@Athelas that’s a particularly stupid and sweeping statement by the RHS - plant dahlias and salvias instead of ‘delicate’ roses! It’s all about the variety you choose, soil preparation and planting them where they don’t get the full glare of midday and afternoon sun.
My salvia Amistad and the Nemorosas are crispy critters but the shrubby salvias are doing fine. Dahlias need just as much goodness and watering as the roses to perform well in my experience, plus they are not winter hardy. Some roses are breezing through weeks of around 40c totally unaffected and whilst the majority have blooms that are crisping, many were fabulous in Spring and will be back in Autumn. I’ve never yet lost a rose to heat or drought. When it’s really bad, they just go into summer dormancy.
It’s also worth saying that just because a plant is ‘drought tolerant’ it doesn’t mean it can thrive without water or won’t die back just when you want it to provide life and colour in your border. It just means it has developed strategies to ensure it survives until the following year.
I bought a massive load of new 9cm (drought tolerant!) perennials this year to fill gaps in the borders and many of those won’t survive because they never really got a chance to get going. New dahlia tubers planted this year are lost. Despite copious watering, Crocosmia Lucifer are dead and Emily McKensie are surviving but have not flowered and all the Achilleas are crispy critters.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@Athelas that’s a particularly stupid and sweeping statement by the RHS - plant dahlias and salvias instead of ‘delicate’ roses!
@Nollie, I totally agree with you — to be fair though the RHS didn’t say that, it was a quote from the article in The Guardian (second link in my post). Sorry to hear about your perennials and other plants, it’s been so dry as well since the start of the year which hasn’t helped.
Don't think I have actually lost anything yet but lots of things could do with a hefty rainfall. I suppose it is a good time now to see what survives these temperatures and maybe plant more of the same!
“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
I have/had an azalea in a pot that I was intending to plant out in the autumn. I've been watering it and keeping it in the shade but I think it's probably (literally) toast
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I've only lost a fuchsia in SW France, Dordogne, but I think that was more because, unknown to me at first, a mole had burrowed under it. My plants are standing up pretty well to the heat, been over 30°, even up to 39°, since the start of July. Maybe plants in France are used to it.
I dread to think what is going on in OH's cottage in Norfolk. I thought the gardening lady was watering, but she's just told me she's been on holiday.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I have/had an azalea in a pot that I was intending to plant out in the autumn. I've been watering it and keeping it in the shade but I think it's probably (literally) toast
I have one in a pot that i planted in April. It looks healthy and seems to have survived the hot spell just fine. Fwiw I have topped all my pots off with Scottish pebbles which must have helped somewhat recently.
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Today.
My salvia Amistad and the Nemorosas are crispy critters but the shrubby salvias are doing fine. Dahlias need just as much goodness and watering as the roses to perform well in my experience, plus they are not winter hardy. Some roses are breezing through weeks of around 40c totally unaffected and whilst the majority have blooms that are crisping, many were fabulous in Spring and will be back in Autumn. I’ve never yet lost a rose to heat or drought. When it’s really bad, they just go into summer dormancy.
It’s also worth saying that just because a plant is ‘drought tolerant’ it doesn’t mean it can thrive without water or won’t die back just when you want it to provide life and colour in your border. It just means it has developed strategies to ensure it survives until the following year.
I bought a massive load of new 9cm (drought tolerant!) perennials this year to fill gaps in the borders and many of those won’t survive because they never really got a chance to get going. New dahlia tubers planted this year are lost. Despite copious watering, Crocosmia Lucifer are dead and Emily McKensie are surviving but have not flowered and all the Achilleas are crispy critters.
I suppose it is a good time now to see what survives these temperatures and maybe plant more of the same!
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I dread to think what is going on in OH's cottage in Norfolk. I thought the gardening lady was watering, but she's just told me she's been on holiday.