Tips on spring & summer gardens from Jane Moore, our award-winning head gardener at The Bath Priory
Now we’re all staying at home and undoubtedly cooking more often, sow a few herbs to add some extra interest to your dishes. Most of the best ‘fines herbes’ grow easily from seed and the perennial favourites in my home garden such as rosemary and sage are supplemented in summer with parsley, basil and dill. Sow in situ or in bedding plant cells and then plant out. If you’re struggling to find seed then buy some ready grown pots at the supermarket, harden them off as if you’d grown them yourself and then plant them out as usual. Bon appetit!
Hardy geraniums are gifts that keep on giving – and they’re readily available online or by mail order. Many of them will bulk up beautifully in one season from a small plant, creating a dense mound of lush foliage topped by open, cheerful flowers in shades of blue, pink and white. My absolute all time favourite is ‘Rozanne’ with its luminous purple-blue flowers which just keep on coming all summer long. Close seconds include pink ‘Mavis Simpson’ and ‘Kashmir White’ with finely cut leaves but no variety will disappoint, to be honest.
Summer really isn’t summer at The Priory without dahlias. We have lots of different colours, shapes and sizes and I have way too many favourites to list here! Just remember that they need to have a sunny spot and that slugs and snails absolutely adore them so you need to protect them diligently. A great way to grow dahlias in smaller gardens is in pots and containers and there are some great varieties which work well with other summer bedding favourites such as pelargoniums and lobelia.
Dahlia’s will keep you going with colour through to late summer, but to really prolong the season I’d also include some Asters, Rudbeckia and grasses in your planting plan if you can. These deliver colour well into autumn when, hopefully, an Indian Summer will keep us all out in the garden just that bit longer!
Jane Moore
@janethegardener
Find out more about the gardens at The Bath Priory along with any future events featuring Jane.