Calm after the storm – EDP Newspaper June 28th 2008
Posted on | June 28, 2008 | No Comments
Half the year has already gone, but the Exotic Garden has only just begun its opening season. The first event last Sunday certainly came in with a breeze, if not a full-blown gale. Many pots blew over and kind visitors kept propping them up only for them to crash over again – a thankless task in such unseasonably windy weather.
Apart from countless leaves blowing around in mini-twisters the garden took it well, aside from a few small broken branches.
I was having a chat with Simon Gash, head gardener of the Bishop’s garden, regarding the effects of recent weather conditions. One thing we both noted was that having had so much rain with, until recently, cool nights and cloudy days, many plants have become rather floppy, especially when the sun is so powerful at this time of year. Add wind and the desiccation process takes over, where plants cannot take up enough water to keep the plants in good condition, even though the ground is moist.
I’m really hoping we get some settled weather in the weeks to come with warmer nights so the plants can recover from the setbacks of recent weeks and months.
The long evenings are wonderful. I love sitting in the loggia at the top of the garden overlooking the cacti and succulents. Luckily this part of the garden doesn’t get affected by wind, though many leaves get stuck on the prickles. This year I let dozens of foxgloves flower, giving an alluring softness to the hard edges of the agaves and other spiky things.
At twilight the bats appear as if on cue, ready for their evening’s insect feast. As long as the evenings are fairly mild this is a wonderful place to cogitate on the happenings of the day surrounded by six contented cats.
When it does get cool though, the tree-house comes into its own as it stores much of the daytime heat. Sitting by the window with a glass of wine, watching the sky slowly darken to its night-time slumber is a joy. The evenings are wonderful at the Exotic Garden as everything becomes tranquil and serene.
The high sun of the day brings much activity and, as all gardeners know, there’s always something to do. Rarely do I sit down during the day. This pleasure is left until the evening by which time all the containers will have been watered. Planting still has to be done in those forgotten corners, plants have to be tied up and the gravel always has to be raked.
Like many gardeners I enjoy having a blackbird follow me round the garden as I hoe the soil. Mine often gets almost close enough to touch, its beak stuffed with many small worms! Watering the ‘poly tunnels’ and containerised plants takes about an hour or so every evening and is a pleasurable enough activity rather than a chore, as it enables me too look at all the plants in detail. In hot (or windy) weather many plants have to be watered twice a day as they soon lose moisture to evaporation, causing the leaves to go dry and crispy.
Plants are like children, they need constant vigilance to keep them growing well. Of course, feeding is important too. I use either pelleted chicken manure or ‘blood fish and bone’, both of which are excellent. Manure is great as long as it has been matured for at least a year. I have some well-matured goat manure which is thickly spread around the hardy banana Musa basjoo. They are gross feeders and will only grow tall with lots of food and water.
Many plants have been rather slow this year. Cannas, for instance, adore warm weather and especially mild nights.
As the season wears on they usually catch up, though in cool summers they can be shorter than usual. They prefer a full sun position if possible to get best growth.
One perennial sown as an annual every year in the Exotic Garden is Ricinus communis, especially the dark-leaved forms like New Zealand Purple with its rich purple-bronze foliage. In a hot year these fabulous plants can reach up to 12ft tall by the end of the season, though in a cool summer they can be a rather diminutive 4-5ft.
Most exotics need heat to make them grow well, preferably in a situation that is protected from the prevailing winds. My garden is surrounded by fairly tall hedges thus creating a micro-climate of tranquillity, though even this didn’t stop some of the gusts slicing through last weekend. Whatever the weather throws at us, we must make sure to enjoy our gardens while we have such gloriously long evenings.
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