Mopheaded marvels

As I write, the threatened rain has arrived and although disappointing for holiday makers it has perked up the garden no end and everything looks cool and green.

The hydrangeas here have struggled a little in the recent warm, dry weather and I have had to rescue them with an occasional bucket of water poured around their roots.

Hydrangeas are great shrubs for summer colour with most starting to bloom in July and continuing well into autumn.

The macrophyllas suffer from over-familiarity and the typical pink- or blue-flowered shrub is often considered to be very unfashionable, probably because its long flowering season and ability to grow well in most situations has led to overuse.

I like it and have a young specimen growing in my garden, a cutting from a magnificent shrub in my mother-in-law's Cheshire garden, but for those who really cannot love the mopheads, there are plenty of others to choose from the genus.

Hydrangea arborescens is a North American species with rounded blooms and bright green foliage.

:: Open Gardens

In aid of Stockton-on-the-Forest Village Hall

Stockton-on-the-Forest Open Gardens, near York. Approximately 10 private gardens open in the village. Tickets available at the village hall and cream teas and plants on sale.

Open 1-5pm.Combined admission £3 adult, accompanied children free.

In aid of the National

Gardens Scheme

The Spaniels, Field Lane, Hensall, five miles south of Selby. Immaculate garden with long colour themed mixed borders, island beds, wildlife pond, bog gardens and a wide range of plants for sale. Teas in aid of RSPCA.

Open 12-4pm. Admission £2 adult, accompanied children free.

In aid of British Red Cross

Dacre Banks, four miles south east of Pateley Bridge on the B6451 entry on Oak Lane just pat the Royal Oak. Two gardens open;

Orchard House with two acres of natural garden blending into the surrounding countryside. The garden provides a haven for wildlife with shrub and perennial plantings and a productive fruit and vegetable area.

Stud Cottage has a an half-acre garden with a herbaceous rockery, kitchen garden, orchard with a small fishpond and patio area with seating.

Open 1-5pm. Combined admission £3 adult, accompanied children free.

The Dales, Cottingham, near Beverley. Garden with a split level paved area, stream bordered with mixed stone, ponds, shrub borders and mature trees.

Open 11am-5pm. Admission £2.50 adult, accompanied children free.

In aid of St John Ambulance.

Settrington House, Settrington, four miles south of Malton. Extensive grounds with woodland and lakeside walks, flower border, water features, Italianate style garden with classical tempietto, colonnade and fountain and traditional walled kitchen garden.

Open 2-5pm. Admission £3.

There are several cultivars; the one I have is 'Annabelle', a fairly compact shrub with slender branches and lovely white flowers, which will eventually grow around 120cm/4ft high with a slightly larger spread. The flowers on a healthy plant can be spectacularly large, up to 30cm/12ins across, especially if the shrub is hard pruned in spring, but they are sometimes too heavy for their stems.

If this is a problem, it should be pruned sparingly to allow the stems to thicken and more able to support their flowers.

The blooms will be a little smaller but more plentiful.

Another white flowered species is Hydrangea paniculata, which is found in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and eastern and south-east China. It has conical-shaped flowerheads from mid summer onwards and these will sometimes become tinged pink as they mature in autumn.

The one I have in the garden is H.paniculata 'Kyushu', which has many tiny flowers that collectively give a fluffy appearance accentuated by the scattering of larger, sterile ray florets. 'Kyushu' was first collected as a seedling in 1926 on sacred Aso-san, a volcano in Kyushu, Japan, by Captain Collingwood Ingram.

It is a vigorous specimen which can reach the size of small tree if left unpruned but, where space dictates, can be kept smaller by cutting back to within two or three buds of the base in March.

This can begin once the plant is two or three years old and has formed several woody stems.

Hydrangeas are easy to grow and ideal for a moist soil and semi-shade where they are sheltered from hot afternoon sun.

Some species can be grown in tubs as long as they are well watered, but watch out for vine weevils.

:: Weekend catchup

Keep watering all pots, containers, hanging baskets and window boxes.

They will need to be done at least once a day even if it rains as they dry out very quickly when the weather is warm and plants are needing moisture to grow and flower.

If you have a problem with snails and slugs try watering in the morning rather than the evening.

:: Find out about the personalities of plants from Carol Klein

Carol Klein will be holding a day- long seminar at Scampston Hall in Scampston near Malton on September 19.

Organised by the Society of Garden Designers (SGD), the day will begin with registration at 9.30am and will finish at 4.30pm. During the morning Carol will give an illustrated talk based on her new book Plant Personalities and in the afternoon will give a second talk about wave planting and plant partners.

There will also be a walk around the Piet Ouldof-designed 4.5 acre walled garden at the Hall, which includes the Spring and Summer Box Gardens, the Silent Garden and the Drifts of Grass.

Carol Klein has won six gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show for her plant displays and runs the acclaimed Glebe Cottage Plants in Devon as well as writing, lecturing and being a presenter on BBC2's Gardeners' World.

The cost of the day is £60 for SGD members, £105 for non-members. Lunch is available at the restaurant but it must be prebooked, otherwise a packed lunch will be needed. Tickets to the seminar need to be booked in advance, further details from Gill Hunton, telephone 01989 566695.

:: Gardening TV and Radio

Sunday, July 31

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

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

2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time. Pippa Greenwood, Bob Flowerdew, Matthew Biggs and chairman Gill Pyrah try to solve the horticultural problems of gardeners from the Sutton Garden Club near Ely. The Gardening Weather Forecast is at 2.25pm.

Thursday, August 4

8.30pm, C4, The City Gardener. In the first of a new six part series Matt James tackles a wilderness of a garden in east London.

Friday, August 5

8pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World - The Vegetable Kingdom. Sarah Raven delves into the world of show veg and looks at how the champion growers manage to produce prize specimens year after year and also visits the Yorkshire rhubarb triangle as well as the Jersey Royal farmers.

Updated: 08:38 Saturday, July 30, 2005