June

 

This beautiful Dahlia is called, ‘Islander’. I love the colours, don’t you? This bloom is the size of a large tea plate. Stunning! 

June has brought some well needed cheer to the garden after such a ropey April and May, at least in south Devon. The plants are now making a spurt with their growth and beginning to show off their best attributes.

Above is part of a shady area where a fabulous fern sits, splendidly, amongst Foxgloves and Pulmonaria. 

If anyone was ever to ask me to suggest a shrub rose which gives constant colour and thus value for money, it would have to be, ‘ For Your Eyes Only’. This amazing rose flowered last year from May to October! That is half of the year! It was about two weeks late this year but boy was it worth the wait!

The strange thing is that the blooms are not always the same colour; sometimes they are pink, sometimes they are more orange in colour!

Pansies…a garden MUST! How can you not adore these pretty faces? I’ve a few in a border but I also like to sit them in a small ‘theatre’ where they can perform their jolly routine over and over again, throughout the summer months.

It seems that so much has happened at once! So here are the rest of the actors and actresses that are gracing the stage as I type…

 

A Primula Vialii sits neatly by a small container pond. Field Poppies, grown from scattered seed, add a vivid splash of colour to a wild area. The most lovely Helianthemum Rock Rose, which I think is ‘Raspberry Ripple’ and was planted a few years ago, always pushes through a patch of Violet leaves at this time of year. Ox Eye Daisies, grown years ago from seed, bloom nearby and give good contrast.

Foxgloves are one of my favourites. I’ve already started on next year’s plants and I save the seed each year. Why buy seed? One plant alone gives you thousands of seeds!

Nemesia is one of my top choices for the summer garden. Always reliable as are the border Geraniums.I have a good collection of blues and pinks. You can’t beat them. Geum too! And a little Daphne is also just coming into bloom.

This year, I sowed loads of good, old fashioned, pot Marigolds and these are just opening. A small, yellow Erysimum has also bloomed. I love Erysimum and intend to grow more of these this coming year. I’ve also noticed in many other gardens how the blue Campanula is thriving and spreading all over the place. So pretty.

You can’t beat the June garden, that’s for sure.

What’s growing in yours?