I can’t believe that’s us over halfway through the gardening year already!
On one hand it’s great to see as we’re at a point in the year where all my efforts are coming together for this magical moment but where is the time going? It just seems to be flying now. I must be getting to that age!
In my garden the hanging baskets and numerous tubs are looking good. I’m picking fruit daily from my strawberry, gooseberry and Saskatoon plants, and I’m so enjoying listening to all the wildlife making the most of the wildflowers growing from the patches of lawn I now leave uncut.
It’s great to see some of the dahlias that I’ve planted out starting to throw up the odd flower. There’s still a lot more to come from them in the coming weeks after a slow start, being so dry when I planted them out the beginning of June.
Now the rain is starting to come down in enough quantities to keep them satisfied they’re putting on plenty of growth and starting to fill out.
Dahlias are back in fashion
I’m full of admiration for the dahlia and the way this plant has come back into fashion again.
When I first started gardening over thirty years ago it was such a key plant in the country park I was being trained in that we had whole borders solely devoted to the dahlia.
Possibly coinciding with funds being cut to look after our public parks, the dahlia was not to be seen much for a period, but thankfully it’s a must-have plant in our gardens again, thanks mainly to the florists who grow them for their cut flower qualities and of course the purists who’ll always love and grow no matter what any other gardener thinks.
I take my hat off to the men and women of the Scottish Dahlia and Chrysanthemum Society who supply nearly 200 tubers and young plants that help create the most amazing display in the kitchen garden at Scone Palace.
Glad return of gladioli
Gladioli is another gaining in popularity again. What really brought this to my attention was a few years ago when the RHS Chelsea flower show was pushed from its usual spring time slot to early autumn, giving this garden classic a chance to shine.
As with the dahlias there’s a whole host of new varieties out there, well worth us gardeners growing to jazz up our gardens right up until the first frosts of the autumn.
Dearie me, as well as time going by quicker I’ve just realised I’ve also reached an age in my life where I’m seeing plants going in and out, then back into fashion again.
I do look forward to the future but I must admit like to check back quite regularly. I’m not that bad that I’m “the good old days” but I have caught myself saying “I can remember when that was fields”!
I like reminiscing about the gardens I’ve worked in and the gardeners I’ve worked with, stories of the plants we used to grow and how we grew them. Along with some of the other stories of course.
Coleus comeback
Seeing Coleus on the shelves again of our garden centres has triggered a few great memories of those Craigtoun Park days.
Now officially called Solenostemon, we used to grow benches of them in the old glasshouses which have sadly now all gone.
They were grown for their decoratively patterned, velvety foliage in vibrant shades of red, pink, purple, green and yellow.
Amazing plants when I think back to them now, they were the bones of the various displays the skilled gardeners of Craigtoun created at flower shows up and down the country, winning gold medals at RHS Chelsea, Ayr, Strathclyde and Ebbw Vale Garden Festival.
I’m sure like the dahlia and gladioli they’ve still been there in the background for years but for me this summer they seem to be everywhere, making me think these are now on the comeback too.
And I’ve been snapping them up every time I’ve seen one and displaying them in my wee greenhouse at home.
‘Le Freak’ is a compact variety, dark red leaves with a yellow edge; a latest addition is ‘Abbey Road’ that has larger purple leaves with green tips whilst ‘Spacecake’ is a mash of red, purple and green.
To keep the plant from growing leggy you can pinch out the tips of the shoots back to a leaf join, this will encourage the young shoots that will be visible at the leaf joins to grow and form a compact shaped plant.
At Craigtoun we also grew Coleus standards, this is where the plant has a clear stem for a certain length before creating a head.
I picked a plant with a strong central leader and pinched away the growing side shoots leaving those first ones from which they sprang, once 20cm taller than I wish the final height to be I’ll pinch out the leader to create the bushy top.
I feel like I’m back in the good old days!
Brian Cunningham is a presenter on the BBC’s Beechgrove Garden. Follow him on Instagram @gingergairdner