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Water, water ev'rywhere ... 30 Sep 2024 (Eynsham Garden Club) ... summer seems a distant memory

Keats’ “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” is hardly living up to  its name, and October looks to continue in a distinctly soggy manner (historically it is Oxford’s wettest month). The British climate doesn’t “do” rice (at least not yet), but how do plants cope with water in excess? A lot just die (overwatering of houseplants, incidentally, accounts for more death than parching neglect), but rice is not the only plant to relish its permanent presence. If you have a naturally damp area in your garden, it can be a chance to grow many “aquaphiles” such as Lysichiton (skunk cabbage), Lysimachia (loosestrife – incidentally, “lysos” is Greek for dissolve, which may at least partly explain these names), Ligularia (lovely yellow daisies with big, juicy leaves) and the now very popular Astilbes, which often look rather startled to my eye, stiff and awkward, though some are lovely, given sufficient moisture There is a very obscure species called Astilbe rivularis myriantha (what a mouthful!), a most beautiful plant at about two-feet six/75cm with lovely drooping white plumes of flowers, and which I was finally able to buy a few years ago, only to find that my present garden is too well-drained for it to be really happy  - it survives, but doesn’t really thrive. Some of Eynsham heaves with clay, so you might like to try one or two of the plants listed above. However, be watchful: both skunk cabbage and loosestrife can romp away in damp places: I grow Lysimachia “Firecracker”, a very good “doer” with yellow flowers and bronze leaves, in a dryish sunny spot, just to keep it under control. For something completely different, explore the genus of iris called “ensata”. Known as the water iris, these plants of Japanese origin love damp soil AND sun, an unusual combination in itself, but should you benefit from it, they are glorious, in a wide number of varieties in the colour range white-blue-purple, flowering in mid-summer. For more guidance on managing wet areas, Beth Chatto’s classic book “The Damp Garden” is a must.

Hopefully, you’ve already planted a lot of bulbs for next spring, but, if not, it’s still not too late: I’ve planted daffodils as late as December, and they still flowered the following March. Tulips actually prefer to be planted later in the year, so October is ideal. Just don’t plant anything if the ground is waterlogged. Frost is also more likely as the month progresses, especially during the last ten days or so: the coldest night ever in Oxfordshire was October 24th 1859, when -5.7 C (about 22F) was recorded, though recent trends are warmer – the warmest October day in the county was 1st October 2011, when we basked in 29.1 C (84F) – I doubt that will be matched this year.

On the vegetable front, some hardy varieties of peas and broad beans can be sown in situ, as well as winter cabbages. A covering of fleece is advisable, both as protection from the cold and marauding pigeons. More details on the ever-helpful RHS web-site: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/in-month/october

Should you be a brave grower of citrus trees, now is probably the time to get them under cover, and bring in any houseplants that you might have given a summer “holiday” in a shady, sheltered spot outside. I’m glad to report that my Christmas cacti are already full of buds.

AND: plan for next year, flowers, fruit, and veg, all of them. It keeps us going through the cold and dark.

Nick Clapton, Eynsham Garden Club

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