Latest news with #DameEdnaEverage
Telegraph
09-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- Telegraph
What to plant now for summer flowers, including dahlias, lilies and anemones
Planting bulbs, corms and tubers now will add a blast of colour to your garden from June through to September, and they won't break the bank, because most have been field-grown in Holland. The key ingredient is water, because these somewhat shrivelled treasures need nature's moisturiser to rehydrate them. Most summer-flowering options won't be fully hardy, so they will be better started off in pots before being bedded out in late May or early June. A greenhouse or cold frame works best, but you can also place your potfuls in sheltered positions and fleece or bubble-wrap them on chilly nights. Autumn and late-summer-flowering perennials are also available, and many of these will endure year after year. They will all add vibrant colour, because most hail from the southern hemisphere. Their pigment-packed petals are designed to withstand whatever the weather throws at them, be it strong sun or heavy rain. Many of them also cut well. What to plant now Gladioli Underrated and underused, these offer weeks of flower and come in sumptuous shades, including lime green, plum purple, lilac mauve and peach melba. Just be sure to select a colour theme to avoid the gaudy dolly-mixture look redolent of Dame Edna Everage. Last year I interplanted my dahlia beds with clusters of gladioli and they supported each other brilliantly, with no time-consuming staking needed. Favourites include the black-red 'Espresso', the lime-green 'Evergreen' and the DayGlo-like 'Bubblegum'. Make a hole about 10-15cm (4-6in) deep, because deeper planting helps to keep gladioli stems upright. Flowering will follow in 12 weeks or so. If you want to cut them, plant a few corms every two weeks between May and July so that you get a succession. If you want to stake, add the cane before you fill in the hole, so that you avoid damaging the corm. For containers, I'd recommend the subtler, more elegant and fragrant Abyssinian (or Acidanthera) and also the velvet-textured 'Ruby red'. Anemones and ranunculus If you're a cut-flower fan, plant breeders are producing lots of frilly-flowered and sturdy-stemmed new ranunculus in shades of golden yellow, mauve, purple, pink and cream. Their globular flowers, some with a picotee dark edge, appear in late spring and they're great in containers, or in good, moisture-retentive soil. After all, the buttercup family, or Ranunculaceae, is named after a genus of frog. You'll also find colourful anemones in rich blues, virginal whites and grenadier-guard red and they often display a deliciously dark-black middle. Or you may prefer Farmer Gracy's Galilee Pastel Mix, a nod to their Holy Land origins. Consequently, these anemones prefer good drainage. Crocosmias These sunbird-pollinated South African plants come in jaunty yellows, tomato reds and warm oranges, and most will flower in the second half of summer onwards. Plant in groups of three or five, so they produce a clump. I would avoid the over-robust 'Lucifer' in smaller gardens. Go for the lower-growing late-summer 'Firestarter' instead – it produces masses of orange-edged, rich-yellow flowers and it's always proved extremely hardy for me. Elsewhere, 'Harlequin' has peachy buds that open to yellow, while 'George Davison' offers a taller, heritage golden-yellow iteration. The later-flowering 'Star of the East', raised by Davison in 1910, also features huge open flowers in burnt-sugar shades. Sadly, 'Emily Mackenzie' – a mahogany-red-eyed warm orange – is not hardy for me in the ground, but it's lovely in a pot. Keep them well watered, because crocosmias fail in dry summers. Lilies These are a variable group but they all offer a statuesque presence due to their whorled foliage and bold flowers, whether in pot or border. Martagons prefer a woodland edge or semi-shade, and hybrids include the burnished-red 'Claude Shride'. However, if you want heady fragrance on a summer's evening, seek out the paler-hued oriental lilies. 'Dizzy' has raspberry-ripple flowers with six white petals speckled and middled in pink. Others include the white and gold-infused 'Mr Cas' and the ubiquitous all-white 'Casa Blanca'. Remember that lily pollen stains clothing though, so place the pots carefully. The more vivid lilies lack scent, but there are smouldering blacks such as 'Night Rider' and many dappled oranges and reds on offer too. Lily beetle seems less active in shadier spots, while 'King Solomon' is said to be beetle resistant (try Thompson & Morgan and Hayloft for this one). Eucomis Pineapple lilies have a tuft of bracts above a flowering spike, rising above substantial foliage – and some of them are deliciously scented too They are found naturally in the sunny meadows of South Africa, so they sulk in the shade; find them a sunny spot and they may come back next year if you're in a warmer county. Luckily, they look equally good in containers, so they can be taken under cover in winter and kept on the dry side. 'Sparkling Burgundy' bears pink starry flowers along a sultry stem, and the rich maroon curly-edged leaves add to the exotic look. The less showy Eucomis comosa has plain green leaves, but highly scented flowers in subtle shades of white, pink or honey brown. Begonias Lots of gardens are blessed with shadier spots and most of the colourful summer-flowering tuberous begonias are bred from South American species found in jungle-like situations. They combine colourful flowers and sumptuous foliage and they're heat-tolerant and drought-resistant, although begonias hate windy conditions. Begonia boliviensis 'Santa Cruz' has orange-red flowers that cascade over the edges of a container, supported by arrow-like neatly serrated foliage. The similar 'San Francisco' is a lighter salmon pink/orange. You'll also find 'Cascade Red', 'Splendide Apricot', 'Illumination Salmon Pink' and 'Illumination Orange'. Or you could use the blush-white and pink 'Angelique', although it's the brighter colours that light up those shady spots. Liatris This midsummer butterfly and bee pleaser produces a flowering spike of purplish pink feathery flowers in the summer months. There's a popular form named 'Kobold' which is named after a German gnome and often used for shorter plants, but it still rises up to 18 inches or more. Plant in clusters for August and September flowers. Nerines The South African nerine has great timing: the flowers appear just as summer fades into autumn, so the agapanthus-like blooms are flattered by evenly balanced days. Nerine bowdenii will come up every year and it will flower in sunny positions, especially when the bulbs appear congested. They seem to enjoy being cheek by jowl against a sunny south-facing wall. Wait for the ground to warm up, then plant the bulbs so that the top fifth is above the ground: think wallowing hippos. Water the bulbs well to begin with; once established, they are drought-resistant. Look out for the Guernsey lily, too – good ones include the soft-pink 'Vesta', the brighter pink 'Isabel' and the deep-magenta 'Mr John'. Amarines (crosses between amaryllis and nerines), have larger flowers that are especially good to cut, although they do have a strange almost coffee-like scent once indoors. Dahlias There are plenty of tubers on offer online and in garden centres and these should be started off between mid-March and mid-April. These are frost-tender babies bred from high-altitude South American species, so they should not be planted outside until early June. A late frost could be fatal. They also need their own space because they don't enjoy pushing up through other perennials. However, they are the ultimate cut-and-come-again flower and they will bloom for three months. Choosing one dahlia is akin to picking a favourite child, but 'Penhill Watermelon' is a shaggy mixture of pink and soft-orange. The neatly rounded warm-pink ball dahlia, 'Jowey Winnie', and the dark-red 'Sam Hopkins' will also add pizazz. If I had to pick one, though, it would be the butterscotch-orange 'David Howard'.
The Independent
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Turning the page on the secret life of Barry Humphries
I will be just a minute,' Barry Humphries, aka Dame Edna Everage, would tell his wife as he snuck downstairs to one of his many book-lined rooms – where he would remain for hours, poring over and purring with delight at his extraordinary collection of rare finds. In his north London home, he lived the life of a bibliomaniac, obsessively collecting books and manuscripts, particularly literary treasures from the 1890s. As many as 7,000 tomes crowded groaning shelves, spilled over and under tables, tumbled out of boxes, and towered in precarious piles. His home, which he shared with writer Lizzie Spender, daughter of poet Sir Stephen Spender, was a treasure trove of books and art. This was his private stage, shaped by his forensic and unstoppable addiction to books, which competed for space with his Dame Edna frocks and signature spectacles. Humphries was also an insatiable art collector. Next week (13 February), nearly two years after he died at the age of 89, the first of several sales of his astonishing book and art collection will take place. This will be a rare insight into the mind and mania of Barry the collector; a chance to access the hidden private man who was as secretive about his hunger for rare books as he was flamboyant and fabulous at conquering TV and stage as the world's most formidable showman. His books were his inner life. Parcel after parcel would arrive at his home, containing anything from an inscribed copy by a minor poet to extraordinary works by literary giants. He had a masterful eye, and his best acquisitions were sensational – such as Oscar Wilde's personal copy of The Importance of Being Earnest, one of only 12 first editions. It is inscribed to his publisher: 'To Leonard Smithers from the Author. In sincere friendship and astonishment. Feb 1899.' The estimated price is between £100,000 and £150,000. Among this collection of haute works, you will also find the iconic, gleefully colourful spectacles he wore as Dame Edna Everage – ranging from lacquered pink and red to simulated tortoiseshell. They could be yours for an estimated £1,000-£1,500. Barry was both a magpie and a peacock. He hoarded and he paraded. He spouted great knowledge and eagerly absorbed new facts, fads, and fables whenever they came his way. I often saw this side of Barry the bibliophile up close during bookish dinners at his home. A thoroughly entertaining and generous host, he would reach up to his shelves, pulling down treasures to share and explain to his guests – his knowledge vast, yet always worn lightly. He was also a member of The Roxburghe Club, an exclusive group of 40 bibliophiles with distinguished libraries or collections, dating back to 1812. A standout memory is Barry arriving at Chatsworth to see the ducal library – stepping into the Duke of Devonshire's extraordinary home wearing a velvet jacket and a monkey-face mask, a quirky remnant of post-Covid times. The mask was soon discarded to allow his intense but wry perusal of selected treasures from the 34,000 books housed in the extensive library. He was both a scholar and a chameleon. Wilde, Yeats, and Norman Douglas were among the better-known authors in his collection, but he also obsessively pursued more obscure paths, forever adding to his library. They say book collectors are usually male, their habit is rarely hereditary, and they are always secretive. Could he explain why he owned at least nine copies of his favourite book, South Wind by Norman Douglas? He might have pointed to George Bernard Shaw's wisdom: that we need three copies of everything – one to keep, one to read, and one to lend. Barry, as always, took things further than anyone else. So where did it all begin? His mother disapproved early on of his habit of buying second-hand books, scolding him: 'Do you have to buy these bits and pieces? You never know where they've been!' One day, he came home from school to find that she had given all his books to the Salvation Army. When he asked why, she retorted, 'Because you've already read them.' His son, Oscar – a writer and aesthete in the same tradition – is convinced that this moment was the catalyst for his lifelong collecting: an attempt to replace his lost childhood library. If that is true, he succeeded magnificently. He was also a conservator, encasing his own anthologies of poems in couture leather bindings of papal purple, fiery reds, and rich turquoises. He had a well-trained eye, and dozens of paintings from his art collection will also be on show in this first Christie's sale. The range is spectacular, featuring works from British greats like Edward Burne-Jones and Augustus John to his favourite Australian painter, Charles Conder, alongside pieces by Duncan Grant, David Bomberg, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He had a particular fondness for nudes, and row upon row of naked women from the 1870s through the 1930s adorned many rooms of his house. Among the magical caricatures on sale is also one by Max Beerbohm, depicting a plump Oscar Wilde in a top hat with a cigarette in hand (estimated at £8,000). But it was in the corners of his wardrobes that the Dame Edna gowns and dresses bulged, alongside flamboyant trophy hats and Raymond Chandler-style greatcoats. The inner man was always at large inside his house. In many ways, this sale will be his final show – a last opportunity to see Barry Humphries in his full glory: the collector, the performer, the scholar, the chameleon.
