August Garden Journal: Helenium Moerheim Beauty

August is a time for contemplation and relaxation in the garden, reaping the rewards from all the hard the work completed in spring and summer. It’s a great time to make a note of any changes you would like to make for the following year and also a great time to get some inspiration from other gardens too. Don’t sit back for too long though, as autumn approaches there will be plenty of green fingered jobs to keep you occupied very soon.

Plant of the Month: Helenium Moerheim Beauty

If there's one plant that can inject a little razzle-dazzle into the border during a gloomy summer, it is Helenium.  There are many varieties which can provide a mix of reds, oranges and yellows which are the perfect addition to any late summer border.

Helenium is a genus of about 40 species of annuals and herbaceous perennials from North and Central America. They are found mostly in damp meadows and along the edges of woods. They have a long season of bloom and are commonly known as sneezeweed. This is because the Cherokee Indians used to make the dried flowers into a herbal snuff as a cure for colds and catarrh.

Helenium’s are versatile plants that love plenty of sunshine and moist soil. They rarely suffer from pests or diseases; however young plants do need to be protected from slug attack. To encourage the plant to repeat flower and keep that brightness for longer you can deadhead. However, I have found that even without this treatment they seem to keep flowering well into the autumn anyway.

One of my favourite varieties would be Moerheim beauty, with  a succession of dark copper-red daisy-like flowers with prominent, dark brown centres this beautiful sneezeweed is ideal towards the back of a sunny border.  Bees and butterflies love it and it makes an excellent cut flower too. It is a super plant which has been awarded the prestigious Award of Garden merit by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Moerheim Beauty makes a wonderful companion for ornamental grasses and with any plants that have  yellow, white or earthy toned flowers.  They also associate well with other later-flowering perennials like Agastache, veronicastrum  and verbena. They work best in larger blocks to create more impact but can be drifted into a naturalistic planting scheme too. One things for sure wherever you plant helenium it will provide a vibrant splash of colour in your borders well 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 eg 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.