Late-flowering loves

It is a sign of the times that the Great Autumn Show, which has been staged by the Royal Horticultural Society in London in mid-September since God was a small boy, is moving to a date in early October from next year. Autumn starts later and lasts longer; that’s official. And this at a time when the modern predisposition to restlessness — part affliction, part asset — demands that we no longer treat the autumn, when it does come, as a plodding, ‘putting the garden to bed’ time of year but as a vibrant season, full of colour and life.

To underline this, a seminar was held at this September’s RHS London show at which a variety of plant luminaries spoke on the subject ‘The Forgotten Season’, and demonstrated decisively that autumn is no such thing. For some years, nurserymen have been searching hard for flowers, most particularly perennials and bulbs, which will give colour to our gardens until the frosts.