Topic: Late summer come early

[Garden Manager]

Is it just me or has anyone else got supposedly 'late' summer floering plants coming into flower already?

I have things like penstemons, and fuschias actualy IN flower and others such as Verbena bonariensis and Crocosmia soon to be in flower.  I could go on but i cant remeber exactly what is doing what.

Seems to me as if it things carry on as they are doing so far (some of the early stuff seems to be almost over)  the garden will have burnt itself out by mid August!  

I thought I had it nicely planned to keep going with flower and interest into the autumn. This year perhaps not  :-\ ???

[Palustris]

Everything seems to be 2 to 3 weeks early, hopefully the flowers will last, but with this dry weather I doubt it.

[aquilegia]

My penstemons flower from mid-summer, but they are already in flower - surely this is only late-spring! Fuschia also flowering away. But no sign of crocosmia flowers yet. Last year my penstemons kept flowering until it snowed in January!  :o :o

But then last autumn I had one ripe strawberry grow.

english climate gone mad!

[Mrs Ava]

Things seem normal-ish in this part of Essex.  Nothing showing on my crocosmia or pentemans yet, and only tiny buds on my fuschias.  My apple tree has gone a little mad and is blossoming again and my regular foxgloves have all but finished, and they are normally around a bit longer than that.

[Garden Manager]

Nice to hear i am not alone! I am hoping for a nice long flowering season for the plants in question, but that largely depends on the weather i think.

I am also hoping that some of the early stuff like oriental poppies and hardy gerainiums (of which i have loads) will put on a second show later on. They are nearly over already (at least the poppies are) and i shall be cutingthem back once they are finished in the hope of regrowth and reflowering towards the end of the summer. I havent suceeded in getting them to do it yet but there is always a first time!

Another 'saver' I have up my slieve is homegrown bedding plants.  The last couple of years I have left it late to plant these out and as a result the flowering is later. More by chance than by judgement i might add  ;D. This year I hope this might be a way of extending the flowering season, boosting (possibly flagging) perennial displays.

[derbex]

Richard our penstemmons are out too -weirder still are the marigolds which didn't flower when they should last year but waited until winter and have been flowering ever since?

Jeremy

[sunflower]

This is my penstemon been in flower a week or so now!

[derbex]

Well done sunflower -ours are only babies in comparison, though we've got some more to plant up soon.

Jeremy