'The Late summer Border'
Jack Willgoss

For our talk in November 2022 the Group were entertained by the passionate nurseryman Jack Willgoss from Shropshire talking about ‘The Late Summer Border’. He is certainly a knowledgeable gardener of our times and believes in organic gardening. He has gardened for ten years without irrigation or compost heaps and has analysed how plants have fared during drought and flood. He grows only plants that can survive with very little attention and provide a picture of colour. Shallow watering puts plants under stress and he gardens on shallow, well-draining soil on a rocky base.

He gave us tips on helping plants to survive during the extreme weather changes. Plants that he uses include Verbascum, Anthemis, Achilleas (‘Pretty Belinda’and ‘Lansdorferglus’), Persicarias and Echinops. Other plants that he has found successful are Nepeta ‘Kit Kat’ and Hemerocallis ‘Brownie’ and the tall ‘Selma Longlegs’. He recommended cutting back Nepetas and Anthemis for a second flowering. The day lilies need to be dead-headed regularly to encourage continued flowering. The Crocosmias ’Babylon’, a red one and ‘Coleton Fishacre’, an orange colour, have proved to be worth growing.

Crocosmias need to be divided every two years to flower well. Salvias need to be dead headed regularly and benefit from a mid-season chop. ‘Stormy Pink’ and ‘Tutti Frutti’ withstand different weather conditions. Monardas, which can be prone to mildew, need to be well mulched. ’Camilla’, ‘Red Huckleberry’, Jacob Cline’, ’Othello and ’On Parade’ are very resilient. Agastaches give good value in free draining soil.’Kolibriand’ and ‘Fleur; have proved worthy plants in fluctuating conditions. Rudbeckia maxima, with its black cones, has been a star this year. Jack also mentioned using Lythrum as it is good in drought conditions and gives good Autumn colour. Phlox provide scent and can be propagated by root cuttings. The latter do need mulch to prevent them drying out. ’Casablanca’ is an excellent white one, with ‘Grey Lady’ being a stunning grey with lilac markings.

Later in the season the Astrantias can be blooming again following a dead heading. Asters/Symphotichums show off with the nova-anglaie varieties. Plants which will serve one well are ‘Sayers Croft’, thomsonii and ‘Prairie Purple’. Echinaceas, which are often difficult to grow, need plenty of room and their flowers removed for the first two years to enable good root development. Persicarias mentioned were ‘Alba’, ’Fat Domino’ and ‘Orange Field’. Sedums/Hylotelphiums come into their own and ’Red Cauli’ and ‘Purple Emperor’ are note- worthy varieties.

Grasses provide an Autumn/Winter display with their silhouettes standing proud, highlighted by the winter sun giving movement and sound to the scene. Stipa ‘Gold Fountaene’ has beautiful, huge plumes and is the star of the show.

Then in January all is cut down and used as mulch ready for Jack’s bulbs to appear in the Spring!! Yes, a thought-provoking lecture.