GINA PARKINSON sings the praises of Japanese anemones, which have been enjoying the warm start to autumn.

AS WE embark on the final quarter of the year, thanks to the warm weather our gardens are still filled with flowers, visited by the occasional bee and butterfly.

The usual autumn suspects are out in force, dahlias and Michaelmas daisies, rudbeckias and late roses are joined by tender plants such as pelargoniums and petunias.

These rich colours are lovely at this time of year, reflecting the tones of leaves on the trees above as they take on their autumnal hues.

Japanese anemones are enjoying the warm weather and seem to have been flowering for months.

In fact the white species we have in the front garden has been on the go since July with no apparent sign of stopping.

They will die back eventually, a blast of cold will slow them down quite quickly, but for the moment we can enjoy their orange-centred white blooms.

The anemone family is large, the members of which will bloom from February through to late October.

Anemone blanda is the early riser with lilac blue daisy-type flowers that will fill a dry, sunny site for several weeks in early spring.

At the end of the year, Anemone japonica comes to the fore with long-lasting pink or white flowers on tall stems.

The commonest white species is japonica ‘Honorine Jobert’ which can grow 90cm-150cm tall, its airy stems useful for growing through other plants.

Unlike other members of the genus, the Japanese anemones will grow happily in shade or sun and will eventually form a large clump.

In our last garden, they were equally happy under a moisture-sucking holly tree and a damp, dark, north-facing spot by the garden shed.

Anemone japonica is an easy-to-grow perennial that is a good addition for late summer and early autumn colour.

The open flowers attract insects making late foraging visits on a warm September and October day, which the spider in the picture seems to have realised as it makes a web over the stamen of the flower.

There are few problems with this plant as it will grow and flower for years before needing any attention.

A mature clump can get large, but don’t be tempted to lift and divide it as Japanese anemones hate their roots being disturbed. It is better to remove rooted sections from the sides of the plant in spring.

Plant them straight away and they should settle down, grow and possibly flower in the same season.

 

Weekend catch-up

DAFFODIL bulbs need to be planted before the end of the month. They are easy to please – just give them a well-drained soil in sun or partial or light shade and they should reappear each spring for years.

Choose fat and firm bulbs and drop them into holes deep enough for them to be covered with soil twice their height. Daffodils look best planted in drifts in a large area – under deciduous trees for example – or in smaller, loose groups in a more formal setting in a bed or border. Over the years They will slowly spread to form large clumps.

 

In the veg garden...

SWEETCORN is ready to pick in our veg garden. It has taken a lot longer than last year to reach this point, but the cobs we have had so far have delicious and sweet, although the corns have failed to ripen to the tip.

Most have had to have a few centimetres cut off before cooking.

I wonder if they have been affected by the dull and sometimes chilly August we had this year. It seemed to set a few things back and although September has been wonderful, it has perhaps been a bit too late for them to catch up.

The transplanted parsnips are also growing well, with one or two beginning to show signs of white at the base of the plant.

This is the first time I have grown this vegetable and I found that germination was sporadic and took so long that the bed was weed-ridden before the parsnip seedlings could be identified.

The seeds were sown in groups of three to a hole as recommended and about 30 per cent germinated, so it was a good idea. The problem was that it seemed either all three in one group grew or none at all, so the seedlings were lifted, separated and planted into a new bed. It has worked and they have grown away very well.

Parsnips are best after a frost so they will be left until the winter before harvesting.

 

Gardening TV and radio

Tomorrow

6.50am, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. A trip to Rosemoor.

7.20am, BBC2, The Beechgrove Garden. Setting up a spring bedding display.

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

9am, BBC Radio York, Julia Lewis. Out and about in the North Yorkshire’s gardens and countryside.

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

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. From London’s Landscape Show with Eric Robson, James Wong, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Wilson.

Friday

3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chairman Peter Gibbs and panellists Bob Flowerdew, Anne Swithinbank and Matthew Wilson answer questions from an audience in Kent.

9.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. Carol Klein advises new gardeners Dan and Dominique on planting fruit and Rachel de Thame harvests flowers grown for cutting.