GARDENING: A FAIRYTALE MYSTIQUE
This is such an exciting month in all areas of the garden that it’s difficult to decide where to begin. But let’s start out by taking a look at some of the gorgeous flowers that can be sown now.
One of my all-time favourites is the annual poppy family, in all of their vibrant abundance. They are an absolute must for bringing delicate dazzle to all parts of the garden for weeks on end. Bursting into dancing ballerina bloom from early spring onwards, they add a fairytale mystique to all kinds of landscapes. This time round I have sown — and am still sowing — annual poppies in pinks, brilliant reds, lush purples, ghostly whites, brilliant yellows, misty lilacs, luminous oranges, soft greys and just about every other imaginable shade, all around the edges of my vegetable beds. I also planted them in a largish wild flower patch created at the very bottom of my terraced garden where, when no one is looking, fairies frolic and unicorns gamble.
These sow-and-forget annuals delight in moderate to relatively poor soils, need very little attention — other than admiration — and when the show is over, give a lasting encore in the form of easy to harvest seeds by the thousands. Thus ensuring you have all that is necessary for a repeat performance next time round.
Time to sow some poppies to dazzle all parts of the garden for weeks.But don’t forget the veggies and herbs
Now is also the time to sow fragrant sweet peas in carefully prepared beds/pots, stately larkspur, masses of very tall Queen Anne’s lace, sea-drifts of ageratum, a Persian carpet of wallflowers and sweet Williams and sweet alyssum. You can also sow insect-repelling tagetes, sweet sultan, cornflowers, mimulus, bidens, nemophila, godetia, antirrhinums, violas and pansies, sweetly scented Virginia stocks and 10-week stocks, salvias, clarkia, bellis, hollyhocks, annual chrysanthemums, asters, coreopsis and lots more.
If you haven’t done so before, try taking a leaf from this writer’s book and combine your flower, vegetable and herb gardens rather than keeping them separate. This mix n’ match method, utilising companion planting where pertinent, has numerous benefits. It makes maximum use of precious water, helps prevent pests and diseases, encourages essential pollinators, and provides a blissful haven for beneficial insects and butterflies with birds getting in the act, too.