GARDENING: SUMMER FLOWER QUILTS
Now that much of the flower garden has been — or is about to be — cleared of seasonal winter into early spring flowers, it’s time to top up the soil, pull out weeds or dig them in, with an organic mixture of homemade compost and old, well-rotted manure. Lightly dig it in, removing lumps/stones in the process and directly sow a flower quilt of incredible colour and delight.
Select flowers of a similar height and with similar soil and water requirements — the less thirsty, the better. Put a mix of these seeds in a bowl and scatter them, a pinch at a time, on the soil surface, taking care not to overcrowd so that the plants have enough space to reach their full potential. Lightly rake them in and spray, again lightly, with water when done. A light watering, preferably in an evening just as the sun is going down, should suffice unless/until temperatures soar when heavy watering may be required.
The following are all ideal for this treatment:
Californian poppies in blazing orange, bronzes and burnt orange, fire-engine red, delicate peach, sunshine yellow, pristine white, silky pinks, sultry champagnes and every other shade in between; in a matter of a few weeks, your eyes will open wide by their dazzling beauty.
If you want swathes of flowers in your garden in the warmer weather, this is the time to plant the seeds
Easy-as-pie Cosmos, that dance in the slightest breeze atop their feathery foliage, are always a dependable plant. They can be found in colours as diverse as pure white, pale pink, deep crimson, sulphur yellow and startling tangerine. You may be lucky and find fluted ones, picoted and double ones, too.
Then there are sunflowers, and not just in golden yellow but in every shade of yellow imaginable, with reds, chocolates, crimsons and earth-coloured ones as well.
Zinnias, in every brilliant or pastel shade, also take this method of sow-and-grow-on-the-spot very well.
With any of the aforementioned, a decent scattering of flaxseeds (alsi), bought for eating from the bazaar, provides an undercrop of tiny, bright-blue flowers, on stems around 12 inches or so tall which are a visual delight.
Other flowers to sow this month, mostly better started off in pots/seed trays and planted out when large enough to handle, include: gaillardia, rudbekia, amaranthus, celosia, nicotiana, gomphrena, matricaria, mesembryanthemums, tithonia, portulaca, coreopsis, tagetes, French marigolds and sprawling, old-fashioned, petunias.