The garden in August
Things to do in the garden in August:
- If you are unable to wait until autumn it is possible to relocate perennials now if they have finished blooming - the risk of drying out is small
- Deadhead perennials and annuals, unless you want them to self-seed
- Ants love dry soil – another reason to irrigate
- Thuja and yew hedges should be trimmed now
- Pluck raspberries, red and black currants and gooseberries for the freezer...
- ...or bake a cake or whisk together a fool out of the fresh berries
- Decorate cakes or desserts with edible flowers, for instance, Pot Marigold or Garden Nasturtium
- Enjoy the sun in the hammock or deckchair
Sweet and sour berries
We are harvesting gooseberries, red and black currants and raspberries. There are not the same large amounts as last year, because the shrubs are new or relocated, but it is enough. Blueberries are the only thing that we had to buy in the supermarket. Blended, freshly plucked berries mixed with sugar and whipped cream is a very lovely, easy dessert.
Berries
Gooseberries
The gooseberries are of the cultivar 'Hinnonmäki yellow', which provides small, yellow berries. We planted three shrubs this spring and two of them are doing fine. They have quadrupled in size since they were planted. The third one looks a bit sickly; it is half the size of the others and it appears to be filled with ants. It does not seem to be affected by mildew – perhaps it is just thirsty.
Gooseberries can be attacked by mildew, which is a greyish-white powdery fungal growth that spreads across fresh leaves and stems of gooseberry plants, eventually infecting the fruit. Gooseberry mildew can be prevented by trimming old shrubs to improve air circulation. Infected branches should be cut off immediately.
Gooseberries
Japanese anemones
The Japanese anemones (Anemone japonica) are beginning to unfold in all their glory. The tall perennial is very well situated on the North side of the house and expands fast from the root system.
In the north side flowerbed we have also planted Bishop’s Hat, Hazelwort, Bergenia, Box and Rosa Alba ’Maxima’. The ground covering Bishop’s Hat next to the Japanese anemones have become well established, but it is necessary to occasionally prevent the fast growing anemones from invading the slow growing groundcover.
Japanese anemones
Blue globe
The Globe thistle (Echinops bannaticus) is very tall now. The perennial is located under the apricot tree and would probably benefit from a more sunny location. It might exchange some of the tallness for more flowers. The leaves and stems are greyish-green. The spectacular globe-shaped greyish-blue flowers are popular with bees.
Globe thistle and bee
Lady's Mantle with beads
Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is a popular ground covering perennial that flowers from June till September. Lady’s Mantle offers very decorative paw-shaped leaves that make it interesting long after the small, pastel yellow flowers are gone. Unless the weather is very dry, water beads are seen to sparkle on the leaves. Lady’s Mantle is fast growing and thrives in both sun and shade.
Lady's mantle
Pink Lavatera
We have sown pink Lavatera in an empty space next to the new cherry tree. Lavatera is an annual herbaceous plant, which grows to a height of 80 cm, and thrives in sun as well as shade. The texture of the pink or white petals is silky. To do it justice it should stand by itself in large patches. The seeds can be sown in drills in May, just like Pot marigold, Cornflower and Garden Nasturtium.
Lavatera
The garden in January
The garden in February
The garden in March
The garden in April
The garden in May
The garden in June
The garden in July
The garden in September
The garden in October
The garden in November
The garden in December
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