Agapanthus and apples
- The Gardener
- Aug 11
- 3 min read
We are well into August and the greenhouse bears a strong aroma of onions. A few weeks earlier than usual, we harvested our crop of Sturon at the end of July. With the greenhouse staging largely bare at present, this affords us the luxury of being able to crate up the onions, leaves and all, to spend the rest of the summer drying out. In a few weeks’ time, we’ll remove the leaves once they turn brown but for the moment they can remain. This creates a space in the raised beds, which we’ll plant with a succession of lettuce for the rest of the growing season.
The warmth of this lovely summer continues and, with the exception of Storm Floris and some cooler, breezier ensuing days, the weather has been calm, with just enough rain to keep us from having to water. The butterflies have been incredible this year, with many commas visiting and even a Speckled Wood, which we’ve never seen before. Large white caterpillars are currently munching on the swedes, though…
The goldfish too are enjoying the solar-heated waters of their pool. Perhaps as a consequence of this or of our having to drop the water level by around 10” to effect a repair, they have all started spawning! It’s a few years since we’ve had the flapping of tiny fins, so we’ll see what happens…
The agapanthus this year have been wonderful, with all three varieties flowering well. We could do with more white ones, though, so I’ve made a note to divide ours up in the spring.
August marks the start of the hedge season here. The box has now had its annual trim, and I’ve discovered once again that hedge-trimming seems to require a combination of muscles I clearly don’t use very often! I do enjoy the task, though, as it’s just once a year and delivers an instant result. For box, we try to pick a cloudy ( to avoid scorch) but dry (to avoid fungal spread) day, which is actually not that easy in this part of Scotland, or hasn’t been this year! Also this year, the box seems a lot healthier than previous years; we haven’t had to give it its annual wash of TopBuxus. Perhaps the warm, dry air of this year has been the best tonic! Happily we have not yet been affected by either blight or moth - long may that continue…
Meanwhile the apples have started to drop in the Old Orchard. The gentle thud of an apple on grass or soil is a lovely sound, but they are, like everything else, a few weeks earlier than usual. We have quite a few varieties here and they will give us a succession of fruit late into the autumn. The plums too have started to ripen and it’s a bumper crop this year, although sadly a branch succumbed to the sheer weight of fruit a couple of weeks ago.
August is perhaps my favourite month in the garden. For sure, some of the herbaceous looks as if it’s been partying a bit too hard and the yew hedges are a bit tufty but the quality of the sunlight on an August afternoon and what it does to the garden’s colours and textures is a thing of great beauty. There’s also inherent melancholy, though, knowing that this is the final month of what has been one of the loveliest summers for a very long time.
