August

A month of holidays, of boiled egg sandwiches in the car, tea from tartan flasks and the musky, dusty, aroma of petrichor as we run barefooted back to the house during an unexpected downpour.

Keen gardeners soon learn that August in many ways is not the ideal time to disappear off to sunnier climes.  Though the lawn during hotter drier weather may be less vigorous, the vegetable garden will be reaching its most productive period with tomatoes requiring picking, along with many other vegetables in the plot.

The last of the meteorological summer months, those who choose to stay at home during August will enjoy the garden at its fullest with grasses, Helenium, Dahlia, and Helianthus at their blowsiest zenith, the culmination of a busy gardening year.

August begins with the early pagan celebration of Lamas where it was thought the success of the harvest would dictate the quality of life to be expected during the upcoming winter months.  Augustus Caesar the first Roman emperor and grandnephew of Julias gives his name to the month of August.

In Ironbridge, Shropshire, the end of the month is marked by the annual coracle regatta where simple ash or willow framed boats are raced across the River Severn.

Gardeners working in the cool of the evening and lingering into the darkness will have the pleasure of witnessing the perseid shower; as the earth passes through a cloud of debris ejected by the swift-tuttle comet, dozens of shooting stars can be seen by those prepared to stay up into the early hours.

Gardeners Joseph Paxton, Charlie Dimmock, and Geoff Hamilton were all born in August.