GINA PARKINSON never has much luck with the daisy-type plants that are so popular in late summer. So thank heavens for the begonias

WE SEEM to have a fallow time for flowers in our garden during July, but once August arrives the gaps slowly begin to refill and by the time we get into September the late summer flowers are with us.

Rudbeckia and Echinacea, those lovely daisy-type plants that are so popular in late summer gardens, do not do well in our garden. Having tried planting them both in autumn and in spring over a few years without success, they have been put to the back of the mind for the moment. I suspect slugs are the problem and in our full beds they have plenty of hiding places.

So it’s the older type of cottage garden plants that are relied on for blooms at the moment, such as Japanese anemone and phlox, shrubs such as hydrangea and long-lasting annuals such as the small bedding begonias.

I’m a bit of a snob about begonias and don’t usually bother with them, but these low-growing colourful specimens are really good for providing months of colour with no effort from the gardener, not even dead-heading.

We only have one clump in a partially shaded bed, but there will definitely be more next year. I chose a dark-leafed variety whose bronze-flushed green foliage contrasts well with the pink flowers.

Begonia semperflorens is a half-hardy perennial which is sometimes used as a house plant. Its main use, however, in the garden as summer bedding, where it will grow in sun and semi or dappled shade. Foliage is green or bronze with flowers in shades of pink, orange, red and white.

Like much bedding, these little plants are usually put on the compost heap after the summer, but I’m going to dig mine up and try to get them through the winter in the house. They might provide us with some flowers over the winter months before being put out again next spring.

 

Give green manure a try

OUR veg patch is gradually being cleared of produce and will this year be used to over-winter a number of perennials. These are being dug up from flowerbeds destined to be reshaped over the next few months and the space in the veg garden is ideal to use instead of putting the plants into pots.

Part of the veg area, however, was left empty until a week or so ago, when it was sown with green manure. The broad beans and beetroot that had grown there this year had been harvested and as the soil is rather poor and sandy, it seemed a good idea to give this method of enriching the earth a go.

Green manures are fast-growing plants that are used as ground cover initially and then are dug into the soil while still green to add nutrients and bulk. They are sown from late summer to early autumn, usually in vegetable beds after harvesting the crop.

Once sown they are simply left to germinate and grow until digging in time which varies according to the species used.

There is a wide range of green manure available. For this first attempt I chose Crimson Clover, Trifolium incarnatum which is a perennial legume especially good for light, sandy soils. It can be sown from March to August and is left to grow up to flowering before being dug in.

The choice of green manures is extensive and includes members of the legume family such as this crimson clover which fixes nitrogen into the soil.

There are also summer-grown species including fenugreek and buckwheat, which are not very hardy and therefore best sown in spring or summer and dug in before the weather gets too cold.

Hardier plants include winter field bean, Vicia faba, and winter tares, Vicia sativa.

Both are annual legumes the former being sown from September to November and the latter from July to September. They will overwinter even in heavy soil before being dug in.

Non leguminous plants include mustard, Sinapis alba which is an annual crop in the brassica family. It is sown from March to September and allowed to grow for two or three months before digging in. Do not use it in areas destined for cabbages as it could encourage the build-up of club-root disease.

Grazing rye, Secale cereal is another annual crop but this can be left in the ground for several months before digging in. Sow from August to November and dig in the following spring.

Green manures are easy to use and grow quickly. The crimson clover sown in our garden germinated in four days in the mild and damp conditions of August.

The soil just needs to be weeded, roughly dug and gently trod down to provide a stable base for the plants.

Broadcast the seeds, rake lightly then leave to grow. When it is time to dig the plants in, chop down the foliage and leave it to wilt before digging it into the top 25cm or so of the earth. Allow the material to decay for at least two weeks before using it for planting.

Gardening TV and radio

Tomorrow

7am, BBC2, Monty Don’s Italian Gardens.

8am, BBC2, Gardeners’ World.

8.30am, BBC2, The Beechgrove Garden. How to keep tomatoes and marrows fresh.

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

9am, BBC Radio York, Julia Lewis. News and features from around the gardens and countryside of North Yorkshire.

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

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. A postbag edition with Matt Biggs, Bob Flowerdew, Pippa Greenwood and chairman Eric Robson.

Friday

3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Charirman Eric Robson and his team advise gardeners in Harrogate.

9.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. Monty Don cuts back the wildflower meadow, Carol Klein visits an ornamental grass expert and Joe Swift discovers how to keep bees.