It is best to make any necessary changes in your flower color at midsummer. You can keep the border in good shape throughout summer and autumn by taking extra care now.
Planned and planted in the autumn and spring of last year. Maybe your favorite plants have been there for many years.
Now suddenly at the mid-summer everything is growing. There are a few plants, however, that will soon be weeded out.
If you have had lots of rain then your border might look too green and lack flowers. The weeds are probably not worth mentioning. Everyone seems to be complaining about something…
This week, I returned to the garden to see how Frances and Paul Mokovits perfect their flower color.
Paul and Frances will open the National Garden Scheme this July. Search for “Ouden” near Faversham in the National Garden Scheme. They will be open for two pop up dates in July 2021.
Always have a pair handy when gardening
Frances keeps many pairs of snippers in her greenhouse, and near the front door, in case she needs them. Every time Frances goes into the garden, she always takes her snippers.
First, and most importantly, she will be able to deadhead flowers each time she leaves the house.
It is the most effective way to maintain a good colour of flowers for many years. This summer, repeat flowerers are likely to produce more flowers. Flowering plants that return year after year put their full energy into producing flowers for next summer instead of making seed heads.
You may wish to keep certain seed heads for the winter, for the wildlife, or for self-seeding.
Darlac are Frances’ favorite snippers. Her collection includes the Darlac Dead Heading Snips, and the Darlac Compact Snips.
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Dead head flowering
Frances believes that it is important to remove the flower heads. Don’t fret if your dead-heading isn’t perfect.
If you are able to reach the flowers and cut them just below the junction of the leaf, that’s the best.
Add more flowers to the border by editing it.
Recent conversations with gardeners have revealed that they are unhappy about their border’s lack of colour and excessive green.
This is a problem that occurs often, particularly when there has been a lot of rain. Frances reduces some of the largest characters along the border. For example, the crocosmias this year have increased in number.
Frances says that you can get the same result with 6 crocosmias as 60. The colour comes and goes all at once. The 6 would be enough and you can free up some space to grow something longer-lasting.
She also gives some of the plants a “Chelsea cut” when they get to tall and overshadow more delicate ones. This means cutting some stems in half. They will grow back, but not as tall. And they’ll bloom later.
You can sometimes get more flowering from a bunch of plants by “Chelsea cutting” half of them but not the rest.
Some plants you can “Chelsea Chop” include monardas (monarda), phloxes, campanulas (campanulas), asters, penstemons and achillea.
Plants in pots:
Frances propagates or grows many plants. She has a lot of spares. She always has spares on hand if her borders are missing flower color or something is damaged.
She doesn’t always put these plants in the ground. She sometimes drops the pot in the area. Plants in the border will cover the sides of the pot.
It gives new plants height. You don’t need to move the roots around of plants already planted in the border.