Wisteria in flower in mid August
Dear Readers, this hot, dry weather is having a number of interesting and worrying effects on plants – here in North London there’s early leaf drop, the usual bark-shedding from London Plane, and a number of Japanese Maples are already turning red. But seeing this Wisteria in flower really did give me pause. It’s already flowered beautifully back in April, and here it is, flowering again.
The same Wisteria in April 2023
We know that plants in the UK are generally flowering earlier (see here) as a result of warming temperatures but the second flowering of perennials is usually due to stress. In this year’s drought conditions we may see many shrubs and trees flowering for a second time: this is a recognised phenomenon, and seems to mean that the plants are recognising at some chemical level that they are threatened, and are rushing to reproduce while they still can. It’s known that dying trees can sometimes produce one last bounty of blossom and fruit, and while these plants might not be actually dying, they are recognising a threat. It may also be that this is a last throw of the dice for the plants before they move into dormancy – plants often ‘close down’ when there are drought conditions, to conserve their remaining energy.
Annuals, such as marigolds, will usually flower as quickly as they can, produce seed and then die. Interestingly though, the few annuals that I’ve seen in flower are from the daisy family – there are bare lawns with tiny, stunted daisies, groundsel or nipplewort. You have to love these tiny, tenacious titans of the plant world.
So, Readers, what have you noticed in your gardens? I’d love to see the RHS do a survey on the effects of this year, as it might give us all an idea on what to plant that is more likely to survive. I read an article recently suggesting that sticking in lots of Mediterranean plants won’t help if we have a warm, wet winter, which seems to be the trend. Sigh.
It is interesting observing the garden over the last few months, roses have thrived but the combination of the very wet winter and the drought has been hard going for many plants although the very high temperature may have been worse than just the lack of rain. My self seeded lychnis coronaria has suffered badly, which has surprised me. It really is a case of survival of the fittest in action.
Hi,my wisteria has been blooming for months now, have had to ask the young man who helps me in the garden to do its mid year chop, desperately needed, it was heading towards next door. Roses have all done well,, but some other things looking very sad. But things often regrow from the roots,so best left for a while, desperate for rain, strange world we are living in now