Rudbeckia and Fennel

It always feels a little nerve wracking leaving the field and our garden at home to go on holiday, and even though I still work away a lot dancing, it’s rare that I won’t make it to the field a couple of times a week. As I checked the 14 day forecast on the way to the airport and saw we were set for another heat wave whilst I was away, I could feel my anxiety rising, but my logical side quickly jumped in, as I knew that from the other side of the world there would be very little I could do, and besides, trying to control the weather is utterly futile. I let go, and thought it will be what it is, and I’ll see what I’m faced with when I get back.

You can then imagine my joy when I drove gingerly through the gate in to the field and saw rows on rows of healthy flowers, and that even on deeper inspection, there were no substantial losses and everything by and large had survived. A win for sure.

Hitting its stride in midsummer, fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is one of my favourite plants for this time of year - both in the garden and the vase. A generous producer and self supporting, its chartreuse umbels offer a zingy sharpness that can help cut through the heat of July with freshness and vitality, and with the added bonus that the side stems can have a lovely movement to them too, what’s not to love? Last weekend we went down to the Gower in Wales to visit Wills mum, the fennel en masse on the walk down to the beach in an environment it clearly loves, and as we made our way across the sand to jump in the sea, an arrangement started to form in my head.

Rudbeckia hirta is one of my most loved annuals. Now as you know I’m a perennial man through and through, but there are some annuals that I’ll always try to grow, with Rudbeckia being top of the list. Sahara is my favourite seed mix, a blend of caramels, rusty browns, coppers and vibrant reds - delicious. This year I’m trialling Sherry Brandy too, it’s flowers a little pinker in their colouring, the browns flecked with raspberry and a deep cherry red. Both now have a place in my heart and I’d grow them again together, both have good stem length and I’m enjoying the increased range of colour available to use. They take a little while to get going, so I sow them with a some bottom heat in February around my birthday (14th Feb if you’re wondering, gifts always welcome, I’m an excellent gift receiver), and although they need to stay in a cold frame or greenhouse for a couple of months before being planted out in May, there’s something about the promise of flowers to come that can really help get me through a cold and gloomy chunk of the year. There’s not many annuals I’d put that much care in to, but the flowers are so beautiful, for me they’re worth it.