WINNING TIP: Provins

This fortified medieval town is an hour and 25 minutes by train (from Gare de l’Est) to the south-east of Paris, away from the usual foreign tourist route. It’s great with kids as there’s a tower, ramparts and underground passages. In summer there are lots of events, such as jousting knights. There are plenty of restaurants, from good and cheap crêperies (try La Fleur du Sel on place du Châtel) to fancier places with lovely outdoor dining areas.
provins.net
masmingou

North

Auvers-sur-Oise
Take the train from the Gare du Nord (one hour) to the place where Vincent van Gogh spent his last three months. Walk up past the church and along pretty backstreets to the cemetery where Van Gogh and his brother Theo are buried, taking in fabulous views of the town and countryside. Carry on alongside the iconic cornfields and drop down into the Absinthe Museum before a delicious meal and genuine absinthe at the Auberge Ravoux, where Van Gogh lived, worked and died. A wonderful day out whether you’re into the painter’s work or not.
musee-absinthe.com; Auberge Ravoux: +33 1 3036 6060, maisondevangogh.fr
mumfordc

Rouen
Rouen, in Normandy, is just far enough away from Paris on a fast train (70 minutes from Gare Saint-Lazare) to escape its day-trippers but not so that it would break your alarm clock or budget. Apart from having a wondrous cathedral, it is one of the homes of impressionism. Visit a gallery or head for the interesting old town to shop or people-watch from a cafe.
rouentourisme.com
islandover

Monet’s Garden, Giverny. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe

Monet’s house and garden, Giverny
If you’ve viewed the originals (or a poster) and would like to see the real thing, then head out of Paris for a day to Claude Monet’s house. A fast train from Gare Saint-Lazare to Vernon makes the journey in 45 minutes. It’s a 5km traffic-free walk to Giverny, or there are regular buses from Vernon station. Whether the water lilies are flowering or not, standing in the garden of the father of impressionism is like being inside one of his paintings: the Japanese footbridge is right there in front of you. The house and garden have been restored to how they would have looked in Monet’s day.
fondation-monet.fr/uk, open 1 April- 31 October
lizcleere

La Mer de Sable, Ermenonville
Just 45 minutes from Paris up the A1 motorway, La Mer de Sable (The Sea of Sand) is a great escape from the capital. Built on an incredible geological site – a perfectly natural expanse of sand – it was France‘s first theme park when it opened in 1963 but its rides and attractions have survived the test of time. And the best bit? No queues, low prices (€14.90 a day) and free parking.
merdesable.fr
lamiloo

South

François I gallery at Fontainebleau chateau.
Photograph: Corbis

Fontainebleau
This beautiful castle, village, and forest are just 40 minutes by train from Gare de Lyon (get off at Fontainebleau-Avon station). There are circular walks around the forest from the railway station, which give you an immediate sense of escape from the intensity of Paris. Then you can wander through formal parkland towards the town centre for lunch, a crêpe or an enormous ice-cream. The chateau, the former country escape of French royalty, offers fine gardens, a large pond, grand rooms and plenty of history.
musee-chateau-fontainebleau.fr
ladybird123

West

Chartres cathedral
Trains from Gare Montparnasse to Chartres take about an hour. A Unesco world heritage site since 1979, the cathedral, begun in 1145, is reckoned one of the finest pieces of Gothic architecture in the world. It is still in good condition, though some restoration is being done. The stained-glass windows, for which it is most famous, were added in the 12th and 13th centuries and are worth the trip alone: jewel-like tones flood the interior during the day, adding colour and warmth. There’s a light show in Chartres during the summer, with special attention paid to the cathedral.
diocesechartres.com/cathedrale
lizcleere

Along with conifers and Swingball, shrubs were the garden essential of the 1980s, which is why most suburban gardens are shrubberies. Gardeners like shrubs because they’re low-maintenance, but they’re also large, slow-growing and often dull. Giant perennials are a far more exciting option – they are just as low-maintenance, but also floriferous and cheap; plus, they’ll reach full size in a tenth of the time it takes a shrub to fill out.

Colourful

Coneflower ‘Herbstonne’ I defy anyone to gaze at Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstonne’ and feel blue. From midsummer into autumn, it’s a bomb of sun yellow in the border.
Tips Protect from slugs and give it a bamboo or hazel scaffold to grow up.
Plant with Miscanthus ‘Undine’ and Verbascum ‘Clementine’.
Height and spread 2.5m x 1.5m.
Buy at Great Dixter.

Red hot poker ‘Nobilis’ Torches of burning orange on tall stems from August to October: Kniphofia uvaria ‘Nobilis’ is proof that autumn needn’t be miserable.
Tips Soil must be well drained. Cut stems down after flowering.
Plant with Scabiosa ‘Ace of Spades’ and Helenium ‘Septemberfuchs’.
Height and spread 2.5m x 1m.
Buy at World’s End.

Giant fennel The ultimate giant perennial: in its native Med, Ferula communis scales 4m. It has sulphur-yellow flowers in summer and feathery foliage.
Tips Grow in sun. Despite the name, it’s not fennel proper and not edible.
Plant with Artemisia absinthium and Anethum graveolens.
Height and spread 3m x 80cm.
Buy at Great Dixter.

Architectural

Plume poppy The huge, glaucous leaves of Macleaya cordata look fabulous; the hybrid ‘Kelway’s Coral Plume’ has hazy plumes of camel-pink flowers in summer.
Tips Deadhead to stop self-seeding, and yank out shoots that sprout from underground runners.
Plant with Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum and Alcea rosea ‘Nigra’.
Height and spread 2.5m x 2m.
Buy at Beeches.

Cardoon The spiky, silver leaves of Cynara cardunculus create drama in the border, and its summer flowers look like giant indigo thistles.
Tips Grow in a sheltered spot in full sun. The seedheads look fabulous in autumn.
Plant with Lychnis coronaria and Salvia nemorosa.
Height and spread 2m x 90cm.
Buy at Crocus.

Honey bush Melianthus major‘s ferny, glaucous leaves can be 45cm long. It is always frizzled by frost, but grows back with gusto each year.
Tips Prefers milder parts of the UK. Mulch at the end of autumn.
Plant with Aster turbinellus and Artemisia ‘Elfenbein’.
Height and spread 2.5m x 1.5m.
Buy at Crocus.

Foliage

Bronze fennel Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’ produces soft, airy mounds of copper foliage and yellow umbel flowers in late summer.
Tips I cut off the flowers because I grow it for the foliage.
Plant with Lobelia ‘Queen Victoria’ and Deschampsia ‘Bronzeschleier’.
Height and spread 2m x 90cm.
Buy at Toby Buckland.

Chinese rhubarb Rheum palmatum looks like gunnera, but doesn’t take up as much room. The hybrid ‘Atrosanguineum’ has jagged, reddish leaves beneath tall, raspberry blooms.
Tips It requires a moist soil, so it’s happiest in a bog garden or by a pond.
Plant with Persicaria ‘Firetail’ and Angelica ‘Vicar’s Mead’.
Height and spread 2m x 1.5m.
Buy at Beeches.

Chinese silver grass ‘Malepartus’ Miscanthus sinensis ‘Malepartus’ has handsome, arching, silver-veined leaves and silky, red-brown flowers. The hybrid ‘Goliath’ is even bigger.
Tips Cut stems down to the ground in early spring.
Plant with Rosa ‘Capitaine Basroger’ and Sanguisorba hakusanensis.
Height and spread 2m x 1m.
Buy at Knoll Gardens.

Romantic

Giant scabious Cephalaria gigantea declares, with no subtlety, that it is a cottage garden plant. The primrose flowers are gloriously blowsy.
Tips Prefers well-drained, yet moisture-retentive soil. It will need staking in a windy spot.
Plant with Delphinium ‘Emily Hawkins’ and Stipa gigantea.
Height and spread 2.5m x 60cm.
Buy at Sarah Raven.

Meadow rue ‘Elin’ In summer, Thalictrum ‘Elin’ has fuzzy, mauve-and-cream flowers atop curvy glaucous leaves.
Tips Dig in organic matter when planting and water well in drought.
Plant with Verbena hastata f. rosea and Alcalthaea ‘Parkrondell’.
Height and spread 2.5m x 50cm.
Buy at Beth Chatto Gardens.

Wildlife

Joe pye weed Eupatorium purpureum grows pretty much anywhere and provides nectar for bees and butterflies from July to October.
Tips Prefers moisture-retentive soil, so dig in lots of organic matter.
Plant with Veronicastrum ‘Fascination’ and Echinacea ‘Magnus’.
Height and spread 2.5m x 1m.
Buy at Beth Chatto Gardens.

Angelica Angelica archangelica, with its lime-green flowers, is the most architectural herb you can grow.
Tips A biennial, but will self-seed.
Plant with Digitalis ‘Alba’ and Aconitum ‘Stainless Steel’.
Height and spread 2m x 60cm.
Buy at Crocus.

Reader offer

Buy one Rudbeckia ‘Herbstonne’ for £10.99 or buy two for £21.98 and get a third plant free (prices include free UK mainland pp). To order, call 0330 333 6856, quoting ref GUA693, or go to our Readers’ offer page. Supplied as 9cm potted plants; delivery from October 2012.

A SKETTY church is holding an historical horticultural talk.

St Paul’s Parish Centre is hosting the lecture — by the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust on how to grow a Roman garden — on September 27 at 2pm.

Click photo to enlarge

Walnut Creek’s Ruth Bancroft is a national authority on drought-resistant gardening. Twice a month, she and her staff share their knowledge with readers.

Q In the column about California natives that provide summer color, several plants were mentioned which have summer flowers. Are there others which give summer color by way of their fruit?

A Indeed, some native plants produce showy fruit in summer. Among cacti, California’s prickly-pears are one example. Among shrubs, one stand-out is Berberis nevinii, also known as Mahonia nevinii. (Some authorities prefer to include the Mahonia species within a broad concept of Berberis, while others keep the two as separate groups.)

By either name, this plant is an attractive, dense shrub with leaves that are divided into three or five small gray-green leaflets. These have small prickly teeth along the edges, and may grow up to two inches in length, though they are often shorter. The Sunset Western Garden Book gives a height of 6 feet for the species, but our plant at the Ruth Bancroft Garden is over 10 feet in height and width.

Berberis nevinii produces thousands of small yellow flowers in spring, mostly March and April. The small shiny berries that follow begin to turn red in June, contrasting nicely with the bluish foliage through late summer and into fall.

Being native to Southern California, B. nevinii can survive with no

watering at all through our hot, dry summers, but it does not mind receiving an occasional drink. If planted at the back of the garden, its density can screen off a wall or fence while providing a backdrop for smaller plants.

Q Your earlier column mentioned the Sago Palm, and I feel compelled to write about the toxicity of this plant to animals as well as humans. Mature female plants produce red seeds; both these and the leaves are toxic. My dog chewed on several seeds and, within hours, was deathly ill. Children might think the bright red seeds look like candy, so it is important to advise gardeners of the danger.

A The Sago Palm is one of many poisonous garden plants; it is good to be aware of this. Other common toxic plants include oleander, azaleas and rhododendrons, daffodils, cotyledons and euphorbias. The Sago Palm pictured with the earlier column was male, and so will not produce the red seeds; its tough, leathery leaflets are unlikely to be chewed on.

Still, more awareness of plant toxicity is definitely warranted.

If you have a question for the Ruth Bancroft Garden, email info@ruthbancroftgarden.org. For tour and event information, go to www.ruthbancroftgarden.org.

The gardening season is winding down, but there are some things you can do to get your garden ready for next year.

Begin by reviewing this year’s garden and make some notes. Consider what varieties and techniques worked well this year; what you would like to change; what new vegetables you would like to try? Put your notes with this year’s leftover seeds so you will know where to find them in the spring.

Here are some things you can do to get ready for next year:

Clean up this year’s garden: Remove all plants, or turn them under for compost if they are not diseased so they can decay in the soil and become organic matter enriching it. Do not work diseased plants into garden soil.

Have a soil test done and apply lime now if the soil pH is low: A good pH for most vegetables is between 6.0 and 6.5. Leaves turned under in the fall in vegetable gardens will decay all winter increasing organic matter in the soil by spring planting. The soil will be easier to work and more productive.

Collect any leftover garden chemicals and fertilizers, and store them in a dry place: If they freeze or become moist, they may be unusable, harmful or ineffective. Lock them up where small children cannot get into them. Rinse out sprayers, clean their filters and hang them upside down to dry.

Browning needles

We are getting a lot of calls asking about brown needles on white pine trees. The browning of needles is common on white pines. If you look closely, the brown needles occur just inside the branch tips on the previous year’s growth, not the current year’s growth. Needles remain on white pine trees for two years before they shed. The needles that turn brown are the 2-year-old needles that are in the process of shedding and will continue to shed throughout the winter before new growth begins in the spring.

Peony power

The peony is one of the oldest and most easy-to-maintain perennials grown in flower beds. It has beautiful flowers in the spring and good foliage throughout the growing season.

Peonies require good fertilizer, well-drained soil and at least 6 hours of sunlight every day. Best growth may require additional peat moss or compost added to the soil. After 8 to 10 years, peonies may be lifted from the ground, divided into tubers that contain three to five bulbs and replanted. Do this before Sept. 30.

Email your questions to bleigh1@utk.edu. Include your name and where you live. Call the Tipton County Extension office at 901-476- 0231 or the Shelby County Extension office at 901-752-1207. Booker T. Leigh is the extension director for Tipton County.

The humidity has dropped and nighttime lows are in the 60s. If you still have good-looking tomatoes or squash, you can keep them flowering and fruiting by trapping some of the daytime heat around them. Using black plastic for mulch and setting two-liter soda bottles filled with water around the plants (the water traps the heat and then releases it at night) will shield these tropical plants from chilling effects caused by cooler temperatures.

Morgan Milne, owner of Red Beard Farms in Castle Hayne, has spent the past few weeks trying to keep late squash and tomato crops healthy and disease-free during non-stop rain while fretting about fall planting.

Milne, a 2008 graduate of North Carolina State University, worked at other farms prior to Red Beard, but he just finished his first year on his own. He said it’s been a difficult year, but Milne is optimistic about the fall season.

“If only it would stop raining long enough to plant!” he said after a recent wet spell.

We stood in the greenhouse talking among trays of transplants waiting to go in the ground. A rogue hen made her way inside, past the chicken fence, and started running down the aisles, chasing insects and going for the tender young seedlings.

If the chickens don’t get them, these seedlings will be available for sale at the Riverfront Farmers Market in a few weeks, just in time for home gardeners to get growing.

Cool-weather gardening

If you’re a new gardener, fall is a good time to stick your toe in the soil of gardening. It’s cooler out, making for a more pleasant experience all around. Pests are less of a problem, though disease can spread easily if it rains a lot. Without baking sun, new transplants establish roots quickly and with less stress.

Fall crops are perfect for everyday eating. Staples such as lettuce, broccoli and carrots can find their way into lunch boxes and onto the table without creative cooking experiments. Experienced gardeners know that the fall and winter gardening seasons in the Wilmington area can be even more rewarding than summer.

You can plant fall vegetable seeds and transplants from now through mid-October. Milne reminds gardeners that soil preparation is key for healthy, tender greens.

“Prepare for cole crops (broccoli, cabbage, pak choy, collards, and cauliflower) by improving soil fertility before planting,” he said.

He suggests tilling in one and one-half to two times your typical amount of slow-release fertilizer. Plant Tone is a good, organic choice for home gardeners.

You can harvest carrots throughout the winter by sowing a row every two weeks for the next month. If you’ve avoided planting carrots because you don’t want to thin them, Milne has a solution.

“I just pick the true ‘baby’ carrots as they grow to thin out the rows, leaving room for others to grow larger,” he said. “The smaller carrots are perfectly good to eat.”

Ignoring the pests

“I’m one of the few farmers who will bring produce to market that might have a bug on it,” Milne said. “People tell me they are actually OK with that because they know the plants haven’t been drenched in chemicals.”

The most frequent questions I get when working with beginning gardeners are along the lines of, “What is this insect on my plant and how can I kill it?”

“Insects are around and they have to eat, too,” Milne said. “A home gardener should never have to spray pesticides. You can pretty much hand-pick the bad ones. Ignore the rest.”

While television commercials would have you believe otherwise, growing your own edibles need not involve taking a bath in pesticides. I’ve found that a diverse garden with many types of vegetables, flowers, trees and shrubs is fairly resistant to pest problems. Occasionally I’ll lose a whole tomato to hornworms, but by forgoing sprays to kill the bad bugs, I’ve allowed the good bugs to flourish and do their jobs.

To pick or to pick up?

If growing and picking your own vegetables sounds exhausting, overwhelming or won’t fit with your busy fall schedule, you can still eat healthily while supporting local agriculture.

“We’re one of the only local farms doing a fall CSA (community supported agriculture) program,” Milne said. “I’m hoping it will give us the push we need to start our second year strong.”

Share owners can pick up a half bushel of Read Beard Farms produce each week at Tidal Creek Co-Op. The CSA term will run from October through December and will include the last of the summer vegetables –squash, tomatoes, and okra – and plenty of fall greens such as kale, pak choy and broccoli. Multi-colored carrots, collards and cabbage are also planned.

Interested individuals can email Morgan at redbeardfarms@gmail.com or call 612-7216.

Features: 343-2343

Here are some tips for getting your garden ready this fall for a fabulous growing season in 2013:

Add compost! The best thing you can do for your garden is to add compost. Compost is a nutrient-rich amendment that can fix a lot of problems in the garden. If you’ve noticed issues with water retention and drying out — add compost. Compost will also help gardens overcome the trials of mountain gardening (cold nights, drought, wind …) by fostering stronger and healthier plants.

You can grow your own compost in a backyard bin or worm bin or you can purchase locally made compost. Conveniently, there is a fall compost special at the High Country Compost facility right now. You can buy finished compost by the bag or truck load (cubic yard). There are two types of finished compost — compost made from biosolids and compost made from food waste from zero-waste events and the schools. To purchase compost, contact the Summit County Resource Allocation Park at (970) 468-9263 x 0.

Chop and drop! Another way to add nutrients back into your soil is to let nature do it. Simply cut the remaining plants in your vegetable garden at the surface, shred and use as a mulch. You can leave the roots of the plant in the soil to later decompose and aerate.

Grow a cover crop! Cover crops are green manures that can either fix nitrogen levels in your soil and/or return depleted nutrients. In our mountain environment, they aren’t easy to grow. For greenhouses, hoophouses or cold frames that can keep snow off plants and provide shelter from winter elements, cover crops can be effective. You need to seed cover crops now to allow them to establish before the frost. As they grow, the crops continue to enrich the soil. In the spring, you harvest the crop before it reaches maturity and then chop it down and gently till it back into the soil. Cover crops help aerate the soil, break up compaction and replenish organic matter.

Some example crops that may do well in the High Country because of their endurance to temperatures between -15 and -30 degrees are hairy vetch (considered the hardiest of the legumes), annual ryegrass and winter rye (best grass for cold winter climates). Even if your cover crop doesn’t survive all winter, it will still add a valuable supplement to the soil when it thaws out in the spring.

Try lasagna gardening! Lasagna beds, also known as sheet composting or mulching, is one of my favorite ways to build soil and new gardens. If you’ve considered building a raised vegetable garden, now is as good of time as any. After constructing your bed, layer it like a compost bin with a couple of inches of nitrogen materials (green plant debris and some food waste) followed by a couple of inches of carbon materials (brown ingredients like seed-free straw, leaves or newspaper). Leave at least 4-6 inches of space from the top of the bed. Come spring, add a mix of topsoil and compost for new plants. Beneath the new soil, your lasagna bed layers will slowly breakdown to form compost over the next two years.

Ask Eartha Steward is written by the staff at the High Country Conservation Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to waste reduction and resource conservation. Submit questions to Eartha at eartha@highcountryconservation.org.

In 10 days the Fremont Oktoberfest will begin. Three beautiful days in Fremont, center of the Universe, with nearly 100 beer choices. How does one best prepare for surviving this fun fall beer fest?

Fremont Oktoberfest takes over two entire streets each year. This means you’ll be doing some walking and standing on pavement, so wear shoes that’ll support you while drinking.

If you’re used to drinking Budweiser, Miller, or Coors this is especially important. Those fizzy yellow light refreshing lagers are typically around 4.7 to 5% alcohol-by-volume. That’s likely why you can put back a few when hanging with friends. However, craft beers often come in higher, at double or triple the strength. So keep an eye on those ABVs listed in the Beerfest Guide as not to overdo it. Those higher-ABV beers can be sneaky.

Yes, you may think: But I’m drinking beer — that is my hydration! Not so much. Alcohol dehydrates the body.

“Because alcohol and caffeine can cause you to lose higher amounts of water than usual, you can experience dehydration as a result of their consumption. This is why many people experience a “hangover” after drinking alcohol — the body becomes dehydrated, which can cause upset stomach, headache and fatigue. If you have consumed large amounts of caffeine-containing or alcoholic beverages, you may need to couple your intake with a hydrating beverage such as water.”
—LiveStrong.com

Tie your mug on with a ribbon

There are booths throughout the Beer Garden where you can purchase bottled water. And don’t worry about visiting the portable potties; they’re regularly cleaned. Just be careful not to drop your glass down the hole. I accidentally did that last year …at least it was at the end of the festival, so I was done using it for the day …and after that, forever! This year I may just tie that emptied mug around my neck with a ribbon. (There’s Fremont Oktoberfest survival tip #3b: Save your mug!)

The more water you drink, likely the better you’ll feel later …and the next morning. Also, that water will do wonders to cleanse your palate between beers, giving you a fuller craft import beer tasting experience.

If you haven’t eaten, just a couple of mini-mugs filled with beer can knock you down pretty quick. So get some food in you! Drinking alcohol for a few hours without having food in the belly: Not such a good idea. Visit Zieglers Bratwurst Haus and other fair food stations inside the Fremont Oktoberfest Beer Garden, or the full food court in the Fremont Oktoberfest Village.

Just two blocks from the festival you can catch the Metro on North 36th Street, #28 travels to/from downtown Seattle and #46 to/from Ballard. If you’ve got to drive to get to the festival, bring along a designated driver. There’s tons of things for your “DD” to do and see at the festival:

• Pumpkin guts fly as the masters carve pumpkins with chainsaws. Your DD can cheer on the squash massacre while you’re busy imbibing Saturday and Sunday afternoon. And if you’re nice enough, maybe you’ll even pick the pumpkin pieces out of their hair.
• Dogtoberfest: You can bring your leash-trained dog along on Sunday, September 23rd. (And Sunday is the only festival day where your furry friend can accompany you in the beer garden.) At 3 p.m. that day your DD can watch the doggies strut their stuff on the CityDog Cover Model “catwalk.”
• Watching your kids. Yep. That’s right. You don’t need to hire a babysitter for this festival. Your DD can take them to the Kid’s Area, where they can learn to Polka! Kids can also turn old junk into art treasure in ArtCycle, grow their brain on the arts, and more.
• The Fremont Sunday Street Market is just a couple blocks away, where your DD can browse, shop and eat to their heart’s delight.
• If you still need time in the Beer Garden, your DD certainly won’t suffer from boredom in Fremont, center of the Universe. There are plenty of art gift shops, book stores, clothing stores, home furnishings, pets, music, delicious restaurants, Seattle landmarks, and don’t forget Theo’s Chocolates… Yum! Get the walking guide to Fremont.

And if your DD wants, they can also join you inside the Beer Garden with a non-tasting admission, sans mug and tokens, for $15.

There’s also the option of taking a cab:

• Yellow Cab: 206-622-6500
• Gray Top Cab: 206-282-8222
• Orange Cab: 206-552-8800
• Redtop Cab: 206-789-4949

Autumn gardening tips from Sammy Davis Jr in his new column That Old Green Magic

10:46am Wednesday 12th September 2012 in Freetime latest news

By George Daniel Long

Autumn gardening tips from Sammy Davis Jr in his new column That Old Green Magic

From warbling with the Rat Pack to seeding beautiful gardens, Sammy Davis Jr brings a touch of star quality to everything he touches.

Actor George Daniel Long from Sydenham, a performer best known for his Bojangles part in the suave trio, has now turned his creative hand to gardening after more than 20 years in showbiz.

The talented horticulturalist, who owns landscape design company Well Grounded Gardens, has kindly agreed to share his enthusiasm and top tips with Vibe in this fabulous new column.

That Old Green Magic

From window boxes to borders, there will be something for all you avid horticulturists.

I qualified in garden design at The English Gardening School, Chelsea and gained my RHS Certificate in Horticulture at Capel Manor College.

Each month I will be here giving you seasonal tips, planting combinations and design ideas, to help give you some inspiration for your garden.

After two decades as a performer, I wanted to do something different while still being creative, so I chose to enter the horticultural world.

I never knew how much there was to learn and every day I’m still learning.

Plants and gardens just fascinate me so I’m here to share my passion and knowledge with Vibe readers.

Hello Autumn

Autumn is almost here and for most people it feels like gardening is over for the year.

You couldn’t be more wrong.

It is one of the most delightful times of year, with dramatic colour changes on their way and a certain freshness in the air.

When choosing plants for your garden, don’t just think about how they look in bloom, think about how they can continue to perform after the flowers are spent.

There are still flowering perennials in bloom this season but Echinacea, Echinops and Eryngium leave beautiful seed heads, these combined with perennial grasses can provide plenty of interest and
texture way into the autumn, creating an almost a black and gold effect as the plants start to die off.

Top tips for September

Planting

Start planting the last of your perennials to allow them to settle before winter.

It’s the perfect time to start planting new roses, Rosa ‘New Dawn’ would be a perfect climber to add scent to your garden, and this combined with Clematis ‘Perle D’Azur’ is a classic design
combination.

Think about starting to put bulbs in, Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ and Tulipa ‘Spring Green’ are two of my personal favourites.

Get those autumn flowering Colchicum in too.

You can still plant many vegetables now including winter lettuce, spring cabbage, onions, radishes (winter varieties), also sow in some green manure to improve your soil nutrients for next year.

Maintenance

Sow, re-turf or repair your lawns.

Clear leaves from the ground to avoid the spread of pests and diseases.

Move any shrubs you need, and start dividing overgrown perennials.

Finally, prune climbing roses when the flowers have finished.

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