The Garden in June and July

 

Dear friends.  This is the time my garden is at its height. It's fairly small and I focus my attention on spring and summer planting. 

It's now July and 1 of my 4 dahlias is flowering; the phlox are out, in very splashy colours, and "shed corner " has returned to its former glory, with brightly coloured containers. 

Here's Shed Corner. Having plants here catches the eye when people enter the garden, and makes it look look bigger as they see beyond the garage which was built by the previous occupants. 

I've grown the dahlias and begonias from tubers this year. I can't tell you the variety of dahlia because Sarah Raven sent me a different type than the one I ordered. 

A lot of people don't like begonias but I think they're pretty if you use one shade (below).  It's the same with petunias. I only use the purple ones, which have a lovely velvet texture, and I plant them next to bright green foliage, such as heuchera lime marmalade, for contrast. 

The roses are resting, having performed from April to early June. There'll be a second flush in September.  The lupins had a brief spell in May: they do throw up more spikes, smaller, with feeding. 

Two other plants which give me joy are Allium sphaerocephalon (drumsticks)  and honeysuckle. 

Back in autumn last year I planted a lot of drumsticks,  having seen the impact of having clumps of them in someone else's garden. Not all of them grew but I've got enough to get the effect I wanted.

Honeysuckle has been a predicted disappointment.  We cut back drastically the forsythia as soon as it finished flowering.  We also had to get rid of a lot of growth from an early flowering honeysuckle because it was intertwined with the forsythia.  So no flowers there.

The later flowering honeysuckle doesn't have many flowers,  perhaps due to the weather? It was a mild winter but summer has been very wet, so far, with not much sustained sunshine.  The one flower so far is captured in the collage below. 

My Forth Bridge project 

I have a constant battle with weeds. Unless I'm out there weeding once a week, they quickly multiply in the rose bed and this is the result. What with the rain, and going away on holiday, the weeds are rampant.  I've so far spent an hour and a half weeding and reckon I have another hour to go. 

I call it my "Forth Bridge project." I like to use a plant identifier to find out what the weeds are.  I'm using PlantNet at the moment.  The weeds in the back garden are different types altogether. These are from the rose bed. 

Finishing with good news, the plum tree is groaning with fruit ready to ripen. I just hope we won't miss out when the plums are ready, because we'll be on holiday. 

Handy tip:  I used to think Phlox had just one flush.If you gently remove the spent petals, new ones grow, so the plants flower constantly.

Below: here's my Six on Saturday, a weekly feature on X where gardeners show 6 plants that are currently blooming. It's a good way to find new people to follow.

Left to right:  top row - purple petunias, phlox paniculata, scabiosa Caucasia.  Bottom row:  drumstick allium, honeysuckle, dahlia. 

What are your favourites in summer? And are you battling against weeds? Do tell in the comments. 

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a year in the garden, gardening tips, June and July in the garden, Lifestyle