March 28th, 2023

THE END OF SUMMER

Towards the end of summer choice weeds  start to take over from the choice plants in my garden.   
And I like them just as much if not better than  garden plants because they are so confident!
They just arrive with no fuss - no bother.  I don't have to work out or agonise if I should put it this spot or that, or whether it might fit in better over there?   And I don't have to get out my trowel or spade They just simply plant themselves and take over with no effort - as weeds do! 

The weeds which make themselves at home in my garden seem to know what they are doing - and are very discriminating.   However they do come up in droves over the garden in springtime and when they are still small I do have to decide which ones to pluck out and which ones to leave, so I admit I do have some say.    The best weeds have names.    ​

Phlomis russelliana .

This is not strictly a weed, although it's a very easy to grow perennial which spreads easily and can pop up anywhere. It has yellow flowers throughout summer which grow in whorls up the stem of the plant and which develop into these attractive brown seedheads which will last throughout winter.  It's these distinctive seedheads which make it worth growing even though it's a strong grower and could be a bit of a spreader, perhaps making it a little difficult to dig out when you no longer want so much of it.

This beautiful patch of weeds photographed between the chain link fencing surrounding this patch.

I photographed this lovely patch of weeds on an empty section which had once been home to a commercial premises along a main road near my house.  It is next door to a service station and 2 years later the weed patch alongside the same service station is still there!!   And still fenced off by the same chain link fencing.  -  I have been expecting an architectural horror to go up on that weedy site any day, but no - not yet!   
​There is no way this area is accessible to enter in order to photograph the weeds, as the chain link fencing is inviolable.  So the only way to get a good photo of this quite lovely patch of weeds  is to point and shoot with the phone/camera between the links in the fencing, which means that by somehow wedging my phone between the metal links, I have managed to photograph this impressive weed patch as best as possible.  It's truly a wonder that some developer hasn't built a cheap and nasty building there. ​

A pretty field of weeds as seen through chain link fencing.

One of my very favourite weeds is the annual 'Orach'.  Because it can be so decorative I tend to allow it fairly free rein in my garden - you can see why!  It is so decorative and a stunning colour.  It's problem is that it seeds absolutely everywhere and comes up in droves every spring.  The only consolation being that because it comes up so thickly it is very easy to pull out in great clumps leaving just what you want to add colour and interest to the garden 

The Botanical name for Red Orach is Atriplex hortensis rubra - what a mouthful for a mere weed, otherwise known as Red Garden Orach or Mountain Spinach - and yes it is grown as a popular vegetable in Europe, cooked like spinach when the leaves are young and tender. But it is much more than that in my garden - it is one of my most striking plants!  Forming colourful seed-heads it adds contrast and is so worthy of a place in my summer garden.  It's rich crimson foliage and seedheads are too striking to be classed simply as 'weeds', and it's dark crimson foliage adds such contrast, especially now in late Autumn as it goes to seed!!  But just the mere fact that it is going to seed means it is the end of the season and soon it will dwindle and disappear.  
 So in my garden I have given it the status of 'plant' not 'weed'!

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Atriplex hortensis rubra

When the seedheads of Oriental poppy's and the variegated grass 'Overdam' take centre stage they tell us summer is dwindling

And when more grassy seedheads are joined by flyaway thistle seedheads, taking the place of flowers we know for sure there is not long to go before it is all over!! 

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Autumn flowering Sasanqua Camellia 'Apple Blossom'

White Nerine flowering with Michelmas Daisy in late autumn

​But is it really all over??  

I don't think so - because look what is appearing in my garden looking as fresh as spring!
It's the autumn flowering Sasanqua Camellia -
'Apple Blossom' 
And the autumn flowering white Nerine - given to me as bulbs so many years ago by a friend, that I can't remember where or when.
Just  a practical note here - it does sulk!
So if you ever acquire Nerine  bulbs,  expect no flowers for a year or 2.