Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2014 | Page 67

3

GARDENING
OF THE

BEST

Buddleias, known as the butterfly bush,
attract 18 species of butterflies including
Painted Lady, Peacock, Red Admiral and
Small Tortoiseshell. Black Knight is dark and
handsome and has an RHS AGM. Michaelmas
daisies add a simple charm to the garden,
different species have different preferences
and the abundant flowers please both
butterflies and gardeners. Sedum spectabile
commonly known as the ice plant adds
much to an autumn border with its attractive
foliage and bold heads of sugary pink flowers
complement the russet tones of Tortoiseshell
and Peacock butterflies beautifully.

Last of the summer veg

nt of harvesting
After the initial exciteme
re comes a
your own vegetables the
become a
time when it's possible to
of overgrown
little jaded with a glut
troot somehow
courgettes and woody bee
bounty cannot
forgetting that summer's
rots, perpetual
last. Late sowings of car
ens will keep
spinach and oriental gre
ts producing
the vegetable plot or po
a few more
useful new harvests for
potatoes such as
weeks . In a greenhouse
er planted in late
Charlotte and Maris Pip
new potatoes in
September will produce
time for Christmas.

Time to sow
hardy annuals

If you've recently been inspired by the
growing trend for British cut flowers, August
and September are the ideal time to sow
hardy annual flowers for next year. They
will be bigger and flower earlier than their
spring sown counterparts. Many are happy
sown directly where they are to flower,
others such as Gypsophila, Clary sage
(Salvia viridis) and Night Scented Stocks
prefer a little cosseting if you have a cold
greenhouse, either sow them in beds or in
trays and pots ready for transplanting in the
spring. They don't need heat, just protection
from the coldest and wettest weather.
Poppies, Nigella, Calendula, Cornflowers
and Larkspur can be sown outside. Larkspur
resents transplanting, allow plenty of space
between rows and thin ruthlessly to 30cm
apart. Keep seedlings watered in dry spells
and you will be enjoying your first home
grown bouquets by mid-May.

The life cycle of
butterflies
Butterflies need flowers because many feed entirely
on nectar. Their offspring are a different matter as any
cabbage grower knows. Fortunately many caterpillars
require simpler fare and favour grasses and native plant
species; an area of rough grass or an un-mown verge is
just what is needed. Eggs laid now hatch and develop
next spring, ready to emerge next summer. There's no
need to turn your entire garden into a wilderness; a
small patch of grasses allowed to grow as a meadow
will provide a tiny oasis that may tempt species such
as Marbled White and Wall Brown butterflies to make
themselves at home.
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