VAL BOURNE says gardeners are optimists hoping for Indian summer

This time last year, I was writing about the heat of summer reassuring you that plants looking withered by hot sun and dry air would eventually rehydrate and recover. Back then, I was blissfully unaware that we were to suffer the wettest winter I can remember, followed by a topsy-turvy summer, that peaked in April. Having spent yesterday walking round gardens in rain-lashed conditions, with thunder claps overhead, I long for some heat - rather like the garden.

But it's been an interesting experience watching how plants cope with low night-time temperatures, strong winds and cool lashings of rain, and I've had some surprises. Sedums, verbenas, rudbeckias, echinaceas and delicate, lemon-yellow anthemis have shrugged off the rain without a care. Crocosmias, kniphofias, agapanthus, echinaceas, heleniums, salvias and alstroemerias have liked the extra water, and produced much more flower.

But many rose and all phlox petals have turned to mush, and any plants from warmer climes (like African marigolds, Mexican dahlias, and South American petunias) have sat still and sulked. Daylilies, which produce flowers that only last a day, have done well too simply because most flowers can withstand one day's rain.

Trees and shrubs seem to have done well too, and two cool-toned hydrangeas are winning plaudits every time anyone comes to my garden. Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle' has rounded, large heads of white flower, that fade to pale-green, and Hydrangea paniculata Limelight' has airy triangular heads of lime-green flowers, that age to white. Both are excellent at lighting up shady places, and both can tolerate dry conditions too, but it's Limelight' that people love best.

We've been living in interesting times in the vegetable garden too. Currently I'm having to buy carrots and beetroot because my seeds didn't germinate - even though I made sowings every 3 weeks. Both need warm temperatures, at least 50F ( or 11C ), to germinate, and both prefer well-drained soil - something of a rarity this year. Other poor performers include squashes, French beans, artichokes, and tomatoes: it's simply been too cold for them.

However, every cloud has a silver lining! My onions, peas, runner beans, courgettes, and lettuce have produced bumper crops, and my brassicas, leeks and parsnips are looking good too. It's also been so wet that pea moth was virtually non-existent, so no horrible little maggots to pop out of pods in the kitchen. Cabbage White Butterflies have been few in number, although somehow these Houdinis' have still settled and laid eggs on netted plants. Waterborne diseases, whether it's potato or tomato blight, or black spot on roses, have had free rein, and maincrop tubers are likely to be affected.

Tidy up any dropped leaves, and cut off affected foliage and bin it, rather than compost it. I also have great hopes of a good late raspberry crop. But we gardeners are optimists, and I am hoping for an Indian summer. With this in mind, I shall be sowing carrots, beetroot, parsley, spinach, and more lettuce this weekend. If the weather stays warm (as it did last year), I will be eating young crops close the Christmas. If it stays miserable and cold, I'll be digging tiny plants in as green manure - and hoping for better fortune next year.