This summer, three years after the bulk of the planting work was done, our garden has really come into its own. With three years of establishment in their roots, most things have coped admirably with what was the sixth driest spring on record, as well as one of the sunniest.

Our Anemanthele lessoniana continues to thrive, and provides some important evergreen structure. So much so that we’ve added a second and third over the last couple of years. On the other hand, Panicum virgatum and Hakonechloa macra seem less thrilled by the conditions (heavy clay, somewhat improved in the back garden), and are merely surviving.

The late summer perennials have hit their stride, and Echinops, Eryngium, Helenium, and Crocosmia are all putting on a spectacular display. The hot, glowing magma red of Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ seems particularly apt at the moment, with the mercury rising to over 30ºc in the next few days. All four of these perennials look wonderful in contrast to the bright green Cotinus behind them, and I’ve yet to find something that hasn’t worked with it - even the purple of Geranium ‘Rozanne’ clashes in an exciting way.

The Geranium ‘Rozanne’ are very large this year, and one or two have begun to flop over through a combination of drought and strong winds. Dividing them is a job for this winter. Sanguisorba ‘Tanna’ has managed some flowers, but it does seem to be struggling to compete for space with the Geranium, on our soil at least, which readily climbs over and engulfs it.

The Cotinus, by the way, was sold to us as a ‘Royal Purple’, but purple it most certainly is not. I suspect it’s C. ‘Golden Spirit’, because it has zingy green-gold leaves all spring and summer, before taking on pink and orange tints in autumn.

The pink and orange tones of senescence are beautiful in the Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Purpurea’: long since finished flowering, its papery inflorescences persist and look gorgeous next to a purple acer. The papery remains of an iris flower, the only one we’ve had this year, also cling to their stem nearby.

With more hot weather and not much rain forecast, the plants will continue to be tested. I have watered some pots, and a few newly planted things, this morning, but I will resist watering anything else if I can, in order to test its resilience. An exception, perhaps, are the Dryopteris erythrosora, one in the front and one at the back, which have both simultaneously become crispy and prostrate.