As we move into mid-summer, things start to change in our gardens.
Early colour begins to fade and the harvesting of food crops is in full swing. It’s wonderful to enjoy the fruits of all our hard work and nothing beats the fresh taste of our home-grown produce.
We still have, however, a lot of summer left, and it’s the perfect time to keep our gardens producing food well into fall.
Although some crops, like brassicas, may be on the edge when it comes to maturing from seed, it’s still possible. Early root crops, such as carrots, beets, turnips and parsnips can be successfully grown if we start seeding them now, and all leafy vegetables have plenty of time yet to mature in late fall.
Planting winter veggies is also on the horizon. Even though our last winter was harsh and did significant damage to many crops, on average we get one bad winter every six years. So, hopefully, this year will be better. During more moderate winters and with a little extra protection, winter vegetables are certainly worth the effort. They should be seeded soon while transplants are usually set out in mid- to late-August.
The colour in our gardens is changing, too.
I love the look of late summer and autumn gardens when fabulous late-blooming perennials, like rudbeckias, heliopsis, heleniums, echinaceas, coreopsis, eupatoriums, perovskias and achilleas create such a stunning colour pallet. Now is the time to combine them with the many ornamental grasses that bring fall alive.
Pennisetums, with their attractive bunny tail flowers, are the first grasses to plume up. From the tiniest little bunny P. ‘Hameln’ to the larger, showier P. ‘Red Head’, it’s such a delight to see their charming seed heads dancing in the slightest breeze.
Miscanthus certainly steals the show when it comes to drama. From the compact M. ‘Yaku Jima’ up to the giant ‘Miscanthus x giganteus,' they provide great late summer displays. I love M. ‘Morning Light’ with its elegant white and green foliage, as well as the vibrant red foliage of M. ‘Fire Dragon’ which contrasts so nicely with its silvery plumes.
A very popular grass, Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster,' with its narrow, architectural form, has many look-alikes that will also add their own unique character to any garden.
Today, there are so many new grass varieties, and most will mature not only with attractive fall seed heads but also with richly coloured foliage that will add beauty to late summer gardens.
As we approach mid to late summer, it’s an ideal time to transition our gardens by preparing them for the beautiful fall and winter seasons to come.
