The August cutting garden: Cosmos, Zinnias and Sunflowers

Thank heavens we have had some rain at last and proper heavy rain that has soaked through the ground, we still need more and I appreciate that there have been other parts of the country that still are struggling and haven’t had this rain. Its also much cooler, especially in the mornings and evenings. But it has been a real relief for us gardeners. I know it sounds silly but it has been a stressful time watching the garden shrivel up and the grass fade to brown. The grass will bounce back and many of the perennials will too, they have just been conserving their energy, died back and gone dormant. But it has been hard if you’ve had annuals. We haven’t had a hosepipe ban here but I’ve still made conscious decisions about what to water and how regularly. I have prioritised the tomatoes in the greenhouse and the Dahlias in pots (these bring me so much joy and flower endlessly over the summer), no watering of the borders, some of the raised beds have been watered weekly but I’ve abandoned a couple and let them go to seed. As I said in my previous blog I gave up on my sweet peas and many things have gone over much quicker than normal and I’ve collected seed and taken them out. Thankfully the water butts are all full again and will hopefully last us through to the end of the summer, sometimes I feel very grateful about living in the cooler damper north-west England. We could still have some further heatwaves but it looks a bit more like our ‘usual’ weather of sunshine and showers for a while, which suits me fine.

My garden and the general landscape round here has really taken on a autumnal feel, I have a big beech tree in my garden which is really struggling, most of its leaves have turned brown and it has dropped many of its leaves already. The hedgerows are full of berries and many trees like Birch have taken on their autumn colours. To be honest I think I’m ready for autumn now, its been a busy year and I’m ready to start slowing down. I’ve completely lost my gardening mojo but this happens to me every year. I just don’t really like August, is that sacrilegious to say? I’m not a big sun lover, which is why I love my partly shady garden. Feels even worse this year, its been too hot to do any gardening and it feels like I’ve been constant watering at the nursery I work at and also at home. I’m feeling a bit jaded, I’m having a break soon which I’m really looking forward too and then when back I will be fit and refreshed and ready to get gardening again. Though already I’m starting to think ahead for next year but more of that later.

August is the time for the late flowering half hardy annuals like Cosmos, Rudbeckia, Zinnias and Sunflowers and all have done OK just about but it has been hard going. The flowers on the sunflowers are a lot smaller than normal but actually that’s not always a bad thing, I find the smaller flowers easier to arrange. Zinnias have been good when they have flowered but they took a bit of time to recover from the slugs and I just find them so slow from cutting a stem to getting another flower I never seem to be able to pick a good armful. I probably need to pack them in more. This is not the case for Cosmos, such a great flower for the cutting garden. Really drought tolerant and they have just kept flowering despite the heat, the ones that I planted in the mixed border I haven’t really watered at all and still they pump out the flowers.

Keeping the biennials going that I sowed in July has been a challenge this year with watering needed and despite the dry I still seem to have slugs around that can decimate young seedlings in a flash, but these are now ready to plant once I’ve cleared some space in the raised beds so that will be done soon. I’m planning my autumn seed sowing which seems to become more and more important for me each year as these flower early before it gets too hot in the summer. Key ones to sow for me are Cornflowers, Orlaya, Corncockle, Cerinthe, Candytuft, Ammi, Salvia viridis and maybe Godetia. That will start in early September. I’m also definitely going to have a go at direct sowing the autumn seed mix.

I have managed to do a little bit of flower arranging this month, and its clear what my main colour pallet has been this year with lots of pinks and apricot. This arrangement celebrates Rudbeckia ‘Sherry brandy’, Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’, a lovely pink Zinnia, Dahlia ‘Preference’ and Sedum.

Nicotiana, has been another good drought tolerant flower for me this year. Here we have lots of Nicotiana ‘Sensation’ and Nicotiana affinis in another pink arrangement. This arrangement smelt divine with the Nicotiana and the Phlox.

With Phlox’ Creme brulee’, Ammi visnaga, Helianthus ‘Summer Lovin’, Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, Thalictrum ‘Splendide White’ and Verbena bonariensis.

But this one was just a vibrant colour clash of joy.

With Zinnia ‘Envy’ and Zinnia ‘Mammoth’, Nicotiana ‘Lime’ and Nicotiana ‘Sensation’, Cosmos ‘Cherry Chocolate’, Helenium ‘Moth’, Panicum ‘Frosted Explosion’ and Verbena bonariensis

So despite the challenging weather, still managed to have some colour and flowers in the late summer garden and now we are having some good amounts of rain with sunshine in between I’m hoping we can extend the cutting season for well into September and into October.

Higgledy Anne

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