Sambucus Week

At this end of the summer, Hibiscus syriacus and roses remain the giants in flower display. Most of the other current flowers in week 2008/35 are perennials: Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Phlox and Alyssum as well as some giant sunflowers on nearby allotments. Sharp eyes recognize the black berries of Sambucus nigra which are ready to harvest and turn into juice, while our table grapes have achieved a purple ripeness and can be plucked for sweet snacks. On a walk in nearby fields, cream and yellow honeysuckle flowers of Lonicera periclymenum stand out in wild hedges: this native European creeper has presumably been flowering for months, but I have not noticed its glories till now, when all the other flowers have disappeared from the hedgerows. The red honeysuckle berries are set to appear soon, in the autumn. Late flowering cultivars L. periclymenum 'Serotina' (creamy white blooms with streaks of red) and 'Graham Thomas' (primrose-yellow, closer to the wild species in appearance) would make excellent features for the end of summer in a shrub garden (grown as mounds or up a trellis), since they are reputed to continue blooming till the first frosts. The rose hips of Rosa rugosa, a species that is sometimes graphically described in English as beach tomato, are also ripening, and do indeed look like little tomatoes in a border. Another eyecatcher in a nearby allotment is Ginkgo biloba 'Mariken' grown as a small standard. This has amazingly tight bunches of leaves, making the whole head of the plant look like a giant flower. Herrenkamper describes it as a slow-growing dwarf form, highly desirable for a city garden.