When I look back four years ago, keeping the garden looking good and extending the summer garden display, were some of my biggest challenges! Back then, we opened the garden on a regular basis for the local Lewes District Artwave Festival. It always ran until the middle of September and this meant I had to keep the garden looking its very best right through the late summer. If I’m being honest, I found it a real challenge but usually managed to succeed, well, according to my garden visitors who were always very complimentary.
It was a great success. We opened for three consecutive weekends and had almost 1000 visitors, sold over £12,000 worth of art and over £1,000 worth of tea and cake! Needless to say, eventually the pressures of doing this for ten years started to build and we stopped participating in 2019, opting for selling a smaller range of artwork at all summer garden openings.
Keeping the garden going
Not everything in the garden will last the course from early June to late September. A wonderfully staid option I’ve used over the years has been the ever-popular chrysanthemum. I tend to have several growing in containers in corners of the garden, allowing them to fully grow and start to flower. As soon as a shrub, container or perennial starts to fade I relocate the blooming pot to take the edge off the declining colour. I drop them into a faded arrangement of summer annuals, like those beneath the rusty metal arch, to give a new lease of life to the display on the central steps. Nothing ushers in autumn like chrysanthemums. They generally look good for about three months and are usually less expensive than spring bloomers. They will pair up well with boxwood, salvias, ornamental cabbage, and kale too and will last for years if looked after well.
Late summer drama
Another great favourite in my garden for late summer drama is the stunning Salvia ‘Amistad’. It is a bushy, upright perennial plant extending up to 1.2 metres with aromatic, slightly downy, corrugated, bright green slender leaves that have pointed ends. Profuse, large deep purple tubular flowers with black calyces are borne from early summer through to the first frosts and they look quite magical. I have mine growing in a bed with Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ and the late summer, colour combination is wonderful.
For best results grow in a sunny, sheltered spot in well-drained soil. Make sure you deadhead spent blooms regularly to encourage more flowers into mid-autumn. Mulch annually with well-rotted manure or garden compost. I tend not to cut back the flower stems in autumn but let them remain intact over winter, to protect the rootball and developing shoots from frost. I cut these back only after new growth has emerged in spring. Plants growing in colder regions may need additional winter protection.
Autumnal hues
Autumn foliage always delivers a bright splash of colour when flowers are few and far between. Choose specimen shrubs that will transform to shades of red and gold as summer ends. A great favourite in my garden is Spirea ‘Magic Carpet’. I have one growing either side of the central pathway. It is a low-growing deciduous shrub with ovate leaves opening red, and changing to yellow, always with some red young growth and flat clusters of deep pink flowers in summer. It is also the proud holder of a prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit, and has been specially selected for its vibrant foliage, which keeps its colour through the season. Almost by surprise, the dazzling foliage is joined by bright pink flowers from early summer.
Spiraea are easy to grow and suitable for most corners of the garden. Plants are quick-growing and make excellent ground cover, hedging or can be used in large patio pots. They are weather resistant, and especially tolerant of drought. A fantastic shrub for beginners and ideal for small gardens.
Late flowering daisies
Another autumn favourite at Driftwood is a dwarf Michaelmas daisy which has vibrant purple-blue flowers and a yellow centre that smother the plants from August until September. Ideally suited for a container or the front of a sunny border in moist soil. ‘Barbados’ is part of the Island Series, a group of asters designed for their compact habit and flower power. The mauve-purple flowers are a tonic for fading borders from late summer to autumn. This cheery perennial is free-flowering, attracting attention from pollinating insects which are drawn to the pollen and nectar-rich flowers. The upright stems and colourful blooms make this a lovely cut flower too. A useful perennial for providing late summer colour at the front of perennial borders.
These are just four plants that I favour in my garden for some autumn colour but with a bit of research you will find that there are many others on offer to suit your garden.
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