Why gardeners need to start planning for autumn now

High summer is usually a time of sitting back and enjoying the garden: long, warm, pleasant days and plants growing strongly. But this year we seem to have gone straight to the dog days of summer with hot and dry weather that stresses plants by excess heat and not enough water, reduced growth, and burnt-up lawns. Gardeners are probably entitled to feel a little cheated out of the best of their summer. But it is also a time to see what has stood up well to the conditions in order to guide future planting. As expected, Mediterranean plants – lavenders and phlomis, for example – have prospered while cottage garden plants have suffered. Other winners include gaura, roses, perovskia, sedum, santolina, Verbena bonariensis and the smaller salvias. Watering the base of chrysanthemums, dahlias and