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RHS says rainy summer spells prolonged blooms and blazing colour this autumn

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) says that flowers are set to bloom for longer this autumn, following a cloudy and wet summer with warm intervals.

Cool temperatures over spring and summer resulted in many plants being slow to establish this year but whilst the wetter-than-usual summer hasn’t been enjoyed by all it has meant plants haven’t been drought- or temperature-stressed and have therefore been able to put their energy into prolonged flowering.​

Meanwhile, recent warm spells followed by rain have brought on early flowering autumn bulbs such as autumn crocuses and cyclamen, providing extra splashes of colour alongside late summer favourites such as sunflowers, crocosmia, and asters.​

Dahlias have now come through and are producing an abundance of blooms with even more to come. Taking advantage of these dazzling displays, this year’s RHS Garden Wisley Flower Show (Tues 3 – 8 September 2024) is hosting the National Dahlia Society’s annual competition in which growers compete in over 100 dahlia classes providing a spectacular display of over 5,000 blooms.​

The competition takes place from Tuesday 3rd to Thursday 5th September and is followed by the RHS open competition for members of the public to show their garden dahlias for judging on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th.​

Tim Upson, RHS Director of Gardens & Horticulture, said: “Whilst the summer has been frustratingly wet for many of us this has made ideal flowering conditions for a number of late summer plants, not least the dahlia. This gorgeous, and occasionally rather extravagant, garden plant, along with many others will be putting on stunning displays throughout September at all five RHS Gardens – extending the joy of summer for everyone.”​

All five RHS Gardens across the country are brimming with late summer colour:​

  • At RHS Bridgewater, Salford, the Paradise Garden and Welcome Garden are awash with late flowering perennials such as salvias and asters as well as a variety of ornamental grasses
  • At RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate, the Main Borders are building to a summer crescendo as the cool tones of echinops and eryngium give way to a fiery palette of heleniums and persicaria
  • RHS Garden Hyde Hall’s (Chelmsford) Clover Hill is brimming with colour and texture, with its broad sweeps of perennials including salvias, verbenas and phlomis. Also not to be missed is the Sunflower trial, located in the Floral Fantasia garden.
  • At RHS Rosemoor in North Devon the aptly named Hot Garden is ablaze with deep reds, oranges and purples as summer turns to autumn. Highlights include helenium, solidago and bergamot.
  • RHS Garden Wisley’s newly reworked Piet Oudolf Landscape has established magnificently thanks to wet summer weather, with its 31,000 perennials providing a cacophony of colour and texture. Don’t miss spectacular displays of dahlias in the Trials Garden, boasting 97 varieties of the plant.​

Whether the simple, bee-friendly single dahlia or the more extravagant varieties, these plants will be at their peak as summer turns to autumn, and with proper care and deadheading, they’ll continue to bloom well into October.​

For more information on the RHS Garden Wisley Flower Show, and to book tickets, visit: www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley/rhs-garden-wisley-flower-show

ENDS
 

Notes to editors

For additional information please contact the RHS press office: [email protected]  

About the RHS
Since our formation in 1804, the RHS has grown into the UK’s leading gardening charity, touching the lives of millions of people. Perhaps the secret to our longevity is that we’ve never stood still. In the last decade alone we’ve taken on the largest hands-on project the RHS has ever tackled by opening the new RHS Garden Bridgewater in Salford, Greater Manchester, and invested in the science that underpins all our work by building RHS Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science.​

We have committed to being net positive for nature and people by 2030. We are also committed to being truly inclusive and to reflect all the communities of the UK.

Across our five RHS gardens we welcome more than three million visitors each year to enjoy over 34,000 different cultivated plants. Events such as the world famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show, other national shows, our schools and community work, and partnerships such as Britain in Bloom, all spread the shared joy of gardening to wide-reaching audiences.

Throughout it all we’ve held true to our charitable core – to encourage and improve the science, art and practice of horticulture –to share the love of gardening and the positive benefits it brings. For more information visit ​www.rhs.org.uk

​RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.