Time for the second shift

Ruth clears early summer plants for later varieties

- Ruth Hayes

WE are at that point in the summer where the early flowers have passed and it's time to make room for the second blast of colour.

This means deadheading, pulling out withered allium stems, cutting back perennials that have flowered and flopped, and Chelsea chopping bushy plants that will hopefully bloom again in late summer.

Deadhead iris stems and divide older clumps that are becoming unproductive, composting their woody centres where nothing is growing.

Remove and compost allium leaves once they have fully rotted back and maybe save some of the ripe seedheads to sow. The seeds should germinate within a few weeks (see 'Ask John Negus' on pages 37-40 for tips on how to grow alliums from seed).

Once you have cleared away dead plant material you should have room to plant later-flowering varieties such as Nicotiana sylvestris, chrysanthemums, phlox, clary sage and even quick-flowering autumn bulbs like colchicums.