Purple-leafed smoke bush at its peak

PLANTS with dark-coloured foliage can add drama and contrast in the garden, none more so than the purple-leafed smoke bush, Cotinus coggygria ‘Grace’, which is at its peak at this time of year.

We thought we’d lost ours this year after the long, cold winter and spring, because it showed no signs of growth until well into April.

I had almost decided it would have to come down and was sadly looking up into its branches deciding the best way to fell it when I spotted tiny black buds along the length of the branches and trunk.

These soon opened out into the usual crop of oval deep plum-coloured leaves. Planted in a bright spot, this shrub looks wonderful against a blue sky with the sun glowing through the massed foliage.

The picture shows that our shrub is more like a tree, for left unpruned ‘Grace’ can grow to four or five metres.

You will also see that the original symmetry has been lost as half the tree did die in the winter and had to be cut out. But we are thankful to see the rest of it in full splendour and covered in clouds of wispy pinkish flower plumes that from a distance give the impression of smoke, hence the popular name for this family of plants.

Next spring we can improve the appearance but for the moment we are enjoying our quirkily shaped tree.

In the vegetable garden

AFTER a slow start, vegetables are dashing into growth and vegetable gardens are filling with luxuriant produce, especially from species that like this hot, sunny weather.

I have made watering a priority in this area of the garden as it is in a south-facing, exposed site. Other growers have assured me that vegetables will find water without having to get the hose out for them, but I’ve chickened out and given them a couple of lengthy soakings over the past couple of weeks.

Runner, French and broad beans are all in flower and beginning to show the first signs of tiny pods; courgette plants are huge and we’ve had a couple of meals from their produce, while the outdoor cucumbers are in bloom, so should produce something edible in a couple of weeks.

I am growing the cucumbers as part of a Gardening Which? trial and it has been interesting to see the varied growth of the five plants that has developed, despite all being treated exactly the same, from germination onwards.

Life-sized menagerie...

YORKSHIRE wirework sculptor Chris Moss will be exhibiting a life-size menagerie of animals in the borders and gardens at Stillingfleet Lodge next month.

Hens, guinea fowl, cats, dogs and even a pony are among the animals that will sit alongside the rare hens and abundant wildlife owner Vanessa Cook attracts to her four-acre garden.

Vanessa has spent more than 35 years working on the garden at Stillingfleet Lodge and has been inspired by Henk Gerritsen, a Dutch garden designer who explored ideas for naturalistic planting that worked with nature.

Chris was at the Great Yorkshire Show earlier this month and took part in the North Yorkshire Open Studios in June.

“I love the naturalistic settings at Stillingfleet which means I can place the sculptures interacting as they would do in real life” says Chris. Her sculptures will be on sale, starting at £110 for a small bird to £395 for a dog.

Stillingfleet Lodge gardens, nursery and café are open every Wednesday and Friday in August from 1pm-5pm (extended to 7pm on August 14). They will also be open on Saturday and Sunday August 3 and 4 and August 17 and 18. Entry to the garden is £4.50 adult, 50p child 5yrs-16yrs. For more details visit stillingfleetlodgenurseries.co.uk.

Open gardens

Tomorrow

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme

Cow Close Cottage, Stripe Lane, Hartwith, HG3 3EY, eight miles north west of Harrogate. New to the NGS, this recently redeveloped garden lies on a sloping site with a stream and long views. Large borders are planted with grasses and later-flowering perennials and gravel paths lead to a vegetable area. Open 11am-5pm, admission £3. Also open on Wednesday, 11am-5pm.

Littlethorpe Gardens, Littlethorpe, HG4 3LS, 1.5miles south east of Ripon. Two gardens open in the village. Greencroft has a half-acre informal garden with long herbaceous borders filled with late-flowering perennials, annuals and exotics, a large wildlife pond and numerous ornamental features. Kirkella is a small garden planted for year-round interest. The front garden has a Mediterranean feel, while the densely packed back garden is filled with hostas, half-hardy perennials and small shrubs. Open noon to 5pm, combined admission £4.50.

Low Sutton, Sutton Lane, Masham, HG4 4PB, 1.5miles west of Masham. A garden with a six-acre smallholding with a perennial border, grasses, fruit and vegetables decoratively grown in raised beds and a concentric circular floral colour-wheel surrounded by roses and clematis. Open 1pm-5pm, admission £3.

Pilmoor Cottages, Pilmoor, YO61 2QQ, 20 miles north of York. New to the NGS. Two-acre informal garden planted for year-round interest from bulbs in spring to colchicums and cyclamen in autumn. There is also a clock golf putting green and a miniature railway around the garden, rockery and ponds. Open 11am-5pm. Admission £3.50.

Queensgate and Kitchen Lane, Allotments, Beverley, HU17 8NN, on the A164 towards Cottingham. Fruit and vegetable growers will be able to get inspiration from this opening of 85 plots at Queensgate and a further 35 on Kitchen Lane. There will be a range of fruit, vegetables and flowers to see and some allotment holders will be on site to discuss their plots. Open 12pm-4pm, admission £2.50.

Gardening TV and Radio

Tomorrow

8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

8.15am, BBC2, Around the World in 80 Gardens. Monty Don visits Mexico City’s ancient water gardens. (Rpt).

9am, BBC Radio York, Julia Lewis. News from North Yorkshire gardens.

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

9.15am, BBC2, The Beechgrove Garden.

9.45am, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. (Rpt).

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chairman Eric Robson and panellists Chris Bearshaw, Pippa Greenwood and Christine Walkden advise visitors to the RHS Tatton Flower Show in Knutsford, Cheshire.

Tuesday

8pm, ITV, Love Your Garden. Alan Titchmarsh and his team create a wildlife-friendly garden for Rhyanne Nixon who has motor neuron disease.

Friday

3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Carole Baxter, Bob Flowerdew and Anne Swithinbank help gardeners from Midlothian. 8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. Monty Don looks at sowing late vegetables; Carol Klein discusses the bearded iris.

9pm, BBC2, What’s Killing Our Bees? A Horizon Special. One third of what we eat is reliant on bee pollination. Bill Turnbull sets out to understand why our bee population is falling so dramatically.