me! I just love that colour, it just seems to glow with that irridescent pink in the centre. It seems to go with lots of pink and peaches. Purples, rich dark reds.
Used again in this bright and soft arrangement. I’ve managed to squeeze three into this arrangement, Cosmos ‘Double Click Cranberries’, ‘Apricotta’ and ‘Xsenia’. Plus Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ and ‘Cherry Caramel’, Cerinthe, Consolida ‘Blue Cloud’, Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ and Dahlia ‘Preference’.
Cosmos ‘Xsenia’ looking beautiful.
And the delectable ‘Double Click Cranberries’….
Cosmos ‘Double Click Cranberries’ was the star of this arrangement too this month.
Along with the beautiful Amaranthus Red, Dahlia ‘Preference’, Sedum and Physocarpus ‘Diablo’ foliage and a bit of frothy fun from Panicum ‘Frosted Explosion’.
A glorious bunch of Cosmos with the other stars of the August garden, the beautiful annual Phlox. Here with Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ and ‘Cherry Caramel’.
Its not all about pinks though and the drawing to the end of the summer brings about some lovely yellow in the garden. This contains Cosmos ‘Xanthos’ a lovely fresh yellow and the beautiful clean white of Cosmos ‘Purity’.
Plus Ammi visnaga, Zinnia ‘Portofino Peach’, Inula hookeri, Scabiosa ‘Fata Morgana’.
Plus Rudbeckia ‘Marmalade’ and ‘Irish Eyes’.
And Helianthus ‘Vanilla Ice’.
Finally another big up for the gorgeous Ammi visnaga, many people grow Ammi majus, which is lovely but I do prefer Ammi V. Its later in the season, is a much more sturdy and stable form and has lovely frothy foliage. Plus the flowers are smaller and I find easier to use in arrangements than the floppier Ammi M. Just look at this beautiful bunch, and you will find it as a filler in most of my arrangements at the moment.
Here it is though having a more starring role in a simple bouquet with just four ingredients. Ammi visnaga, Lysimachia clethroides, Verbena bonariensis and Origanum ‘Rossenkuppel’.
So there we go, despite a tricky growing year there are still some highlights in the cutting patch in August. Hope you are all managing to keep yours growing. I’m planning ahead for next year now and getting ready for some sowing of hardy annuals in September. There is currently a special offer on a 1/2 price September sow meadow mix with a gorgeous mix of hardy annuals to give you some early colour next year.
Higgledy Anne
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