Well we’ve just cleared up after the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show and predictably the weather has now improved. The day was decidedly damp at times but we all survived and all in all it was a very successful show. It is such a good show, so much effort goes in and pretty well everyone you meet will have had a good time, rain or shine! I think the beer and cider tents do well.

We sponsor some of the horticulture classes, so I was interested to see what the exhibits were like this year. The horticulture tent is always well supported and despite being one of the most difficult years for growing anything other than fodder beet, there were some terrific entries. Probably the most impressive were the Dahlias on the ornamental side, and leeks and onions in the edible section. Leeks are a challenge to most of us but there are a few important basics such as starting off with the right variety, sowing at the correct time, making sure the soil fertility is right and keeping the crop clear of weeds, pest and diseases. This comes back to allowing time in your garden-life to do the job properly! I think that’s where most of us fall down – we’ll start off with the best intentions then find we haven’t allowed time to carry it through. So having made that admission, I ought to focus on the jobs that I should do over the next month. I must admit the veg. garden did less-than-well here this year.

Potatoes got the blight, beans [runner and French climbing] took an awful long while to get going, and peas started strongly then ran out of steam. The broad beans would have been first rate if the bank voles hadn’t found them! Courgettes are doing better now, we did have a good crop of gooseberries but the raspberries suffered in the damp while the rabbits [wild] and the chickens [domesticated] had a co-ordinated and determined plan to destroy the strawberry crop.

Plant of the month
It’s not been the brightest summer so creating a sense of warmth and excitement into September will give everyone a lift. Red, hot and gorgeous is the way to go and red flowering and foliage plants are the ideal way to achieve this. How about this fabulous selection of perennials, trees and climbers to help you get started.

For climbers, clematis offers some absolute glories at this time. Many varieties flowering now produce large blooms and ‘Rouge Cardinal’, a sun-lover itself, bears velvety red flowers 10cm across that are simply irresistible. ‘Royal Velours’ produces, as the name suggests, velvety flowers with a red-purple colour, from 4-8cm across. ‘Ville de Lyon’ produces really big flowers (10-13cm across) that are rich red.
Red foliage is on offer from Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus), a fantastic plant that self-clings to walls, fences and even trees using suckers on the tips of its tendrils. The leaves of most Virginia creepers are brightly coloured in autumn. Parthenocissus henryana turns bright red as summer fades, as does Parthenocissus thomsonii. Virginia creeper is ideal for clothing vertical surfaces that are otherwise uninteresting and may in fact help to keep buildings a little cooler that are in sun drenched courtyards or other full sun positions.

Potentilla ‘Gibson’s Scarlet’ is a clump forming herbaceous perennial with vivid red flowers from early to late summer opr Potentilla ‘Gloire de Nancy’  with its large stunning, double bright orange flowers.
Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) is a great foliage plant that brings its own specific style to the garden as well as colour. Some maples bear red or coloured foliage right through the growing season, most will colour red or intensify their colour as autumn comes on. If you’re worried that space is a problem, remember that some cultivated maples are quite happy to live in pots for many years. Acer ‘Crimson Queen’ is one container candidate. Otherwise there is great choice for gardens of all sizes. There is no question that trees are very special. Why not plant one to mark a birthday or other family event?

Jobs for the month
Ornamental gardening – keep feeding summer containers and baskets until the end of September to get the most out of them, meanwhile start planning autumn and winter flowering displays to replace them. New plants will be in the garden centres, autumn Chrysanths, cyclamen, as well as ever-reliable winter flowering pansies and violas. Look after early flowering plants such as Camellias and Rhododendrons which will be building up flower buds for the spring, feed and mulch now for the best results next year.
Evergreen hedges should be trimmed now so that any new growth can harden off before the winter. Keep rose care treatments going – a fortnightly spray  with Rose Clear or Multi-rose will protect against blackspot mildew & rust. Diseased leaves are best burnt if possible rather than put on the compost heap unless you are really good at composting and can get the temperature high enough in the heap to call off the pathogens.

Late summer pruning – finish off pruning rambler roses, and trained wall plants. This will include Wisteria, Pyracantha and Cotoneaster as well as all the trained fruit trees. Pruning here is balanced to encourage the existing crops of berries and fruits to develop as well as the flower buds for next year. Long, non-fruiting growths are just sapping the energy of the plant and are going to make it more difficult to shape next year.

Propagation – good time to take cuttings of Cistus, Ceanothus, Viburnum, Lavender, Pelargonium, and Osteospermum etc. Sow hardy annuals outdoors to over-winter, and sow sweet peas in the protection of a cold frame or similar.

The new season’s bulbs are now in the garden centres and as always it’s the early bird that gets the bets choice. So far most types are in reasonably good supply and prices only as little up on last year – so great value for spring colour. Prepared hyacinths need to be planted at the end of the month for Christmas flowering.

In the vegetable garden sow Spring cabbage, spinach, turnips and winter lettuce. Plant over-wintering onion sets later in the month.