Flowers At The End Of The Season...
After a showery start it is a sunny, breezy midday. I have taken the newspapers and my coffee outside to soak up the sun’s rays, plumping up my pineal gland for the darker days coming. At this time of year I treasure every ray.
Because of spine problems I’ve been out of commission for a long time and am eager to get into the garden (by camera; no bending!) and writing again…
As I went to fetch a side table, I passed the hedge of fuchsias planted along the south foundation and they were alive with honeybees. Small-flowered fuchsias can be an excellent source of late season nectar; carrying on until after a hard frost.
After a showery start it is a sunny, breezy midday. I have taken the newspapers and my coffee outside to soak up the sun’s rays, plumping up my pineal gland for the darker days coming. At this time of year I treasure every ray.
Because of spine problems I’ve been out of commission for a long time and am eager to get into the garden (by camera; no bending!) and writing again…
As I went to fetch a side table, I passed the hedge of fuchsias planted along the south foundation and they were alive with honeybees. Small-flowered fuchsias can be an excellent source of late season nectar; carrying on until after a hard frost.
This variety is “Bernisser Hardy”, a small-flowered fuchsia growing to between 3’and 3.5’ x 4’w / 90cm—110cm x 120cm. The hardy in its name is literal. It has simple flowers (no ruffles). The sepals are bright fuchsia and the flower is Tyrian purple…and it is just the right size for a honeybee.
It’s a really tough variety, happy in full sun, needing no extra water in dry spells once established and also coming through our variable south-of-England winters without “turning a hair”, so to speak…as a bonus it blooms its head off!
“It’s so beautiful that we find it difficult to be strict”
The other plants that are still very much in flower are the shrubby salvias. We have three at present that are beautiful, tough and reliable:
Salvia microphylla “Flower Child”
(Three plants together)
Rich clear rose color on a compact plant. At five years it is only 24”/ 60cm. The flowers are produced quite closely along the flower stems giving a good dense color effect.
Salvia microphylla “Wendy’s Surprise”
This one is a seedling of “San Carlos Festival”; the same glorious rich red but, unlike its parent, on an exceptionally hardy and vigorous plant.
It will grow to around 4’/ 120cm or more depending on how severely it is pruned. (It’s so beautiful that we find it difficult to be strict). Of all the salvias we have grown it is the absolute favorite of the bees.
Salvia x jamensis “Javier"
An unusual light, transparent purple; it grows to around 75-90cm/ 30-36”. Flowering a few weeks later than the others, it also stops a bit later. It looks very sorry for itself in the spring, but responds to a light pruning by producing lots of lush growth and flowers.
“It stops me in my tracks every time I pass by”
Another salvia, this time a tender one, which shows no sign of stopping is Salvia sagittata “Blue Butterflies”. A stunningly beautiful blue on a rather rangey plant. It’s a pity that it won’t survive the winter. It stops me in my tracks every time I pass by.
My advice to anyone deciding to grow it is to plant them quite closely together (18”/ 45cm) in order to concentrate the color. It’s an eye-catcher for sure.
My advice to anyone deciding to grow it is to plant them quite closely together (18”/ 45cm) in order to concentrate the color. It’s an eye-catcher for sure.
I was chatting with Paul Seabourne of Pelham Nurseries about Salvias, which seem to be the height of fashion these days. He told me that without a great deal of care, many of them die off quickly, leaving gardeners feeling they have failed. Even Piet Oudolf writes that Salvias are very prone to an early or sudden death, the reasons of which which even he is stumped by. So to know the names of the ones you have grown so well for many years is well worth noting by those of us who are avid followers of fashion.
So glad to have you back sharing your beautiful garden with everyone. Winter is so enriched by the addition of vibrant color to break the monotony of hens and browns as the plants go dormant for the season. A stroll through a garden to find the colorful jewels lifts my spirits. Thanks.