A garden expert has revealed there’s one particular plant that every gardener should be introducing to their outdoor spaces as October draws near. Andrea Brunsendorf, who serves as head gardener at the renowned Lowther Castle in Cumbria, has recommended that green-thumbed Britons should be cultivating the Vernonia arkansana in their spaces next month.
Andrea told Gardens Illustrated: “It’s native to central and northern United States, and it’s also known as the great iron bead because it can reach two to three metres. It really enjoys moist, retentive wet soils, even really wet soils it will tolerate and it’s a very beautiful, versatile plant for a late flowering border. It comes into bloom in the middle of September and will go all the way through into October.
She continued: “It is really loved and well visited by bees and and butterflies, at the moment I have a sleeping bumble bee in there.”
Noting that she has incorporated it within the formal landscape at Lowther Castle, she suggested it would equally suit ordinary residential gardens. She continued: “I paid attention to the staking. Here at Lowther it sits in a more natural kind of planting but you can also really put it into a rain garden where it will really enjoy the amount of water it has.”
Another “wonderful” thing she says the stunning plant has in its favour is that it is “one of the toughest perennials I have known, is it’s very very hardy, it (can survive) down to minus 20 degrees celsius”.
She added: “It’s actually named after an English botanist that found it in Maryland, US in 1698 and the botanist was called William Vernon.”
Roses, meanwhile, will be slowing down as autumn approaches, but there’s a simple job that can help them continue flowering for a bit longer.
During September, roses will have plenty of spent blooms left over from the summer months, and the plant continues using energy to maintain these wilted flowers.
Yet gardening specialists at Southwest London Gardener have shared that deadheading roses at this time can promote one last flush of blooms whilst maintaining the plant’s health.
They explained: “If you can spare the time, it is a good idea to snip off fading flower heads every two or three days at the end of summer, going into autumn.
“Doing so will keep your roses flowering and will get you outdoors enjoying your rose garden throughout the seasons.”
Deadheading becomes crucial before autumn sets in, as plants begin redirecting their energy from flower production towards strengthening their root systems ready for winter