My garden in August never looked more magnificent

I have put off this column until I can no longer tempt Nature. I resisted writing it for August, its happy theme, because Mother Nature, that human fiction, is very cruel: she seems to let herself be provoked by declarations of satisfaction. So here she is now, when the month has just ended and she cannot ruin it.

August in Britain has been Gardeners ParadiseI know that many of you abroad will not repeat this tribute. Gardening in central and southern Italy has been a nightmare when daytime temperatures reach 40°C. In Greece and many of the islands, it has been just as terrible. In early spring I wrote about the The garden of the Mediterranean Gardening Society in Sparoza On the outskirts of Athens, the variety of plants has expanded in response to climate change. Plants from Africa are now also growing there, but even they have had a nightmare summer, so hot that they have withered.

In the meantime I have been enjoying an August like those of the mid-80s. My garden at the end of summer has never looked better.

What has been so good? With few exceptions, sunny August days were never really hot. I have suffered so many droughts that I retreat to a basement during the day when clear blue skies persist for more than four days. This year, the blue sky was fringed with threatening clouds each evening, but they soon faded away to give way to showers or storms. The plants benefit from the rain, but so does the soil. It remains workable and allows weeds to be pulled with satisfying ease. I have pulled yards of bindweed by the roots without breaking it.

The midday sun was usually cool and broken by clouds. Gardens never look better in the glow of midday or early afternoon. Those who open them to the sun National Garden Plan Visitors should be received during the day, which is the worst time to see them. Professional photographers prefer to take their garden photos in the early morning, starting at 6 a.m., or in the early evening. The light is softer, and as the sun sets towards the west in the afternoon, shadows begin to appear.

This year, midday was rarely cloud-free. I crossed my fingers and prayed that the intermittent light would last the entire month. It did. Thank God I wasn’t roasting on a Mediterranean beach with nothing between me and the glare but a half-read paperback.

There have been many winners, but here are three that receive my August gold medals and deserve to win theirs: crocosmias of all colours; phloxes, ditto; and hydrangeas. Each of these has been grown since the early 1970s, so new possibilities have opened up in British gardens. Gardening does not stand still, and certainly not in Britain.

Crocosmias have never been so good. Sixty years ago, gardeners were wary of them. Because their bulbs come from South Africa, they were assumed to be mildly hardy. Then breeders improved them, led by the superb deep red Crocosmia Lucifer from Blooms Nursery in Norfolk. Lucifer proved hardy, as did later selections. I have never lost a carefully chosen crocosmia to a cold winter, not even the killer of 2022-23.

Excellent varieties have proliferated. My season began with the brightest yellow, Paul’s Best Yellow, about 76cm tall. Fans of green leaves complement the typical bunches of flowers on curving stems, strong enough not to need staking. Next came Hellfire, also unmistakably good. Its dark scarlet flowers are more rounded, but they show up vividly if scattered around the garden.

When Hellfire faded mid-month, my best specimen, Crocosmia Emberglow, appeared. It blooms in a muted shade of deep red, justifying its name. There is nothing dull or dull about its magnificent mass of flowers, dozens of which open about 90cm high above upright green leaves. I started one plant 12 years ago and have divided and distributed pieces of it ever since, as scatter plants around the garden. At each new location it blooms beautifully.

Thank God I wasn’t frying on a Mediterranean beach with nothing between me and the glare but a half-read paperback.

Next up is a nice yellow plant, paler than Paul’s, the aptly named Norwich Canary. It’s not as tall, but it’s just as floriferous, even in light shade. It coincides in late August with the orange-pink Severn Sunrise, which I mix with dark blue agapanthus. Together this combination has seen me happily through to September. If you choose carefully, you’ll have six weeks of summer’s worth of crocosmias.

Crocosmias have had a great summer because they like excellent drainage and plenty of water during the growing season. When I plant them, I dig fine sand around them and hope that a wet summer early in the year, like this year, will do the rest. So it has, and they have flowered without being brought down by the sun too quickly. Despite their origin in South Africa, they do not need to be in the blazing sun all summer. They have often been misunderstood.

Cool, cloudy days and fewer bouts of dry weather also suit phloxes. They are best in Scotland, but I’m happy with mine this year. Here too I’ve had a succession, starting with Blue Paradise and the excellent smaller varieties recently marketed as the Flame series. These Flame phloxes grow lower, only about 45cm tall, and are more resistant to powdery mildew. None are a true deep blue yet, but Flame Purple is on its way to being one. Flame Light Blue is more white than sky blue, but it’s good nonetheless, especially away from direct sun. All of these new arrivals are worth seeking out, even if you already have several phloxes.

The main phase of my phlox season now concludes with the tall, vigorous white-flowered David, an essential mainstay. Then it has a finale when the first ones, especially the Flames, have a second bloom after a quick pruning of spent flowers. Make sure you do this up to the next pair of leaves on each stem.

Conditions this summer have been enormously favourable to hydrangeas. I have never seen them flower so well. I prefer the lacey ones, Preziosa and Lanarth White, but the rounded mop-heads have been so generous that they also deserve praise. Long-time FT readers may be interested to remember that whenever I met my old colleague, the great Arthur Hellyer, at the old Bracken House in the 1970s, now again the FT headquarters, he was championing the macrophylla Generale Vicomtesse de Vibraye. It is an excellent mop-head flower, still available in the trade, and varies from blue to pink according to the alkalinity of the soil.

He didn’t even mention a discovery from Japan, Kyushu gypsophila, which is now enjoying a new popularity among online sources. It has dark green leaves and conical spikes of airy white flowers that reach a height of about 1.80 m. This year, it looks magnificent. Hydrangeas continue to be crossed and improved, and most of the new arrivals deserve their space.

An August bouquet, then, for Mother Nature, who smiles on Britain. Can she keep this localised goodness? I doubt it, but I delight in it.

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