The June Garden 2023
I think that most of you are already aware that June is right up there in my list of favourite months. Over the spring months the garden has literally blossomed week by week and by June the leaf greens are still vibrant and fresh and largely undamaged by pests, disease or drought. Likewise the late spring and early summer flowers are at their best and there are plenty of them! As I sit on one of our benches in the shade of a Mountain Ash, which itself is full of white flowers, as is the Cornus ‘Stellar Pink’ (the bracts turn pink as they age), I can look around and without even moving can see blue Forget-me-nots, pinks in the Red Campion, Foxgloves, Rosa rugosa, Geranium macrorrhizum, Saxifraga x urbium, Claytonia sibirica and a dark pink Weigela, purples in Alliums, Geranium phaeum and a lovely, tall Aquilegia, yellows in a Potentilla, Cytisus ‘Lena’ and the leaves of a Spiraea and one of our Acers and, which is quite unusual for me, a splash of orange from a recently planted Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ courtesy of the Malvern Spring Show.
Over the last three Junes I have covered a variety of topics in both blogs and talks. In June 2020 during the early days of the pandemic I looked at some really good June plants in our own garden and in a second blog highlighted Fuchsias and Pelargoniums. June 2021 saw the first of my twelve visits to Aberglasney and if you want to know more about the history of the house and gardens and to become more familiar with all the different sections of the gardens this blog is certainly worth a visit. Last June saw the restart of our talks as well as a blog and the topic was the wonderful rose in all its glory.
The topic for this month’s blog and talk is ‘Preparing for late summer colour’. I have no doubt that all your gardens have been improving month by month since the beginning of the growing season in March. The spring flowering trees, shrubs, climbers, herbaceous perennials and bulbs are all most obliging and are keen to just grow and to do their best with only limited help from the gardener. This blooming of the garden will continue into June but not necessarily into July and August unless we gardeners have planned ahead and thought about the succession of plants to keep the garden both interesting and colourful. As with most garden plans it is really about choosing the right plants for the time of year, the weather conditions and the available ground situations such as sun or shade.
We discussed the first possible group of plants for late summer colour and interest last month in the topic of summer pots and baskets. All the lovely plants we considered, apart from the trailing forms, such as Pelargoniums, Begonias and Fuchsias are just as good in the actual garden as they are in containers provided they are given a little extra care and attention in the form of watering and feeding to keep them in the best possible condition. This will not only keep them going through July and August but will help them continue to enhance the garden into September and possibly even October. They, of course, can be used in more formal bedding schemes but for most these days these summer plants are more likely to be used as part of a mixed bed or border. This is certainly what Teresa and I do, in particular with Cosmos which works really well in mixed plantings by not taking up too much room, having finely cut leaves and by producing their flowers above many of the other bed and border plants. We use them either singly or in groups of three in whatever spaces we can find including those vacated by the removal of the Forget-me-nots as they start to go to seed.
The second group of good, late summer plants are the later flowering herbaceous perennials, the best of which I looked at in last year’s July, August and September blogs and talks. In July it was Dahlia, Penstemon and Salvia, in August it was Echinacea and Helenium and in September I highlighted Japanese Anemones, Rudbeckia and Aster (Symphyotrichon). All these blogs are well worth visiting for more detail on these wonderful summer plants. However, you won’t be surprised to hear me say that there are many other herbaceous perennials and some bulbous plants which can also grace the summer garden. These include Agapanthus, Alcea (Hollyhock), Aconitum (Monkshood), Campanula lactiflora, Canna, Cephalaria gigantea, Cosmos atrosanguineus, Crocosmia, Eupatorium purpureum (Joe Pye weed), Gaura, Helianthus, Hemerocallis (Day Lily), Knautia macedonica, Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker), Liatris, Lilium, Lithrum salicaria (Purple Loosestrife), Lychnis coronaria (Rose Campion), Phlox, Sedum, Stoksia, Verbena bonariensis and Veronica prostrata and spicata. Of these I am particularly fond of the Sedums and Phlox. The Sedum genus, Stonecrop, is a very large one of around 400 species of usually succulent annuals, biennials, perennials and even some shrubs. They are widely distributed, most in mountains in the N. Hemisphere but also some in arid regions of S. America. For late summer colour Sedum spectabile, the Ice Plant, is perhaps the best known in this country. This is a clump-forming deciduous perennial with green stems bearing ovate, slightly toothed, grey-green, succulent leaves. In late summer it produces star-shaped pink flowers with prominent stamens which are borne in dense, flat flower heads known as cymes and are very attractive to bees. Sedum spect. ‘Brilliant’ is probably still the most planted cultivar with its bright pink petals and slightly darker anthers. Other good cultivars are S. spect. ‘Carmen’ (slightly darker, mauve-pink), ‘Iceberg’ (pale green leaves and white flowers) and ‘September Glow’(rich pink flowers). Also in this group of Sedums is Sedum telephium with its glaucous, grey-green leaves and purplish-pink flowers. S. telephium subsp. maximum ‘Atropurpureum’ has dark purple stems and leaves and pink flowers with orange-red centres and S. telephium ‘Munsted Dark Red’ has purple-tinted, dark green leaves and dark purplish-red flowers which become even darker with age. Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ or ‘Herbstfreude’ is also a lovely plant with its deep pink flowers at first which then turn through pinkish-bronze to copper red.
Phlox is also quite a large genus of around 70 species containing a range of evergreen or herbaceous, low-growing or cushion-forming to erect perennials mainly found in N. America. For late summer colour it is the erect perennials which are of interest. The main species is Phlox paniculata of which there are many excellent cultivars. The four or five-petalled, fragrant flowers are borne in rounded clusters in white, pink, red, lavender-blue and purple many having darker coloured centres or eyes. A second erect Phlox is Phlox maculata, the Meadow Phlox, which also has fragrant flowers in white, pink or violet with darker eyes. It is also said to suffer less from powdery mildew which can be a problem in dry conditions with Phlox paniculata.
Having dealt with annuals, tender and herbaceous perennials I now turn to the shrubs for some late summer colour. It is true that there are not as many to choose from as in the other groups but there are still some which can have a real impact in the late summer garden. In the August 2022 blog and talk I highlighted two of my personal favourites, Buddleja and Hydrangea and for details on these I refer you to that blog. As always though there are others to choose from including Abelia, Caryopteris, hardy Fuchsia, Hebe, Hibiscus, Lavandula,, Lavatera, Perovskia (Russian Sage), Phygelius (Cape Fuchsia), repeat flowering roses and some Spiraeas eg Spiraea japonica ‘Anthony Waterer’. Of these I have a particular liking for Lavandula and Caryopteris. The Lavandula genus comprises of around 25 species of aromatic, evergreen shrubs and sub-shrubs occurring in dry, sunny, exposed, rocky habitats from the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean and NE Africa to SW Asia and India. They are cultivated for their long-stalked spikes of fragrant, tubular, 2-lipped flowers which in many species have a very high nectar content making them very attractive to bees. Lavandula angustifolia is the most commonly grown especially its cultivars ‘Hidcote’ (compact with dark purple flowers), ‘Lodden Pink’ (soft pink flowers), ‘Munsted’(blue-purple flowers), ‘Nana Alba’ (white flowers) and ‘Twickle Purple’ (purple flowers). Lavandula x intermedia is a cross between angustifolia and latifolia and is referred to as English Lavender. It has lance-shaped, aromatic grey-green leaves covered in fine, silvery-grey hairs and light blue to violet flowers. In contrast French Lavender, Lavandula stoechas, has dense, ovoid flowers heads of fragrant, dark purple flowers each topped with conspicuous purple bracts resembling butterflies perched on top of the flower.
Caryopteris is a much smaller genus comprised of only 6 species of aromatic, deciduous shrubs and perennials from a variety of habitats, including hot, dry slopes and woodland in the Himalayas and other mountains of E Asia. They are grown for their aromatic foliage and striking blue flowers borne in terminal clusters. Plants available in this country all come from cultivars of Caryopteris x clandonensis which include ‘Heavenly Blue’ with intensely dark blue flowers, ‘Kew Blue’ with grey-green leaves, dull dark green above and silver-grey beneath and dark blue flowers and ‘Worcester Gold’ with its warm yellow foliage and lavender blue flowers.
My next plants to provide late summer interest come from the climbing group. All the repeat flowering roses of which there are many fall into this group as do Campsis (Trumpet Vine), some Clematis eg. ‘Niobe’,’ Jackmanii’ and any of the Viticella group, Lathyrus (Sweet Peas and the ‘everlasting’ pea Lathyrus latifolius) , Lonicera eg. periclymenum ‘Serotina’ (Late Dutch Honeysuckle) and Passiflora (Passion Flower). The Viticella Clematis are really good climbers for the late summer and into the autumn with their open, bell-shaped, blue, purple or rose-red flowers with pale yellow anthers. The best known cultivars include C. viticella ‘Abundance’ (wine red), ‘Etoile Violette’ (violet-purple), ‘Mme. Julia Correvon’ (bright wine-red), ‘Polish Spirit’ (purple-blue) and ‘Purpurea Plena Elegans’ (double purplish-mauve flowers).
Finally as I often do I am going to end with a group of plants which in my view are still underused in many gardens- the ornamental grasses some of which I wrote about and photographed in last September’s blog. In the late summer it is really the ‘Warm Season’ grasses which take centre stage as they produce their showy flowers and seed heads at this time of year. They include Cortaderia (Pampas Grass), Miscanthus, Panicum and Pennisetum (Fountain Grass). For me the real stars are the Miscanthus species and cultivars. This is a genus of around 20 species of deciduous or evergreen perennial grasses occurring in moist meadows and marshland from Africa to E Asia. The reed-like stems bear linear or lance-shaped, folded, arching, light, mid-green, blue or purplish-green leaves. Dense, terminal, arching panicles of silky-hairy flower spikelets are borne in late summer and autumn. In many cases the dying growth also provides russet autumn colours. In my view the best of the cultivars come from the deciduous species Miscanthus sinensis and include ‘Cabaret’ with conspicuous white stripes on the leaves, ‘Kleine Silberspinne’ with white-tinged red flower panicles fading to silver, ‘Morning Light’ with narrow, white leaf margins giving a silvery effect and ‘Zebrinus’ (Zebra Grass) with its arching leaves with creamy-white or pale yellow horizontal bands.
Hopefully the above has given you plenty of ideas for how to make your July and August gardens look as good as your May and June ones and shown you that by planning ahead and getting some of these plants in the ground now they will be in their full glory come the late summer.
June’s recommended ‘bee friendly’ plant is perhaps at first glance an unusual one as it is usually grown for its foliage but Lamb’s Ears, Stachys byzantina, produces silvery flower spikes at this time which are made up of whorls of small, purplish or pink flowers. They are attractive to many pollinators, especially bumblebees and wool carder bees. Other good June plants for bees are Alliums, Foxgloves, Thyme, Cardoons (Cynara cardunculus), Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) and the evergreen shrub Cistus.
That’s all for this month and I will let you get back to your gardens where there is much to enjoy and to do! I will be back in July as part of the Old Railway Line’s Rose Festival with a talk (Saturday 1st) and blog on garden design in general and the use of roses within such designs in particular. Until then keep well and keep gardening!
Keith.