In spite of the awful weather we have been having for a while now, the flowers are bursting open all over the place. Thank goodness, the night we had dreadful gales, there wasn’t much damage done. Lots of branches and leaves ripped off trees, but once the mess was cleared away, the garden didn’t look too bad. All the rain has meant that all the new planting in the bog garden has been well watered from above, meaning less work for me to do! June abundance means one thing to me, roses, so we will start with Abraham Derby.
Roasa Gertrude Jekyll is a favourite here, firstly because of the perfume, then the gorgeous deep pink colour.
Rosa Winchester cathedral is a beautiful rose with a perfume to match. A lot of our roses are from David Austin and have been chosen for their perfume. A rose without a perfume has to be really super in other departments to get into the garden here!
Geoff Hamilton, a much loved deceased presenter of Gardeners World, had this rose named after him, I would say that his only fault is that he doesn’t open after a shower of rain!
Now to other flowers, the little Welsh poppy, Meconopsis cambrica, is now gently seeding round the shadier parts of the garden and brightening them up with its simple yellow flowers.
This is the view from the side of the house with both borders showing plenty of flowers. We have lots of iris, peonies and poppies, which will appear in a later post. I think a blackbird, top left, decided to fly through just as I pressed the shutter.
A few different foxgloves are appearing around the garden, some white, some peachy, some pale pink and the rest the usual deep pink. It’s fascinating watching the bumble bees going in and out, working their way up the stem.
Quite a few clematis are now flowering around the garden, this one was planted by the previous people, not sure which one it is. It’s a wonder this photo turned out, the wind was blowing so hard when it was taken, I expected to see it very blurred.
Shrubs have also been flowering away in spite of the weather. The Azalea Homebush has the most delightful perfume, it is a joy to work on my knees around it! Behind is Viburnum plicatum Maresii which is so striking when flowering with its horizontal branches.
Nectaroscordum siculum in the bee and butterfly border, in the front garden, is attracting any passing bee. Once pollinated, the flowers stand straight up and look just like a Disney fairytale castle.
The pergola, leading through to the veggie garden, is adorned with clematis and roses at the moment. A Kolquitzia bush is joining in the parade with Clematis montana Broughton Star on the back fence.
Looking the other way, back to the garden, with Clematis viticella Abundance on the right.
Another rose with a lovely perfume, Charles Renee Macintosh, and a shade of pink that is bordering on lilac, a pretty colour.
A lovely rose, Buff Beauty, a floribunda which was here before we were. I have moved it 3 times and it now seems happy, so it can stay put for the forseable future.
Some of the candelabra primulas have started flowering, will do a separate post about them as soon as they have all joined in, love the colours in this group.
I know, not a flower, just thought I would show you one of our many thousands of raindrops on the hosta by the front door!
Every day when I go for a wander in the garden there are more flowers opening, some are looking a bit battered by the wind and rain unfortunately, but most are surviving and adding lots of colour to the June borders.
Everything in your garden is looking lovely! It’s funny, it looks like a Spring garden to me because most of these plants bloom in mid-Spring here and lots of them are over by Summer. That blue Clematis is stunning.
Looking through the photos again Lyn, I would think that most, except the roses, are late spring flowers. We have had such cold wet weather for a long time now, that the flowers are coming late and then flowering for longer than usual. One day soon we hope, we will be warm again!!
I’ve got Gertrude Jekyll and Geoff Hamilton, both for their beautiful perfume but I agree that Geoff doesn’t like the rain, which is unfortunate and possibly not the best choice for here in Wales. I just love your pergola, beautiful. The weather has caused strange things to happen in the garden. I still have dicentra in flower, that’s nearly 3 months now and would normally only expect 6 maybe 8 weeks. Other plants such my achillea have put on lots of leggy growth with all this rain which I only discovered when I pulled out the forget me nots at the weekend. They seem a bit beyond redemption. Fed up with the rain and cold now. Still at least we weren’t flooded, I really feel for the people of Aberystwyth.
WW, it’s certainly been an extended spring, without the sunshine. Everything has grown so tall with all the rain, but so far they’re not flopping, thank goodness. Aberysrwyth and the surrounding area has had a dreadful time of it, feel so sorry for the people, the gardens and the wildlife, it will take a long time for them to recover. We actually have sunshine at the moment, so hopefully might be able to get onto the garden to do some work, before the next lot of heavy rain arrives.
Looking at the photos of your wonderful garden I can see it is official, plants are now flowering in sync, just shows you how fast the plants in Canada have to grow to catch up, and how short our spring actually is (boo).
I planted Maresii myself this spring, hope some of your rain drifts west, my garden will need it.
Deborah, you can certainly have some of our rain, but originally it came from your side of the Atlantic! Glad to know that your plants have caught up while you have been back at home, Maresii is a lovely shrub, with its white layers, yours will soon grow and look beautiful.
Hi Pauline!
Your june garden looks awesome! I like your Austin’s roses, I have planted some too, they’re at their first year though. I love their flowers and scents but most of them need to be hardly trained (or pruned) because I don’t like their grow habit. But they rebloom…
Your borders are a delight for the eyes, I really like those yellow poppies with purple lysimachia (?) very nice!
So glad Alberto, that you have some David Austin roses among your huge collection! I agree, they are a bit upright in growth, but I plant plenty round them to disguise the fact that they are standing to attention! Thank you for your kind comments about my borders, but I will have to keep an eye on the lysimachia with the poppies, it is a thug and spreads by underground runners in my heavy clay. I have a large clump about 2 metres away, so really it shouldn’t be with the poppies!
it all looks lovely Pauline you have many beautiful plants, Frances
Thanks Frances, had to be careful how I took the photos so you couldn’t see all the weeds that are growing faster than we can pull them out, with all the rain we are having!
Your garden is looking lovely, whether it seems more like spring than summer it is beautiful. I have Viburnum plicatum Maresii, butit didn’t flower at all this year, I think it was too hot and dry for it in March, it doesn’t look happy at all. Nectaroscordum siculum is another plant tat doesn’t really perform for me, maybe I don’t have the right pollinaters for it as I’ve never seen it stand up as you describe. I also have R. Gertrude Jekyll, interesting that with our very different gardens we have quite a few plants in common. Christina
Late spring, Christina, seems like continuing for a while yet unfortunately, at least the flowers are lasting for a long time. Nectaroscordum would really prefer better drainage than I can provide, seeds never seem to germinate when they fall to the ground, maybe too wet in the winter, but the bulbs survive. Plants must be very versatile to survive in both our gardens when they have such differing conditions, we are the winners!
In theory the Nectaroscordum should love my conditions but it really doesn’t, the flowers stay bent over and stems twist around looking untidy. I don’t think there is the correct pollinator here, I had a similar problem with runner beans – no or little pollination but other kinds of beans are fine. A gardener’s life is so interesting because of all these complications in choosing plants. the more we know the less we know! Christina
I’ve never noticed which insect is pollinating the Nectaroscordum, will certainly try and find out for you, mind you the rain will have to stop first, so self respecting bee or fly is going to be out in this weather! I’ve heard that with runner beans, if the bees are too fat to get into the flower, they will steal the nectar from the back of the flower by making a hole there, the result is, no pollination!
thanks for reminding reminding me how beautiful Kolkwitzia is and how I have always wanted one.
Super bush Carolyn, wouldn’t want to be without it.
Hi Pauline, Your June garden is looking very colorful. My roses are just starting to open as well. Pink is always my favourite and you have lots of pretty pinks in this post. The pergola with all the climbers is such a nice feature in your garden. I also like the Welsh poppy, Meconopsis cambrica, which I have never seen before, and the Clematis montana Broughton Star on the back fence looks amazing!
Thank you jennifer for your lovely comments, I have to admit blue is my favourite colour and sometimes I feel I have too much pink. So many lovely flowers are pink though, just can’t resist! I think Broughton Star is beginning to take over, had to prop the fence up in the gales we had lately!!
lovely lovely post Pauline. I love the raindrops and the pergola and the roses especially. (that’s just about everything isn’t it?) Nectaroscordum siculum is a totally new plant to me, looks very quirky and magical. Also looks as if it would need watering therefore be unsuitable for my garden.
In answer to your interesting question as to whether plants go dormant here during the hot summer, they don’t really. Some like being in the direct sun, others can’t take it and droop and need lots of water and may even die. But if they’re in the right spot, with good soil and long roots, I find they usually do fine. Or even if they don’t look great, they do survive.
cheers, catmint
Thanks Catmint, lots and lots of raindrops at the moment, but the powers that be, say it will improve next Tuesday, I do hope they are right! Nectaroscordum is in the onion family, it is a bulb, I have never watered mine, but then with my heavy clay I don’t need to water the garden, just anything newly planted. If anything, my soil is too heavy for it, it would prefer a much lighter, free draining soil than mine.