Your Garden – Jude Costello
WHAT uncharacteristic hot dry horrible weather we are experiencing in the New England.
It reminds me of Mungindi – well nearly, which by the way reached 48 degrees last week.
Water and mulch is the only way to cope with this extreme heat, slow deep watering is best but anything is better than nothing.
You will notice some things scorching from the heat and nothing short of an umbrella will stop this happening. My lilies have got brown scorches on the petals and some of the softer foliaged plants will have leaf burn.
There have also been soldier beetles and little green grasshoppers doing a bit of chewing. If the ground is wet the roots will stay a little cooler so splash your water about keeping the soil moist under the mulch.
The crepe myrtles (lagerstroemias) should flower beautifully this year with the heat as do our wonderful roses.
Keep dead-heading your roses as though you are cutting for a vase, feed and water well and you will be bountifully rewarded.
Start to think and plan which spring bulbs you want as you will need to prepare, order and plant them in the coming months.
Do you want swathes of daffodils, clumps of snowdrops, borders of jonquils, tulips and Dutch iris or maybe some of the more special ones to fill some spaces and create some interest. When planting large swathes or beds, I like varieties which will naturalise and are low care.
Hopefully it will be cooler and wetter very soon.
