The plant that defied the weather

SO much of what happens, in summer and after, is due to what forecasters like to call ‘weather events’ that occurred in the previous winter and spring.

- Kathryn Bradley-Hole

For example, the ‘eventful’ seven months of nearly non-stop rain from last October onwards—a veritable marathon of inclemency— certainly benefited the roses this summer. Once they got going, their flowering was abundant— and curiously lacking in aphids. Hydrangeas, too, have been superb this year, relishing the extra ground moisture. Having just returned from admiring a choice collection in Ireland, I’m inspired to plant more of them, especially the elegant H. serrata types that carry the daintiest of ‘lacecap’ flowers, in lovely pastel tints.

Despite the rain continuing right through blossom time, there’s an abundance of juicy apples, pears and plums. The figs, however, have mostly had a year off. Sometimes, it is assumed that figs will cope well with little water, as their natural home is the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean. However, when growing in the wild, they often seem to favour the edges of field ditches and riverbanks, where any thirst can be easily sated. On arid hills, their strong roots can penetrate deeply through fissures in the rocks, finding groundwater in aquifers. All those big, hand-shaped leaves and juicy fruits benefit from a good water source to produce at their best, so the sogginess of winter and spring did them no harm, but they disliked the severe rationing of sunshine.