RHS Horticultural Advisor Anne Adam shares how to grow the ingredients for your own perfect cup of Pimm’s or cooling mocktail this summer, with her top varieties and growing tips
I can’t be the only one feeling envious as visitors wander around RHS Chelsea Flower Show with a glass of Pimm’s summer cup in their hand, while I’m working away! With RHS Chelsea behind us, there are still plenty of occasions to come – both at our two exciting new July shows, and in the garden at home – for cool summer drinks with plenty of garnish, or a luscious cream tart with fresh homegrown strawberries.
While I can’t make my own Pimm’s, I do love growing the mint, strawberries and cucumber to turn it into the perfect summer cocktail. There’s something really satisfying about picking my own garnishes – I always make sure to have plenty growing in the garden and allotment, just in case the weather calls for a jug.
Mint is an essential, but can be a thug if you let it loose in the garden. I keep mine in a pot near to the back door so it’s easy to harvest when I need it. There are so many varieties to choose from, but spearmint and Moroccan mint are often recommended for Pimm’s. Moroccan mint has a strong, aromatic flavour that really lifts the drink, while spearmint is a bit gentler and slightly sweet, so it won’t overpower everything else.
If you’re buying one plant to do it all, spearmint is a great choice as it’s versatile in the kitchen too, whereas Moroccan mint is traditionally used for tea. Both are easy to grow in a soil-based, peat-free compost in sun or partial shade. Keep them well-watered and give them a liquid seaweed feed. If plants start to look a bit tired in mid-summer, don’t be afraid to cut them down hard, they’ll soon bounce back with fresh growth.
Cucumbers are another key ingredient, and I grow mine in the greenhouse for an earlier and more reliable crop. I’m just about to plant them into the greenhouse border, so with a bit of luck I’ll have fruit in a few weeks.
For greenhouse growing, it’s best to choose indoor, all-female varieties. Any male flowers that appear (without the tiny fruit behind them) should be removed. I like ‘Passandra’ for large fruits or ‘La Diva’ for smaller ones.
I train the plants up a support, and once they reach the roof, pinch out the growing tip. They’re kept well-watered with stored rainwater, maintaining even moisture, and fed with a high-potassium liquid feed such as tomato fertiliser or liquid seaweed.
They also love humidity, so damping down the greenhouse floor with stored rainwater or grey water saved from other tasks in the home can really help.
If you don’t have a greenhouse and grow your cucumbers outdoors, ridge varieties such as ‘Marketmore’ are ideal. These produce both male and female flowers and need pollination, so don’t remove any flowers. You can sow seeds outdoors now, or plant out young plants, as the risk of frost has passed.
Train cucumbers up supports to save space, or let them trail along the ground for ground cover. Outdoors, pinch out the growing tips once the plants have seven leaves to encourage sideshoots.
If you’re short of ground space, grow a plant in a container at least 30cm in diameter, filled with peat-free multi-purpose compost. Look out for dwarf patio cucumbers such as ‘Quick Snack’ or ‘Mini Munch’.
And then there are the strawberries. Strawberries are one of the joys of summer and I don’t think you can ever have too many, so I’ve got a good-sized bed devoted to them at my allotment. The fruits are ripening now, and I’ve kept them weeded and laid down straw to keep them clean as they ripen.
If you’re short on space, strawberries grow well in growbags, pots or hanging baskets. Just keep them well watered, with stored rainwater if you can, feed with liquid seaweed or a liquid tomato feed, and give them a sunny spot.
I grow ‘Hapil’ and ‘Cambridge Favourite’, along with ‘Mara des Bois’, an everbearing variety that produces smaller crops but keeps fruiting right through the summer, perfect for keeping the Pimm’s flowing.
When you’re ready to make your summer cup, just slice the strawberries so they infuse nicely, cut the cucumber into thin rounds, and add a few generous sprigs of fresh mint. After all that growing and tending, there’s nothing better than sitting back, glass in hand, and enjoying a well-earned taste of summer.
You may also be interested in
Look for the RHS Recommended: Award of Garden Merit when buying vegetable seed or small plants. You can also download the RHS lists of recommended cultivars.
About the author – Anne Adam
I’m an RHS Horticultural Advisor, answering a huge range of members’ gardening questions. Outside work I can usually be found at my allotment, where I grow fruit, vegetables and flowers, and try to have home-grown produce all year round.
