Blog: Harsh conditions have altered my growing plans for next year
After such a difficult year weather-wise, it seems we must embrace gardening for climate change before anything else. It is with a heavy heart that ordering willy-nilly from seed catalogues is no longer the way forward for UK gardeners. Thanks to Vanessa Sundin for the main picture!
In these times of economic crisis, wasting money on seeds that won’t pay for themselves is a no-no. I’m not just talking about edible crops but ornamentals too. Big failures in my garden this year have been the courgettes, expensive seeds to begin with. Shooting Star performed well the previous year but poorly this season, as did the Italian variety Tondo Chiaro di Nizza.
Courgettes and runner beans
Runner beans didn’t fare well either. Summer Flowered Mix, a very ornamental blend with different-coloured flowers suffered from lack of water in the same way as the courgettes. This in turn led to big attacks of powdery mildew.
In the ornamental garden, the worst casualties were sweet peas. The extreme heat and dryness led to powdery mildew and the switching off of their flowering mechanism. Stressed plants don’t perform and sweet peas like moisture. I was left with several wigwams of dead-looking plants by mid-July – far from ideal! Luckily, Cosmos Purity did well and is still blooming.
Gardening for climate change – Bumper crops for some
That’s the bad news – but what performed well this season? As many others have pointed out, it’s been a wonderful year for apples, both my old Cox’s sport and the Red Falstaff. The mild, sunny spring meant that there was no frost damage to contend with and the sunny weather and heat ripened the bumper crop. Similarly, the Japanese blood plum Lizzie provided our household and my neighbours with an avalanche of red plums, blocking up the freezer! Read more about dealing with plum and apple gluts here and how to make freezer jam.
Tomatoes did very well, especially my favourite Rosella and new to me this year, beefsteak Burlesque. In fact, those two are still cropping at the end of October. It’s also the first year I’ve been able to grow Rosella outside – a sure sign of a warming climate.
What am I changing?
When it comes to gardening for climate change, there’s no room for sentimentality. I’ve made the hard decision to stop growing sweet peas, something I’ve grown for decades. In their place will be new varieties of nasturtiums, which were sown late to cover the wigwams left bare by the dying sweet peas.
The two varieties this year have excelled themselves, shrugging off weather extremes and drought. Both the colour-changing Ice Cream Sundae and Purple Emperor (dusky pink) are highly recommended. Read more about them here. They’re edible, so you can use them in salads, or pickle the seeds to make mock capers, which are delicious. They add a much-needed kick to homemade fishcakes.
Gardening for climate change – Drought-tolerant herbs
Water-heavy crops such as runner beans and courgettes are going too. Next year, I’m turning over my small vegetable bed to herbs. I use them a lot in cooking and bunches are so expensive to buy from supermarkets. Most varieties are drought-tolerant.
Also, I’m looking towards more drought-tolerant herbaceous perennials. Surprisingly, aster Barbados got through the extreme heat and lack of water in summer. The wetter September has led to a fantastic late show this month.
These are my initial thoughts on this year. I also must cut back on my wanton spending when it comes to plants and seeds!
