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Let Lilies strike a pose
Asiatic varieties come in bright, vibrant yellows, oranges and reds and prefer alkaline soils
Lilies are one of the most striking of all garden plants. There is a huge variety to choose from.
Asiatic varieties come in bright, vibrant yellows, oranges and reds and prefer alkaline soils.
Oriental lilies in a palette of pinks and whites are more heavily fragranced and like acid soils. Some are better suited to containers such as the dwarf Asiatic lily, Apollo, and the vivid pink Côte d’Azur.
Others work well in a mixed border, including the tall Madonna lily (L. candidum), used by Roman soldiers to treat wounds, and associated with the Virgin Mary for its pure white flowers.
L. regale is an award-winning bulbous perennial with flowers that are deep pink on the outside, opening to white with yellow centres. Turk’s Cap lilies (L. martagon) have smaller flowers with petals that peel back and can grow up to 2 metres high.
Most prefer full sun or partial shade, and taller varieties need staking.
Plant bulbs now for a display next summer. Insert at a depth of 10-15cm in a mixed border, or three to a 25-30cm pot.
Take care not to buy shrivelled bulbs and always plant them as soon as you buy them.
Tie in summer raspberries
Cut the old brown stems down to the ground without leaving any stumps. Then secure the new growth
Raspberries that produce fruit from early to late summer should be pruned as soon as they finish cropping.
Cut the old brown stems down to the ground without leaving any stumps. Then secure the new growth.
If you are growing raspberries in rows, you might use horizontal wires trained between two or three posts. Or if you are growing them individually, tie to a single post or bamboo canes.
Summer-fruiting raspberries produce fruit on one year’s growth, so the stems you tie in now will bear next year’s harvest.
A second flush of roses
If you haven’t already done so, it can be a good idea to feed repeat-flowering roses to encourage a second flush of flowers
If you haven’t already done so, it can be a good idea to feed repeat-flowering roses to encourage a second flush of flowers.
First, weed around your rose with a hand fork. Then sprinkle the recommended amount of feed on to the ground around the base of the plant.
You can use either a general-purpose fertiliser or a specialist rose feed. Use the fork to work it into the soil. Then water to help the plant absorb the nutrients. You can also mulch with manure or compost. With any luck, your rose will bloom well into the autumn.
Reader's question
In heavy cropping years, fruit can put branches at risk of being pulled off the tree. Prevent this by making a prop using a forked stick harvested from another tree
Some of the branches on my apple tree are overladen with fruit, what should I do?
Rebecca Todd, Warwick.
In heavy cropping years, fruit can put branches at risk of being pulled off the tree. Prevent this by making a prop using a forked stick harvested from another tree.
Hazel is ideal as it doesn’t mind being coppiced.
Choose a thick upright stem. Saw it at the base, then prop up the branch in the fork.
After you have harvested the fruit, leave the stick for a week, then remove it before it rots.
Plant of the week - Monarda Didyma
Also known as bee balm or bergamot, this vigorous, upright perennial bears an abundance of pink or red flowers on top of leafy stems
Also known as bee balm or bergamot, this vigorous, upright perennial bears an abundance of pink or red flowers on top of leafy stems. Flowering from July to September, it likes moist, fertile soil that drains easily and prefers to be in a sunny spot or dappled shade.
Bees and butterflies love the flowers. If it is too dry, powdery mildew can be a problem, but equally it doesn’t like to sit in wet soil, or deep shade.
Its leaves, rich in oil, have traditionally been used to flavour teas, although not Earl Grey which contains oil from the bergamot orange, Citrus bergamia.
