Choice plants in June
We have just had another open day to sell off a lot of the stock grown for Chelsea. The day was a great success for 2 reasons. We got rid of a lot of stock (40% more than on our last open day) and we got the nursery tidied up.
There is still more work to do, some areas of the nursery need weeding (willow herb is our main curse), any plants that are a bit leggy need a trim (mainly those that have been in the tunnels) the bamboos need attention and there are some grasses still to pot up. In this warm weather the sprinklers need to be functioning perfectly and we will need to give all the plants a liquid feed as nutrients get washed out of the pots with the heavy summer watering.
Most of the large hedging and trees from this year’s Chelsea gardens have been sold and we have started preparing for Chelsea next year. All the large trees have been chosen and we have started putting aside the herbaceous plants that will need to be grown on.
Other than that, we have gardens at Hampton Court, Gardener’s World Live, and Malvern to prepare for and one or two huge landscaping projects just starting.
It’s the same every year. I always imagine that by the beginning of summer my garden will be sorted, and I will be able to just sit back, relax and enjoy it. Needless to say it never happens, and against all advice and my own better judgement, I am still shuffling things around and cramming the smallest gaps in the border with whatever happens to tempt my fickle eye – and lets face it at this time of the year there are plenty! I’m not complaining (I love it really), but look at it as a continuously changing work of art, and to be honest I’m not sure I would know what to do with myself if I couldn’t fiddle and fuss.
Top six choices
What it’s useful for:
This is a tall, architectural plant, with a wild and natural habit that will add bags of interest to the border. It will thrive in moist (the name rivulare derives from the latin word rivulus meaning a channel or stream), but well drained, fertile soils in sun or light, dappled shade, and it will often flower for months on end – especially when you cut it back after the first flush.
Why I like it:
This is one of the plants that I tend to use a lot of, as it seems to settle into most planting schemes effortlessly. The attention-grabbing, deep crimson thistles appear in summer on the upright stems, creating little bristly dollops of colour. Because of its height, it is mainly used towards the back of a planting scheme, however it is not so dense and overpowering that it can’t also be considered as a feature nearer the front.
What it’s useful for:
Softening the edges of a sunny border where it forms a low maintenance, long flowering mound of colour throughout summer. It is also ideal for naturalising into dry stone walls or gaps between paving slabs where it can be allowed to billow spontaneously. Tolerant of a wide range of conditions including coastal gardens, it prefers a spot in full sun with freely draining soil that holds some moisture in summer.
Why I like it:
The dainty looking flowers belie the fact that this is a tough little plant that practically thrives on neglect - it will actually flower best when not fed too heavily. The yellow centred daisies open white with a slight pink tinge, and gradually darken to pinky-purple as they age creating a lively tapestry of colour, and they self-seed happily once settled into a good spot. They are reliable, long-flowering and underrated.
What it’s useful for:
Forming loose mounds of handsome, foliage that will help keep weeds at bay towards the front of a border. It is tolerant of a little light shade, so can also be used to spill over the edges of an open woodland walkway. It flowers best where it can get lots of sun though, and this is important, as in my opinion, the large, deep blue, saucers that appear for a long period throughout summer are the plants star attraction.
Why I like it:
One of the best introductions to the world of hardy Geraniums in the last 10 years, it has already been awarded the prestigious Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society. It is a low maintenance plant, which just gets on with it, and it mingles well without becoming too boisterous. It can be incredibly free-flowering, and you can usually encourage even more to come if you cut back the spent stems in midsummer.
What it’s useful for:
One of the biggest hits in Luciano Giubbilei's garden at Chelsea this year, where it was nestled next to bronze fennel, dark red paeonias and deep purple iris. This resilient and durable perennial deserved all the attention it got. It is a cottage garden favourite, but lends itself happily to any naturalistic planting scheme. It self-seeds freely, but the seedlings will often have differently coloured flowers to the parent plant.
Why I like it:
The button-like blooms are surrounded by a ruff of incredibly long-lasting bracts (leaves that look like flower petals) and their colour is rich and brooding. They make first-rate cut flowers, and if you continue to keep dead-heading them, it is possible to keep getting more well into autumn. There are not many plants that will continue to flower unremitting throughout summer, but this is one.
What it’s useful for:
Upright flower-spikes packed with ethereal, steely blue flowers that are perfect for adding vertical interest and a touch of elegance to the middle of a herbaceous border or at the edge of a woodland. As striking as they are though, they should be treated with care as they are quite poisonous - it is said that they may have first been introduced into our gardens so they could be used to poison arrowheads.
Why I like it:
Any plant that has managed to stand the test of time with such a murky history and still remain such a highly sought after favourite, must have something going for it. This is an incredibly popular, low maintenance and long flowering variety. It is easy to grow, rarely needs staking, makes an excellent cut flower, and (probably because of its toxicity) is hardly ever eaten by slugs or snails.
What it’s useful for:
This is one for the aficionados amongst you, and is a unique and wonderful addition to the border. It produces chocolate-scented, deep maroon flowers throughout summer that can almost look black in the early evening light. It is only half hardy though, so you will need to protect the tuberous roots with a heavy mulch or cloche in winter, or lift the rootstock in autumn and lay it in a tray of compost in a frost-free spot (just as you would a Dahlia) until planting again in spring.
Why I like it:
This is one of the most sensuous flowers in the garden. The colour is rich, the petals look and feel like velvet and if all that is not enough, what girls’ head wouldn’t be turned by a flower that smells of chocolate. It is a reasonably compact form, which rarely needs staking, and its bobbing blooms easily catch the breeze so are great for adding movement. A gem.
