This post was originally published on this site.
Increasing heatwaves mean we need to rethink what we grow. The good news? You can still go cottagecore
The only spot-watering my garden has seen in recent months was done by the builder in a quiet moment. I hadn’t asked him to, but I think he saw the state of things and took pity on an acer I’d given up on. I explained I’d been using the drought as an, admittedly extreme, experiment to find which plants are resilient to multiple heatwaves, but said he was welcome to take the acer back to his well-irrigated garden.
My observations are that the roses hung in there. Not flowering, as I’ve seen others doing, but mine are probably younger. The wildflower meadow has been surprisingly floriferous; it’s been a good year for zinnias – although not good enough to make me like them. The volunteer buddleja that was hacked to the ground in April made an Oasis-worthy comeback. Euphorbias, meconopsis, sage, erigeron: all fine. Volunteer robinia saplings loved life. Verbascum coped. My son has been eating passion fruit straight from the vine.