Impatiens Downy Mildew has Devasted the Busy Lizzies
Posted by Rodger at 12 Sep 2011, 2:54 PM 
Categories: plants, lawn, Today in the garden, tomatoes, hanging basket, Garden Pests and Garden Pals
Tags: growing tomatoes tomato garden pests impatiens downy mildew
Categories: plants, lawn, Today in the garden, tomatoes, hanging basket, Garden Pests and Garden Pals
Tags: growing tomatoes tomato garden pests impatiens downy mildew
The summer garden is coming to an end and the autumn garden should just be beginning. In a traditional gardening year maybe.
Yet again a disappointing summer. The summer this year came in April and the following months were either cool, wet, windy or a combination of these weather conditions.
As might be expected, along with this far from ideal summer weather came successes and disappointment in the garden. The greenhouse coped well and yet again the tomato crop has been abundant and tasty. In fact there the tomatoes are still ripening readily with plenty to harvest. The cucumbers had a shaky start with the first two plants being destroyed by slugs but the third has provided us with regular picking of small meal sized fruits with excellent flavour.
Keeping with the theme of kitchen garden or vegetable garden, the beetroot have been a success but the runner beans have really struggled to produce the abundance of beans we are used to in not just good years but average years. We are not alone; other local home vegetable growers are reporting the same with plants not producing flowers and crops until late in the season. Those we have picked have had good flavour with no strings.
But what about the flowers?
The Busy Lizzies, impatiens, have not done as well this summer. In the ground they have struggled and in the hanging baskets and troughs they have fared a little better but as September has come in they have suddenly collapsed. It seems that many gardeners have had the same problem this year and it is caused by impatiens downy mildew. This was first seen in the UK in 2003 and the very wet summer conditions have meant that 2011 has been a particularly bad year. There is nothing that amateur home gardeners can do apart from grow some alternative bedding for a while.
In contrast to the Busy Lizzies the fibrous begonias have been wonderful and still are. That is both in the ground and in containers. I grew them from seed and they germinated well but, as begonias do, they stayed tiny for weeks before deciding it was time to put on growth. The colours are form of this variety are good. I learned long ago not to pack begonias too tightly together when planting in containers. Giving each plant a little elbow room enables them to expand into a good shape to fill the container rather than compete against each other and push each other out of shape. This tends to create a high and untidy display rather than a neat rounded shaped display.
The dahlias are in their prime now. I lost all my plants over the last severe winter so I did not expect such a good show yet from the cuttings taken this spring from a friends plants.
One thing about rain is that you end up with a green lawn all summer. The only problem has been the last couple of weeks with the return of a badger digging a few holes. Thankfully not the terrible destruction of the front lawn of last year. I like badgers but not when they destroy all my hard work.
Looking ahead to next year I am going to have to make some changes to one if not two of the herbaceous borders. As happens with herbaceous borders they are starting to look a little jaded. One in particular has been brilliant for a few years but some of the day lilies or hemerocallis have suffered year after year with hemerocallis gall midge. I have tried taking off the blooms and destroying them at the first sign but the problem is not going away. The susceptible plants regrettably will have to come out and be replaced with different perennials or alternatively varieties of hemerocallis known to be less prone to gall midge.
As I write this diary, just into the second week of September, the pyracantha berries are in full colour and lighting up the garden, holly berries are darkening quickly, nearly all the leaves on my toffee tree have their autumn colour and the flowering cherry is not far behind.
After a disappointing summer maybe we can hope for an Indian summer and enjoy the autumn delights that a garden can offer. And I don't mean spending hours gathering fallen leaves!
Yet again a disappointing summer. The summer this year came in April and the following months were either cool, wet, windy or a combination of these weather conditions.
As might be expected, along with this far from ideal summer weather came successes and disappointment in the garden. The greenhouse coped well and yet again the tomato crop has been abundant and tasty. In fact there the tomatoes are still ripening readily with plenty to harvest. The cucumbers had a shaky start with the first two plants being destroyed by slugs but the third has provided us with regular picking of small meal sized fruits with excellent flavour.
Keeping with the theme of kitchen garden or vegetable garden, the beetroot have been a success but the runner beans have really struggled to produce the abundance of beans we are used to in not just good years but average years. We are not alone; other local home vegetable growers are reporting the same with plants not producing flowers and crops until late in the season. Those we have picked have had good flavour with no strings.
But what about the flowers? The Busy Lizzies, impatiens, have not done as well this summer. In the ground they have struggled and in the hanging baskets and troughs they have fared a little better but as September has come in they have suddenly collapsed. It seems that many gardeners have had the same problem this year and it is caused by impatiens downy mildew. This was first seen in the UK in 2003 and the very wet summer conditions have meant that 2011 has been a particularly bad year. There is nothing that amateur home gardeners can do apart from grow some alternative bedding for a while.
In contrast to the Busy Lizzies the fibrous begonias have been wonderful and still are. That is both in the ground and in containers. I grew them from seed and they germinated well but, as begonias do, they stayed tiny for weeks before deciding it was time to put on growth. The colours are form of this variety are good. I learned long ago not to pack begonias too tightly together when planting in containers. Giving each plant a little elbow room enables them to expand into a good shape to fill the container rather than compete against each other and push each other out of shape. This tends to create a high and untidy display rather than a neat rounded shaped display.
The dahlias are in their prime now. I lost all my plants over the last severe winter so I did not expect such a good show yet from the cuttings taken this spring from a friends plants.
One thing about rain is that you end up with a green lawn all summer. The only problem has been the last couple of weeks with the return of a badger digging a few holes. Thankfully not the terrible destruction of the front lawn of last year. I like badgers but not when they destroy all my hard work.
Looking ahead to next year I am going to have to make some changes to one if not two of the herbaceous borders. As happens with herbaceous borders they are starting to look a little jaded. One in particular has been brilliant for a few years but some of the day lilies or hemerocallis have suffered year after year with hemerocallis gall midge. I have tried taking off the blooms and destroying them at the first sign but the problem is not going away. The susceptible plants regrettably will have to come out and be replaced with different perennials or alternatively varieties of hemerocallis known to be less prone to gall midge.
As I write this diary, just into the second week of September, the pyracantha berries are in full colour and lighting up the garden, holly berries are darkening quickly, nearly all the leaves on my toffee tree have their autumn colour and the flowering cherry is not far behind.
After a disappointing summer maybe we can hope for an Indian summer and enjoy the autumn delights that a garden can offer. And I don't mean spending hours gathering fallen leaves!
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