After the rain

OH dear, hasn't it been wet this week? Yes I know we need the rain and doubtless by Sunday, when the temperatures are predicted to rise, we will all be moaning about the heat - but two days of rain and dull skies have flattened the garden and made life feel claustrophobic.

A break in the rain and slight lightening of the skies tempted me outside on Thursday morning to inspect the damage.

A potted bamboo was bent almost to the ground, its stems and leaves weighted with moisture, as were those of the tall Thalictrum glaucum in the garden.

A good shake of the bamboo put it to rights but the latter plant has to be treated with more care because the stems can break and they are top-heavy with clusters of fluffy yellow flowers.

This is an attractive plant but I always have problems staking it sufficiently since it grows a good two metres tall and never looks right tied to long stakes, although this is what it needs.

The answer is perhaps to grow it through a shrub around two thirds of its height so support is given without hiding the blooms. Some thought is needed for the problem.

Two plants that have loved the wet weather are new to my garden this year and, since being planted a couple of months ago, have done very well.

Astrantia major 'Claret' is a dark red flowered variety of Hattie's Pincushion, with dark green stems carrying the blooms well above lobed, green foliage.

Some of the leaves at the base of the plant are almost black but newer foliage shows no sign of this colouring as yet. It grows around 60cm/2ft high with a similar spread.

We also have the species Astrantia major with green flowers filled with pinkish stamen which quiver in the slightest of breezes. It is less striking than 'Claret' but its subtle colouring can be highlighted by growing it near to the darker form.

Astrantias are clump-forming herbaceous perennials that grow best in moist rich soil in light shade, although they will cope with a sunny site as long as the soil doesn't dry out. They can be propagated from seed or by dividing mature clumps in spring or autumn.

The second new plant is Primula capitata, an attractive specimen from the primula family with a rosette of pale green foliage which is sometimes dusted with silver.

The slender stems rising above the foliage each hold a single bloom with small bluish-purple flowers forming a collar around a central soft silvered-grey mound of what seems to be unopened buds.

This is a later-flowering primula with flowers from summer to autumn. I have just deadheaded the first spent blooms and noticed that they will soon be replaced by the emerging flower stems that are appearing at the base of the plant.

Like the astrantia described above, Primula capitata likes moist soil in partial shade. It grows 20cm/8ins or so tall and spreads about 35cm/14ins.

When I bought the primula, I noticed it had formed several rosettes in the pot and decided to divide it before planting out. A good soaking in a bucket of water before removal from the pot loosened the soil, after which it was easy to separate the individual plants from each other.

Each small plant, managed to get four, had its own root system and they were planted straight out into the garden where they have now formed a decent-sized group of plants.

Weekend catch-up

CUT back hardy geraniums that have finished flowering. Most will have already have new leaves growing at the base of the plant and many will flower again, if less spectacularly, in a few weeks.

Even if they don't flower again - Geranium magnificum, for example, only has one splendid blooming - they will produce a lovely clump of leaves right through until autumn. Give the plant a good soaking if the soil is dry.

Gardening TV and radio

Sunday, July 10

9am, Radio York, Down To Earth. Presented by William Jenkyns. (Repeated at 8pm on Wednesday).

9am, Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm. Radio 4, Gardeners' Question Time. From West Sussex with Matthew Biggs, Anne Swithinbank, Bob Flowerdew and chairman Eric Robson. Gardening weather at 2.25pm.

Friday

7.30pm, BBC2, Small Town Gardens. Joe Swift and Bonita Bulaitis join forces to redesign a steeply sloping front garden in Fowey, Cornwall. (repeat).

Open gardens

Sunday, July 10

In aid of Leukaemia Research

Quaker Green Open Gardens, Woodthorpe, off Moor Lane into Grassholme. Five gardens open with plant and cake stalls and tombola. Open 1-4pm. Combined admission £2.

In aid of All Saints tower appeal

Terrington Village Open Gardens, north of Sheriff Hutton and west of Castle Howard. Ten gardens open in the village together with a scarecrow competition, brass band and mime artist. Parking at the village hall where there will also be cream teas and plants on sale. Open 2-6pm. Combined admission £3.

In aid of Chapel Funds

Bolton Gardens, on the Pocklington-Stamford Bridge road. Several private village gardens open to the public who will also be able to take part in a secret garden treasure hunt and see an exhibition of old agricultural implements. Plants and cards on sale and refreshments available at the Chapel. Open 2-5pm. Combined admission £3. Also open today from 2-5pm.

In aid of St Andrew's Church

Rillington Village Gardens, five miles east of Malton on the A64. Fourteen village gardens open five of them new to the event and several of the other revamped since they were last open. Ice creams on sale en-route and teas served at the vicarage. Programmes and tickets available from the church rooms. Open 1-5.30pm. Combined admission £3.50 adult, £1.50 child, £8 family ticket (two adults and two children under 14). Also open today from 1-5.30pm.

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme

Cawood Gardens, Cawood, five miles north of Selby. Four gardens open. l 9 Anson Grove has a small, orientally influenced garden with pools, water features, a Zen garden, pagoda, mosaics and more than 30 grasses. l Ash Lea has shrubs and fernery leading to formal borders, a pool, woodland walk and traditional vegetable garden. l 37 Broad Lane has winding paths through shade and sunlight, extensive plantings, dry stream bed, scree slope, pools and herb bed. l 21 Great Close has a colourful flower arrangers garden with a new vegetable garden, extended borders, stream, pools and terrace with exotic planting. Open 12-5pm. Combined admission £4 adult, accompanied children free.

Dacre Banks Gardens, Nidderdale, ten miles north west of Harrogate on the B6451. Four gardens open with a walk between them along Nidderdale valley. Low Hall has a walled garden on different levels with shrubs, climbing roses, tender plants and herbaceous borders. Orchard house has a two-acre garden that blends into the surrounding countryside and provides a haven for wildlife. Stud Cottage has a kitchen garden, orchard with fish pond, rockery and herbaceous planting. Yorke House has a two-acre flower arrangers garden with colour themed borders, large ponds, stream, nut walk, millennium garden and wildlife area. Open 11-5pm. Combined admission £4.50 adult, accompanied children free.

Rudston House, Rudston, near Driffield. Three-acres of garden with old trees, lawns, shrubs, potager, hosta and lily beds, pond, short woodland walk and greenhouses. The Victorian farmhouse (not open) was the birthplace of author Winifred Holtby. Open 11-5pm. Admission £2.50 adult, accompanied children free.

Secret Garden, Sherwood Grove, Acomb, York, off Beckfield Lane. Hidden -acre garden developed and extended over 25 years with large pond and stream, extensive mixed plantings, hosta, euphorbia and grass collections, six greenhouses with vine, cactus, succulent and tender plant collections and small nursery. Open 10-5pm. Admission £2 adult, accompanied children free.

In aid of British Red Cross

Hillbark, Church Lane, Bardsey, off the A58 Wetherby-Leeds road. One-acre garden on a south facing sloping site with shrubs, perennials, linked ponds with ducks and marginal planting, woodland and some unusual ceramics. Open 2-5pm. Admission £2 adult, 50p child.

Norton Conyers, Wath, four miles north of Ripon. Mid-18th century walled garden with borders, orangery and pond, old fashioned and unusual hardy plants and pick your own fruit when in season. The house was visited by Charlotte Bronte in 1839 and a family legend gave her the idea in part for the mad Mrs Rochester. Open 2-5pm. Admission £3 adult, accompanied children free.

In aid of St John Ambulance

Stockeld Park, Wetherby, between Wetherby and Spofforth on the A661. Much replanting and development has been carried out in recent years with advice from designer Tim Rees. Formal topiary is surrounded by herbaceous planting with a backdrop of ancient woodland and views across parkland. Open 2-5pm. Admission £3.50 adult, 50p child.

Updated: 16:54 Friday, July 08, 2005