This month we are eased gently towards the joys of winter. We reach automatically for a thicker sock, we no longer think about going out without a jacket. The wind is a little bit keener and the leaves on the trees are getting a little bit tatty round the edges. However, it is still warm enough for an afternoon’s gardening or to gather in the last of the summer harvest, and there are still sheltered spots where you can sit with a cup of coffee to listen to the birds packing up and admire the latecomers in your borders.
WORDS JAMES ALEXANDER-SINCLAIR
STAR OF THE MONTH
Hydrangea aspera Hot Chocolate
I have a nifty little ear worm for you: a slightly annoying thing happens whenever I come across a particularly fine hydrangea like this one. Into my head pops the tune Volare – you know, the one that goes “Nel blu dipinto di blu”. My Italian is very rough so I have no idea what it means but I can’t help singing “hydrangea” in my head to that tune. With this particular variety (Hot Chocolate) it would be more appropriate if I sang “you sexy thing (sexy thing you)” but probably best if I stick with “hydrangea, oh-oh, aspera oh-oh-oh-oh”.
Spectacular and reliable plant for sun or light shade. As with all hydrangeas it must be kept well-watered. Propagate from softwood cuttings in summer.
Height x Spread 3m x 2.5m
BARBERRY BLUSH
When I first started gardening the berberis was very much in fashion. Since then, its popularity has waned somewhat and you don’t see them around as much. A pity, as they have a lot to recommend themselves. They make a good hedge, their autumn colour is subtle yet striking, they have good spring flowers and wild barberry produces edible berries, but some cultivated forms have berries that are mildly poisonous.
Berberis thunbergii ‘Rose Glow’
Tough and hardy on any soil. Makes a good hedge as well as a border shrub. Lots of different varieties from green to purple. H x S 1.2m x 1.2m
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Quite how did a plant this beautiful, this delicate, this finely marked and this useful end up with the unalluring common name of toad lily? True, it is lilyish but I am stumped for the toad connection – except the mottling of the petals might be a bit toady? I love a toad for many reasons (not least its slug-devouring capabilities) but only its mother would appreciate its good looks!
Tricyrtis hirta ‘Taiwan Atrianne’
Keep out of the sunshine – will survive in deep shade if not too dry. Divide in spring.
H x S 80cm x 50cm
HEAT OF THE MOMENT
The dahlia is very high up the list of ‘plants without which no garden wo
