Late summer/early autumn in Pavilion Gardens

Royal Pavilion gardens

Photo by Maureen Brand

Plant spotting in the flowerbeds, No 4 of 4

This is the last page in a series about which plants can be seen in the Pavilion Gardens at different times of the year. During the late summer and early autumn you should look out for:

• Strawberry trees (arbutus unedo) with both flowers and fruit
• Hydrangeas (hydrangeas quercifolia, hydrangeas arborescens and hydrangeas 'Joseph Banks')
• Fuchsia (fuchsia magellanica)
• Tree hollyhock (hibiscus syriacus)
• Abelia grandiflora
• Herbaceous plants include:
• Rudbeckias
• Golden rod (solidago canadensis)
• Bears breeches (acanthus spinosus)
• Sunflowers (helenium autumnale)
• Chrysanthemums
• China asters
• Michaelmas daisies

The hollyhock spires complement the minarets on the Pavilion's roof and the tiger-lilies provide an exotic foreground.

Many of these plants will flower until the first severe winter frosts, when visitors can still enjoy a promenade through the gardens to see the colour in:

• Hollies
• Pyracantha
• Snowberries and coral berries (symphoricarpos)
• Red dogwood stems (cornus)
• Spiky yuccas and phormiums
• Silver birch
• Winter flowering heathers (erica carnea)
• Laurustinus (viburnum tinus).

Enjoy the Pavilion Gardens!

[Information from: 'Set for a King: 200 years of gardening at the Royal Pavilion', by Mike Jones, Royal Pavilion, Museums & Libraries, 2005; previously published in the 'North Laine Runner', No 181, July/August 2006]