Baked Lettuce for Dinner

Samuel Johnson really must have had gardeners in mind when he spoke of his fellow countrymen: “It is commonly observed, that when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather; they are in haste to tell each other, what each must already know, that it is hot or cold, bright or cloudy, windy or calm.”

We speak of little else these days but the hot weather. In our defence it is uncommonly hot with temperatures hitting record highs in many parts of the country. It is a difficult time for gardens and gardeners and most certainly for the plants in our gardens and some have been scorched and dried and unlikely to revive this year and one can only hope they may return next year.

The view is bright and pleasant but note how the grass close to the hornbeams on the left has dried out so dramatically.

And a close look at the ground in parts of the garden show just how dry is has become.

Those plants which are natural wet/damp ground growers are, obviously, going to suffer in present-day conditions – primulas, astilbes and the likes – but the effect is, perhaps, most dramatic seen on large-foliage plants – rodgersias, podophyllums, veratrums etc. Shrubs and trees suffered also with the foliage of many wilting on the branch while others have dropped the leaves entirely. Join me on my walk of woe:

Veratrums grow in moist, even wet, locations and this weather doesn’t suit them at all – nor the pheasant, I believe, who trotted along when she saw me and then called in her lanky, teenage chicks to enjoy the snack provided.

And, more signs of plants under stress around the garden:

Fallen leaves

A large patch of rodgersias in total collapse and a garden path hidden by fallen leaves

Rodgersias and Oxalis oregana in collapse

Pulmonarias flattened by the heat

Podophyllum pleinanthemum

Lysitchiton americanus, collapsed even though it is in a damp spot

A scorched hosta leaf

‘Tis an ill wind, as the saying goes, and an ill heatwave which doesn’t have good for somebody. The barley in the fields around us ripened well in this weather and the harvesters, a procession of huge machinery, arrived this morning and made quick work of it.

It is not all disaster and some parts of the garden are looking well and some plants continue to put on a good display:

If you ignore the scorched hosta in the foreground, it is not too bad.

Dahlias looking well

Crinum x powellii ‘Album’ has very, very deep bulbs and continues to thrive

Canna ‘Cleopatra’ doing well even in pots – regularly watered.

Canna ‘Cleopatra’

Agapanthus still doing well

Epilobium canum ‘Dublin’ enjoys these conditions,

I have noticed over the last few years that the mophead hydrangeas, Hydrangea macrophylla, are less able for the high temperatures than cultivars of Hydrangea paniculata and I expect we will remove some of the older mophead plants from the garden here and plant more of the paniculata varieties:

A mophead hydrangea with drooping foliage and scorched flowers

While these Hydrangea paniculata, ‘Vanille Fraise’ and ‘Sundae Fraise’ are still lookiing well

Noel Coward wrote of the mad dogs and Englishmen and might well have included gardeners for we started on a job and refused to allow the weather to stop us. A tall Thuja ‘Smaragd’, planted about thirty years ago, was crowding in on top of the arbour above and the Malus ‘Golden Hornet’ on the left as well as the Amelanchier lamarckii and the Parrotia persica to the right had all spread out their branches and had shaded this area far too much and also kept the area very dry as it kept the rain off the ground beneath. Hopefully, it will give the plants beneath a better chance in future years.

The sharp-eyed will have noticed that the seat of the arbour is in a state of disarray. I was working away on the Thuja when one of our sons called me on the ‘phone. I sat on the seat to chat with him only to have it collapse under me. This photograph doesn’t give the most accurate picture as the inside of the arbour was filled with clematis and, to be honest, we very, very rarely sit there. The Head Gardener came along after my mishap and cleared it out so that I could make the repairs with more ease. Mary reckons we bought the arbour in 1999 – Johnstown Garden Centre when it was in its old location – so it has given good service and will be as good as new in a few days. There is a massive heap of prunings filling a bay in the compost bin area which needs to be shredded first! It all makes work for the working man to do!

Oh, I nearly forgot the lettuce:

I don’t think there’s much chance of recovery in the lettuce bed! I hope your gardens have escaped such scorching!