ANOTHER lovely week here in Seaford and the chance to get on with jobs in the garden. The good weather has meant lots of growth and subsequent dead-heading.

One of my favourite summer annuals this year has been a new petunia called Petunia “Blueberry Muffin” (Peppy Series). It is perfect for creating a vibrant display that will turn heads all summer long.

Trumpet-shaped, bicolour blooms in purple and cream cover these upright, mound-forming plants. It is neat and compact making it perfect for filling beds and borders with a colourful display, or spilling over the edges of containers and baskets. I’ve planted mine in a morning sun trap in a wall mounted boat and they look stunning.

This weekend should have been the eighth annual Macmillan Coastal Garden trail, an event I have personally organised from the start. Over the last eight years I have raised more than £83,000 for the charity but 2020 will see our fundraising dip significantly. In place of the trail we have created virtual tours of 12 of the 17 gardens that were due to have participated.

If you’d like to visit the trail virtually this weekend, please take a look at the films at www.macmillangardentrail.co.uk

Having viewed the gardens, if you feel inspired, please consider donating to our Just Giving site for Macmillan by clicking on the red box at the top of the website. You can also see short films by Lynda Thomas, the charity’s chief executive, and trail patron, Christine Walkden.

This weekend, there are two opportunities to visit gardens opening for pre-booked visits only, for the National Garden Scheme. The first is Hoopers Farm in Mayfield which will open on both Saturday and Sunday and Balcombe Gardens on Saturday only. Full details on both can be found at www.ngs.org.uk where you can book your timeslot and buy your ticket. I’ll be on BBC Sussex’s mid-morning show with Joe Talbot on Sunday at 1.20pm.

If you’ve got any alstroemeria in your garden, you’ll probably have found that recent winds and some heavy rain will have made them more susceptible to flopping over. It is always a good idea to try and anticipate this by placing supports around them as they grow.

This gives the benefit of making sure they stay erect but more importantly for me, means they grow around the supports which then become less obtrusive, and in most cases not visible. That said you can buy some decorative supports that augment the flower colours too.

Read more of Geoff’s garden at www.driftwoodbysea.co.uk