Although I live in the north of France, this is the month when my garden really starts to get hot – making our sunny slopes not the best place on earth for the vegetables that I’m increasingly keen to grow.
Handling killing summer heat is one of the trickiest vegetable juggling acts to master in France. The key seems to be a good choice of variety – ask your neighbours what does well for them and copy... at least at the beginning.
Sowing at the right time is the second step – and only experience of your own garden will help. For instance, my days of sowing spinach and peas in April are long gone. Now I warm the soil with horticultural fleece in early March and make sure I get them in the ground fast, weather-permitting.
If I want to sow fresh, spinach-like leaves in April, I choose chard (‘blettes’ or ‘bettes à card’) and the so-called ‘perpetual’ spinach, which is really a chard with a taste-alike spinach character.
These plants take heat well without running to seed (although they still need lots of water). After March, I leave true spinach until cooler days in September and October and cover plants with fleece if necessary.
I’m ashamed to say that the first year I had any luck with carrots was in 2017. The reason? After lots of winter reading, I discovered that yes, they do have a long lag to germination (up to 21 days), and during that time I have to spray my seed drills over every morning for success. If I do this I can carry on sowing, even in fierce heat, up until the last late varieties (such as ‘Flakee’) in July.
Another trick I learned, via a gardener in Provence, was how to get good germination of seeds sown direct in the ground during hot, dry spells. When I take out a drill for seed-sowing now, I always water the base of the drill and (simply because my soil is very heavy), I cover with a layer of spent potting compost (probably kept back for this purpose from the re-potting of spring).
Then – and this is the trick – I cover them with fleece to keep the worst of the sun’s rays off the soil and spray the areas where I’ve sown seed over every morning to keep them moist and fairly cool.
Tomatoes, of course, are heroes of the heat and there can’t be many gardeners who aren’t already drooling at the thought of this year’s crop. Since they grow extremely quickly, I find that late March and April are a great time to sow them. If they are sown any earlier, by the time we reach April the seedlings are long and spindly, although they still have to hang around a bit before planting out – whereas later sowings give nice little stout plants eager to grow on.
I’m going to try some new, Italian varieties this year, courtesy of www.seedsofItaly.com: ‘Cuor di Bue’ comes highly recommended by Raymond Blanc as a beefsteak type, and heavy-cropping, disease-resistant cherry tomato ‘Lilliput F1’ looks pretty luscious, too. But I won’t be without my favourite cherry tomato, ‘Gardener’s Delight’. Old habits die hard.
What, roses already?
April, believe it or not, sees the arrival of the first roses here. My two April favourites are a beautiful sunshine yellow that seems to match the happy, expectant days of early spring.
‘Canary Bird’ is a large (over 2m x 2m) shrub that covers itself with single flowers like huge buttercups – but watch where you plant it because it’s painfully thorny. Unusually for a rose, it actually quite enjoys dappled shade, although my own version takes hot July and August sunshine with good heart. Do not worry if some branches die back – this is quite normal ‘Canary Bird’ behaviour. Just prune the dead wood away.
A much more refined treasure among roses is the Banksian rose, Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’, which was brought from China to Europe in the early nineteenth century. Although reputed slightly tender (and evergreen – the two sometimes go hand in hand), I would say it is an ideal rambling species rose for most parts of France: just make sure that in cold areas you plant it against a warm, south-facing wall.
My own Banksian rose survived garden temperatures below -15 in the winter of 2016/2017 and is growing so strongly that it has to be hacked back twice in a season (the first and most severe pruning is done just after the flowers fade in May).
The perfectly shaped little rosettes, just like primroses, are keenly anticipated throughout the chilly months of February and early March.
MONTHLY TIPS
Tulip time is a joy, but the pleasure does not come cheap. Tulips really do their best in the first season (although I’ll write more about my choice of so-called ‘persistent’ varieties when it comes to bulb-buying time in July and August).
Researching gardening blogs in April is the best way to choose your colour schemes for next year. And get your order in early! It also helps if you plan a specific place for next season’s special purchases.
Concentrate your colour (and your money) on that area, then dig them up six weeks after flowering, dry them off and replant in November in areas where it matters little if they are a ‘no show’ in 2019.
OVER TO YOU
What tips do you have for handling heat in your garden? And what much-loved French tomato and vegetable varieties are you growing this year? Do share! Email me at: editorial@connexionfrance.com.
Read Cathy’s garden blog at gardendreamingatchatillon.wordpress.com
