Thankyou for taking time to reply. It is very helpful to me to know your thoughts. I have three large waterbutts and in the past I have spent hours watering plants that probably could have coped. This year there was no choice the butts were empty and everything had to take it's chance. I am amazed how resilient things have been, leaves have been scorched but will come again.
One plant I have given up on are the crocosmias, for many years they have been beautiful but with every year they have needed more artifical watering in the summer. This year there were just a few flowers but the leaves were a mix of green and brown.
There are always positives the salvias have been great, in the past I haven't been able to grow them just too cold. They have now come through three winters. Every cloud as they say..... Best Wishes Suze
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
@B3 Just want an easy life. No running around with cans of water when it's hot.Let's hope you get flowers next year they are lovely but I could only recommend then now to someone with a retentive soil.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
As all my gardening is in pots and we had (and still have), a watering ban, almost everything suffered.
I have spent today digging out dead conifers and will be giving away those that managed to survive as they can’t cope even in the really big pots. Next year the window boxes along the terrace balistrades will be given over to grasses and such like as the pelagoniums coped for a while but eventually died off. The only things that coped really well were the coleus (deep purples seen to be really heat tolerant), and some of the smaller dahlias.
2023 will definitely be very different as I am forced to move away from small pots and concentrate on fewer, but larger ones.
Marne la vallée, basically just outside Paris 🇫🇷, but definitely Scottish at heart.
@GardenerSuze my crocosmia aren't the fancy ones. My soil is heavy clay and to be honest, they're hard to get rid of it they get too comfortable. I do nothing at all to help them along. I can't see why they wouldn't survive next year. They are not in a prominent position so it's no big deal if they don't. I can see that it would be a real problem if you were using the more fussy ones as a feature. If you decide to dig them out, save the corms (?) and plant them somewhere out of sight rather that composting them. You'd be a bit annoyed if they poked out of the compost heap next year🙄
@B3 I am sorry to say they have already gone. I very rarely waste a single plant and hate to put anything in the bin. I have potted hundreds of plants for charity and local garden club in the past. I was tempted to pot them up but felt that this year really was the end of the line. Room for something new. Could look in the wheelie bin tomorrow though...
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
My new garden at my new house in France did better than OH's garden in Norfolk despite the even hotter weather and lack of rain as I have clay soil and there is a little river at the bottom of the paddock. When I was at OH's cottage in Norfolk my lovely French handyman watered it for me. I'd left the butts full and water restrictions weren't so bad in my part of France where there is a big river. The roses were fine and so were the dahlias, geraniums, rudbeckias and salvias. The fuchsias weren't happy and I lost a couple.
I've just made another bed for roses and salvias. Planted tulips in it and 4 yellow roses so far which did well this summer. I'd planted the roses before making the bed. Awaiting delivery of some more bare root roses.
Below is a bed I did last year with drought resistant plants, such as lavender, nepeta, sage and stachys, also some roses that my daughter gave me.
This is my Jewel bed in it's first year. Photos taken in August.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, the after effects of hormone treatment and radiotherapy left me with little energy ( I use to run and cycle). I turned to the garden, not only has it provided me with some exercise it has given me something very therapeutic. During the extreme heat during the summer I found myself doing most either early or late in the day. Still much to done but I am enjoying watching my little space gradually change.
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I have three large waterbutts and in the past I have spent hours watering plants that probably could have coped. This year there was no choice the butts were empty and everything had to take it's chance. I am amazed how resilient things have been, leaves have been scorched but will come again.
One plant I have given up on are the crocosmias, for many years they have been beautiful but with every year they have needed more artifical watering in the summer. This year there were just a few flowers but the leaves were a mix of green and brown.
There are always positives the salvias have been great, in the past I haven't been able to grow them just too cold. They have now come through three winters. Every cloud as they say..... Best Wishes Suze
I have spent today digging out dead conifers and will be giving away those that managed to survive as they can’t cope even in the really big pots. Next year the window boxes along the terrace balistrades will be given over to grasses and such like as the pelagoniums coped for a while but eventually died off. The only things that coped really well were the coleus (deep purples seen to be really heat tolerant), and some of the smaller dahlias.
2023 will definitely be very different as I am forced to move away from small pots and concentrate on fewer, but larger ones.
If you decide to dig them out, save the corms (?) and plant them somewhere out of sight rather that composting them. You'd be a bit annoyed if they poked out of the compost heap next year🙄
My new garden at my new house in France did better than OH's garden in Norfolk despite the even hotter weather and lack of rain as I have clay soil and there is a little river at the bottom of the paddock. When I was at OH's cottage in Norfolk my lovely French handyman watered it for me. I'd left the butts full and water restrictions weren't so bad in my part of France where there is a big river. The roses were fine and so were the dahlias, geraniums, rudbeckias and salvias. The fuchsias weren't happy and I lost a couple.
I've just made another bed for roses and salvias. Planted tulips in it and 4 yellow roses so far which did well this summer. I'd planted the roses before making the bed. Awaiting delivery of some more bare root roses.
Below is a bed I did last year with drought resistant plants, such as lavender, nepeta, sage and stachys, also some roses that my daughter gave me.
This is my Jewel bed in it's first year. Photos taken in August.