It is disorientating, confusing and uncomfortable: it is the beginning of June, it is late evening and I am watering the container plants, the permanent plants like Anisodontea capensis, and the newly potted summer colour, the xPetchoa ‘Beautical’, black and white Petunias, and then onto the newly planted plants in my latest project, and I feel cold! Not just a bit chilly, I have a jumper and a jacket on and I am cold, proper cold, and it is June.
The forecast temperature overnight has a low of 5°C, and in Johnstown in Kildare, 3°C.
Weather is always unpredictable, and we never know what’s coming, we are told to be prepared for more challenges, but we just don’t know what challenges.
I remember over 20 years ago, articles appearing in garden magazines about gardening for the future, the focus was on drought tolerant plants, there had been a succession of very dry years in the south of England. Then there were wet summers, and flooding, so the focus changed. Now we have arrived at the point of the only thing that we know, is that we don’t know.
I read an article written in 1914, in an Irish newspaper, and the article bemoaned the mild winter and then unusually cold May, unpredictable weather is something gardeners have always been dealing with.
I have started a new project, the trampoline has gone to a new home where it will be loved. In it’s place a new area of garden.
I am continuing with the same gravel as in the Pylon Garden, and soil saved from previous garden work has been spread and contoured to create a central plateau surrounded by a circular uneven mound.
The exciting part has begun, and new plant acquisitions are being planted. Some of these plants are planted as much with hope, as they are borderline in hardiness, or may be hardy but dislike winter wet. Some are drought tolerant, others wind tolerant, all are planted with hope. If we knew that winters are going to be milder, or wetter, or drier, we could plan ahead, but we don’t, and like all gardeners in generations before us, we have to be brave and take chances.
Plants that are looking great at the moment here in The Paddock include; Valeriana officinalis, a tall growing self-seeding perennial that I value for its vertical beauty, strong self-supporting stems and fragrant blooms.
Calendula Power Daisy ‘Yellow’ is looking superb, a plant that came through the winter and is covered in flowers, a short lived perennial that forms a low spreading mound of double yellow flowers.
Alliums are always a joy in May and June, I planted more Allium atropurpureum and a new one , A. ‘Violet Beuty’ and they are combining beautifully with the blooms of Rosa ‘Ritausma’ , a rugosa hybrid that I purchased in Estonia many years ago.
Antirrhinum Antirinca ‘Rose’ is looking brilliant, I planted a number of these late last summer, they remained in flower until early winter, then stayed as mounds of evergreen foliage, in April they started to bloom again and from then on, they have been smothered in flower, I have been so impressed by their flowering thatI have planted more: they are related to Snapdragon but the flowers are more open and do not have the pouch.
Hopefully the weather will improve, there have been a few days to give us hope, but even if it doesn’t, we gardeners will garden on.
To see more about The Paddock visit my website: ciaranthegardener.com
Ciaran Burke, Head of Horticulture, Johnstown Garden Centre, Naas, Co. Kildare
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