Blog: Pay attention to your garden’s weather before planting!
We’re in the middle of summer, and everything is jostling for attention (and watering), but which are the best plants for the July garden? Well, that depends very much on where you live and if your region is prone to adverse summer weather – drought, flash floods, or extreme heat.
Met Office scientists revealed this week that we are suffering from the effects of climate change now, not in the future. July has been a perfect example of this. Thankfully, here in NE England, the North Sea breezes kept the temperatures bearable, and the thunderstorms were hit and miss.
I haven’t been lazy recently with my lack of posts. Unfortunately, I’ve been ill again, undergoing tests, and have become exhausted at the drop of a hat. However, one benefit is that I’ve been sitting out and observing the garden, watching how my little ecosystem goes about its business.
Thanks to Vanessa Sundin for contributing the great photos. Here are the best performers in my garden in July. See my garden in pictures July.
Ornamentals
In July, you need plants that can cope with dry conditions and sudden downpours. These extremes encourage the growth of downy and powdery mildew. I’ve included here some shrubs, bulbs and herbaceous perennials that cope with weather extremes.
Best plants for July – Exotics
I love it when tender plants thrive outside, and I can sit looking at their luscious, huge leaves, which I find very calming. Although I like splashes of colour, either on foliage or flowers, big leaves do it for me. This year, the stars of the show have been Colocasia (elephant ears), which had to leave the greenhouse as they took over! Fortunately, they’re loving life under the apricot, with their feet kept wet in gravel trays. They’re planted in Dalefoot Compost, which has proved a great planting medium for such greedy plants.
Best plants for July – Edibles
Here’s when the main harvest starts. We’re almost drowning in tomatoes! The experiment of using bush varieties in the conservatory has really paid off with Tumbling Tom Red, Garden Pearl, and Losetta all producing heavy crops. Cordon Rosella in the greenhouse has just started to bear fruit. The point of having bush tomatoes is so I don’t have to climb ladders to pick them. Several plants have even borne fruit outdoors, which is a first for me.
New to me this year are cucumbers – the snacking Party Time has already given lots of 10cm fruit. Another variety, Honey Plus, is still to bear any. The garlic crop is up and drying – small bulbs but fat and delicious cloves.
And then there are the plums. Japanese blood plum Lizzie is one of those varieties that exhausts itself one year with a huge crop, then you get nothing the next. This year is the former, so much so that one of the main branches has snapped! (I’ll be dealing with that later.) Hope you’ve enjoyed my best plants for July!
