This one’s a real petal

11:51am Saturday 5th July 2008

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JULY is a great time to get into the garden and enjoy the fruits of labour done earlier in the year. There are plenty of flowers in bloom, with more to come as the summer progresses into autumn and late perennials fill the beds with gorgeous colour.

In the vegetable garden, salad is maturing, rocket and lettuce are ready to harvest and radishes wait to be pulled. Fresh herbs too are ready to garnish soups, stews and salads.

An interesting and very attractive plant for mid-border is Gillenia trifoliata, an herbaceous perennial that can last for years with little input, given a good place in the garden.

Growing 90cm/36ins or so high, a mature shrub will eventually fill a space of 60cm/24ins, although I have found it to take several years for a plant to reach this size.

Wiry, branching stems carry dark green, lance-shaped leaves and are topped with delicate, five-petalled white flowers from June to August. Apart from pushing in a couple of pea sticks in spring to keep the stems upright, this plant can be left to its own devices.

I grow mine with the tall variegated grass Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Overdam’ and a deep red flowered Astrantia, although I think it would look equally good with a wine-coloured rose.

While on the subject, July cannot be allowed to pass without a mention of roses. Most gardens are home to at least one member of this popular and extensive family, which ranges from small patio roses suitable for a container to massive rambling specimens that will easily cover a house wall or climb into a large tree. Here in our small town garden we have a climber, Pink Perpetue, on a south-facing house wall, and several shrubs. Pink Perpetue has many blooms in June and July, then produces occasional clusters for the rest of the summer and into autumn. The later display can be very beautiful, making up in appearance what it lacks in quantity. The combination of rich pink blooms, old brick wall and deep autumn sun is perfect. Shrub roses here include Brother Cadfael, Geoff Hamilton and Octavia Hill, all in shades of pink and all growing a metre or more tall.

They seem to do well in semi shade and are cut back in early spring, just as the new shoots begin to appear. All that spoils their display is the heavy June rain we seem to have experienced this past two or thee years.

Weekend catch-up I HAVE been very late to put the sweet peas into the garden. They were potted up and pinched out weeks ago, but only half have got into the ground, so I will be making time to get the rest in this weekend.

It isn’t too late for the job, but the flowers will appear later than usual. Choose the sunniest site in the garden and grow them up twiggy sticks or a wigwam of canes because they need plenty of support. Keep only the tendrils needed to enable the plant to climb and pinch out the rest. This means more energy can be used to produce flowers.

Once flowers appear they need to be picked regularly to stop the plants going to seed and dying back. With luck and some sun, they will last until well into the autumn.

Open Gardens

Tomorrow.

In aid of Melbourne Playing Fields and Riding for the Disabled (Ebor Branch).

Melbourne Open Gardens and Scarecrow Trail, Melbourne near Pocklington. A dozen gardens of all shapes and sizes – plus scarecrows. Children’s quiz sheets available. There will also be boat trips along Pocklington Canal (donation to Pocklington Canal Society) and piano recitals by an accomplished pianist. Refreshments on sale from 12pm. Open 1pm to 6pm. Combined admission £3 per adult. Accompanied children free.

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme.

Dacre Banks Gardens, Dacre Banks, Nidderdale, on the B6451 ten miles north west of Harrogate. Three gardens open, connected by a walk along the valley.

Low Hall has a walled garden with shrubs, climbing roses, tender plants, herbaceous border, pond garden and mature yews and beech hedges.

Orchard House has a two-acre garden planted to be a haven for wildlife with shrubs and perennials blending into the surrounding countryside.

Yorke House has a flower’arrangers garden of two acres, with colour themed borders, extensive water feature, nut walk, rose pergola, millennium garden, wild life area and views over Nidderdale.

Open 11am to 5pm. Combined admission £5.

Harlsey Hall, seven miles east of Northallerton. Five acre garden with shrubs, climbers, trees, wild flowers and terraced lawns leading to a series of lakes. Open 2pm to 5pm. Admission £3.

Wednesday.

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme.

Hunmanby Grange, Wold Newton, 12.5 miles south east of Scarborough. www.hunmanbygrange.co.uk Three-acre garden created from an exposed field with hedges and fences now providing shelter for a series of gardens planted for year-round colour with seasonal highlights. Open 1pm to 5pm. Admission £3.

Rye Hill, Station Road, Helmsley. Garden divided into interlinking compartments, each planted in a different style using unusual plants for year round colour and interest. Open 2pm to 5pm. Admission £2.50 (share to St Catherine’s Hospice).

Gardening TV and Radio

Tomorrow.

8am, BBC Radio Humberside, Gardening Phone in. Telephone number 01482 225 959.

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Gardening with Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm, BBC Radio 4, Gardeners’ Question Time. A postbag edition with Anne Swithinbank, Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood and chairman Peter Gibbs. The gardening weather forecast is at 2.25pm.

Friday.

8pm, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. The team at Berryfields celebrate summer with tips on how to keep flowers blooming and give the sensory garden a makeover.

9pm, BBC2, Hampton Court Palace RHS Flower Show. Rachel de Thame report from the show and finds out what has been chosen as rose of the year. Meanwhile, with climate change a talking point at Hampton Court, Matthew Wilson visits the Loire Valley in France to find out how warmer temperatures will affect our gardening.

Saturday, July 12.

7am, Radio York, The Plant Surgery. Presenter Julia Booth and gardening expert Nigel Harrison give advice, tips and help with horticultural problems. Telephone number 01904 641641.