GARDENS
ANNA TAYLOR, OWNER OF ANNA’S FLOWER FARM IN AUDLEY END, SHARES WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE GARDEN THIS MONTH GARDEN GROW? How does your NOVEMBER
he November garden is in slow retreat, with plants creating a spiders’ playground, while chrysanthemums are hitting their stride like fireworks exploding with colour. They’re some of my current favourites for their scent, hardy attitude and tonal qualities. As one garden year crosses over, with some final performances and a curtain call from the roses, the bulk of the month is spent preparing for the next. In the borders, I leave the jumble of leaves and stems – the ‘morning after the night before’ – where the summer’s flowers shrink towards the earth. Don’t cut these back; the sunrise is a welcome breakfast treat, glistening behind grasses and perennials such as eupatoriums, asters and echinaceas, creating long shadows. If you don’t love a decaying border, try to. The material will protect the crowns of the plants from wet winter weather, providing food and a home for wildlife. You’ll know when it’s time to cut back – plants will tell you with green growth in the spring. Usually, the task of the month is to lift all our dahlias, but I’m leaving them in this autumn. Instead, I’ll cut the stems down and cover with a bucket of compost. The stem of a dahlia is like a straw – great in the summer, but freezing weather will cause the tuber to swell with frozen water, then
© ANNA TAYLOR
DOWNTIME November is, for the most part, a time for preparation in the gardening world
Instead, I’m moving towards multi- stemmed varieties, or perennialising in the long border for myself rather than growing as a crop. My adoration for the narcissus sees no bounds as yet. They return year after year, with many shapes and colours to celebrate. If you’re wondering where you have room for these – or any spring bulb – look beyond the border and consider the lawn. A spring meadow is the easiest to create, saves you effort early in the year and is enchanting. Give the lawn its last cut this month and simply throw bulbs at the grass, planting them where they land. Naturalising looks best when one or two varieties flower at the same time – starting with snowdrops, then crocus, scilla and ending with poet’s narcissus. Plant in generous drifts and leave space for a meandering mown path, enjoying the display as it rises in January until the grass flowers with the narcissus in May. Then, when you can no longer bear the mess, mow it all down lower and lower as the summer goes on. Time to rest and recuperate like a bulb, to emerge next year, bright and fantastic!
rot as it defrosts. The aim of the game is to make sure they don’t sit in the wet. I’ll lift the plants next autumn instead – when I expect the tubers will be enormous. There’s still plenty of time to plant bulbs for the spring, but only now can you plant tulips. These need a couple of frosts first and a cool soil. I admit that my love affair for tulips has waned. Thinking sustainably as a flower farmer, tulips take years to mature and flower; and they do so on a single stem, which means that when I cut, there’s no leaf to feed the bulb for future flowers. We were proud that we grew these bulbs as annuals and threw them to the compost heap. Now, I’m uncomfortable with the resources and growing that’s needed for that one cut flower.
Give the lawn its last cut this month and simply throw bulbs at the grass
98 NOVEMBER 2022 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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