August is a great time to enjoy the long Summer evenings in your garden, it’s a time of rich colour, flavour and texture. The late summer perennials and statuesque ornamental grasses will be coming into their own right now and the veg gardens will be bursting with produce, ready to fill our kitchens with fresh vegetables straight to the plate. It’s a quieter time in the gardening so put the spade down and make the most of the hard work completed earlier in the year.

Cephalaria gigantea, known as the 'Giant Scabious',  is an unusual hardy perennial that forms a woody rootstock with fine cut, aromatic leaves above which large lime/yellow scabious type flowers are carried on strong branched stems up to 2m. Although it's a big plant it can be used in a broad range of planting schemes.

Cephalaria is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae - native to the Caucasus region but also cultivated as an ornamental. This erect perennial has deciduous leaves, and pale yellow, ruffled flower heads in summer which require full sun to part shade and a moist, fertile but well drained soil to bring out its best.

The Giant Scabious is perfect for creating an informal cottage garden look and is  perfect in loose planting schemes, combined with ornamental grasses or other herbaceous perennials. Considering its overall size it has an airy and delicate look which is great placed at the back of a mixed border or mixed among large trees or shrubs. Its an easy going perennial which is self-supporting in a sheltered position, doesn’t really have any pests or diseases and is also attractive to bees and butterflies too.
 
As Cephalaria is on the large side and you can create a more compact, bushier plant by giving it the “Chelsea chop” in Mid May. This will mean you still get the flowers but it wont need so much space in your borders. If you are lucky enough to have room then its best to leave it and cut back when it starts to look tatty, it will then repeat flower in September if you cut back after that first flush of flowers.

Cephalria makes a dramatic yet informal statement in the border, although tall, it isn't overbearing, it looks great with other naturalistic perennials like Echinops, Echinacea, Persicaria and Helenium. Combine these with Perovskia, Sedum, Pennisteum and Miscanthus and you have a combination of plants that will take you all the way into the autumn.  

Jobs to do this month include:
• Continue to deadhead, especially dahlias which should be looking great by now.
• Weed!!! – shouldn’t be too much of this but its best to keep on top of it.
• Keep the lawn mown and edges cut – due to dry weather you may need to raise the height of the cut if you want to keep your lawn green.
• Trim hedges – now the birds have finished nesting now’s the time to get your hedges back in order.
• Water – Any plants that are looking a bit tired and are wilting, are in need of a drink. If they look really bad, then water immediately and then top up later in the day when its cooler.
• If you have any meadow areas, then these should be cut, and the hay raked asap.
• Spray and feed roses.
• Plant out autumn flowering bulbs e.g., colchicum.
• Remove lavender stalks and trim bush leaving some green fresh foliage.
• Order spring flowering bulbs.
• Ensure camellias have sufficient water to ensure flowers for next year.
• Clip evergreen shrubs.
• Prune current seasons growth of wisteria back to 5-6 leaves.

Vegetable Garden:
• Harvest Garlic.
• Sow oriental greens such as mizuna and mibuna, pak choi etc.
• Harvest early apples.
• Start lifting main crop potatoes.
• Summer prune trained fruit such as espalier apples, pears etc.
• Trim non-flowering stems of grapes cutting back to one leaf from the main branch.