Garden Blog - August 2025

Mr B E Gent, is most certainly not be a household name these days, but his snappily titled ‘A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew’, published in 1699, and aimed at educating polite London society types about slang phraseology employed by the lower orders, introduced for the first time in print a Scottish aphorism we all know well, that being ‘’you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear’’. However, the creation of a new habitat in our grounds firmly contradicts that notion.

A couple of winters ago, after a prolonged period of exceptionally wet weather, numerous naturally occurring springs in our South Lawn were so active that they overwhelmed the drainage system, causing heavy waterlogging.

Throughout spring, unable to get mowers onto our South Lawn, the grass ran riot, transforming itself into a meadow. What had previously been an unremarkable stretch of lawn beside our Dutch style canal, became a carpet of golden buttercups with dabs of soft pink cuckoo flowers, when freed from the tyranny of mowing. Later, such likes as self-heal, clover, lady’s bedstraw, yarrow, and meadowsweet, took over the show, amid a sea of swaying grasses.

Eventually, by early summer, we were able to mow a narrow meandering strip through the drier side of the meadow, creating a walkable pathway, and our Waterside Meadow was born.

Besides wildflowers, our new meadow provides a home for a great variety of insect life, including bees, butterflies, and damselflies. Also, a multitude of invertebrates, molluscs, amphibians, and those that prey on them find shelter there.

As time rolls on, more species of local wildflowers and wildlife will make our Waterside Meadow their home, bringing greater diversity to the gardens as a whole. A butterfly that requires unmown grassland in which to lay its eggs, is the large skipper, and this year we spotted them for the first time here. We’d like to think that they were attracted by the possibilities offered in our new Waterside Meadow habitat.

August in the garden is often seen as something of a lull where flowering plants are concerned, after the exuberance of spring and early summer has passed, but this need not be the case.

Shrubs such as Hibiscus syriacus, the flowers of which cater to all tastes, being available in shades of white, red, purple, mauve, violet, or blue, often with a different coloured throat, are well suited to smaller gardens as they are compact in nature. Meanwhile, such likes as the giant Hydrangea villosa, with its large velvety leaves, and flat mauve flower heads up to 8’ in width, makes a statement in larger gardens, where it has room to show its full potential.

Often overlooked in the late summer palette of plants with which to brighten our borders, are lilies. A couple of spectacular oriental x trumpet hybrids that we use are ‘Miss Feya’ and ‘Lakeside Beloved’. Both varieties are smothered in large and showy flowers, on stems that easily reach over 6ft in height. Furthermore, their scent is utterly delicious, especially on warmer days, when it fills the air with its intoxicating richness.

Where herbaceous plants are concerned, Phlox, Echinops, eryngiums, among others, do a sterling job of carrying seasonal interest on through the month, but a particular favourite here is Verbena bonariensis, or purpletop vervain, as it’s otherwise known.

With wiry and erect branching stems to 4ft in height, bearing sparse leaves, and topped by numerous branched clusters of small, lilac-purple flowers, this native of South America prefers a sunny and dry site. Here, it has established itself in the narrow gaps between paving slabs along our Parterre Path, where it self-seeds freely. Having first been collected and described by the French botanist, Philibert Commerson, during his early eighteenth century explorations of South America, Verbena bonariensis was first grown as a garden ornamental in 1726 by English nurserymen James & William Sherard, who got the seeds from a dried specimen sent back to them from Buenos Aires.

On that bright and cheerful note of overspilling colour filled borders…

Until next month, happy gardening.

Large skipper butterfly	Hibiscus 'Red Heart'	Lily 'Lakeside Beloved'	Verbena Bonariensis	Lily 'Miss Freya'