Green Fingers: Plants that like the heat more than we do
A monarch butterfly pictured on a butterfly bush (buddleia).
There are very few gardens in Ireland that can be considered dry, free-draining and sunny, and these are usually dealt with by including a variety of plants that thrive under such conditions.
With climate change it is anyone’s guess what conditions we can expect in the future.
One thing we can be certain of is that water will become more limited and that is a strange thing to take on board under Irish conditions.
Water storage is on the increase and ways of reducing moisture loss from the soil by mulching with bark or other materials is a good way to help reduce stress levels in plants.
Lavenders like dry conditions and are never better than in a sunny warm position where they will thrive with an intensity of flower colour and fragrance. Especially good are Lavender ‘Hidcote’, which is a compact grower with violet-blue flowers.
I also like the airy fairy plants, which are robust, vigorous and strongly aromatic like L x intermedia ‘Edelweiss’ (white) and L x int ‘Grosso’ (mid-blue), which have flower spikes held well above the grey-blue foliage.
Artemesia ‘Powis Castle’ is a beautiful small evergreen shrub with deeply cut, silvery-grey aromatic leaves. It was growing in Powis Castle, a National Trust property and first distributed from there some 50 years ago.
Its low growing habit and tolerance of full sun makes it an ideal companion in well-drained sites.
The Cistus or sun rose is a group of evergreen shrubs, which flower over a long period from May to July with poppy-like flowers, such as ‘Alan Fradd (white) and purpureus (dark pink with central dark blotch).
The so-called miniature rock roses called Helianthemum are brilliant for length of flowering and only grow 15cm (6”) high and 60cm (2’) spread.
There are many more shrubs, perennials and grasses that I could mention that are tolerant of dry conditions but they are for another time as space does not allow me to name them this week.
The common buddleia or butterfly bush loves dry conditions and this can be seen where it colonises patches of stony abandoned sites and even high on old buildings. I like the different coloured varieties for their sheer beauty in pink, red, white, lilac and pink.
An added attraction is the way they attract bees and of course the clouds of butterflies, of which we have noted five species.
Another common plant that does well in a variety of conditions is the Potentilla, which is also a native found in parts of Ireland, including the Burren, where I have seen it growing in severe dry conditions up to standing close to water too. The huge advantage of the potentilla is that it flowers from May until the autumn, and comes in white, yellow, pink and a shade of red. All the plants mentioned above will also do well in coastal gardens.
The positive thing about any long period of warm, dry weather is that the lawn does not need cutting, there are less weeds around and almost no diseases.
Our potatoes got away without any spraying and similar crops, such as tomatoes, are disease free so far but do check that there is adequate ventilation in your tunnels or glasshouse, otherwise mould and blight can attack susceptible plants overnight.
If you have any comments or queries you are welcome to share them with me on 051-384273 or orchardstowngardencentre@hotmail.com and if of general interest I will include it in a future article.
