Typically, we think of July as Summertime in Britain. Hampton Court Flower Show, Wimbledon and The Proms all feature this month and are markers of a British Summer. Then picture the quintessentially British Summer Garden and I bet you see beds of jumbled up Cottage Garden favourites, jostling with each other for space and competing with their colour!
Actually, July in the garden can be somewhat different! It’s a bit of a green month; sometimes providing a bit of a lull between the fresh greens and colours of Spring and the more intense colours that come with those plants flowering in late Summer. So, if you’re feeling a bit jaded in this heat and your garden is too here are some ideas for planting to pick you up in this July gap!
Lavender – the colour seems more intense than usual this month and I wonder if the dry weather is helping to lock in the colour and scent! It typically likes dry conditions, not liking heavy clay soils and the potential for soggy roots! Shear off the flowers after they have flowered and then shear again in the Spring to keep the bushes compact as they are prone to getting leggy and woody.
Hibiscus – the flowers on Hibiscus look so tropical but love the conditions in Britain. It’s just getting going in July and will last into the Autumn. Prefers a well-drained soil too and a hard prune in Spring.
Roses – Is it just me or have they been spectacular this year? Whatever your favourite colour or scent you will find a Rose for you. Just keep deadheading or picking them and they will flower for you all Summer long, if not year long! Prune them over the Winter, removing anything that is dead, damaged or diseased and a 3rd of stems and they will thrive and flower for you.
Allium Sphaerocephalon – is the later flowering Allium and was all over the Flower Shows this year. It’s a dark purple and tear dropped shaped and looks great planted through a border. Remember to plant in groups of odd numbers for bigger visual impact but a great plant that even when the flowers have faded will leave a striking seedhead for you to enjoy for the rest of the year.
Yarrow (Achillea) can be spotted at this time if year with it’s flat topped umbels and feathery light green foliage. It comes in a variety of colours, prefers well-drained soils but again gives you striking seedheads when the flowers have faded. All you need to do is cut them down when they look too scruffy and wait for the flowers again next year.
The Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) is tough as old boots! But produces the most beautiful flowers and (as its name suggests) the bees and the butterflies love it! Cut it down every Spring so it doesn’t get out of hand and it will reward with you flowers and scent!
Just a few ideas to bring some colour to July. Let me know what your favourites are.
We’re told time and time again how important our gardens are in keeping the country green and that our plots are a mecca for pollinating insects. The trick is to provide a wide variety of flowering plants as they are often designed with particular insects in mind. Taking this into account here are my Top Six Plants to attract insects into your garden:
Harvest Daisy (Inula) – typically we want to be planting simple flower shapes, and this Harvest Daisy provides that. Simple Daisy shapes that don’t have a double set of petals are easier for pollinators to access and their wide-open shape makes it easier for insects to use as a landing pad.
Lenten Rose (Hellebore) – these flower from Winter to early Spring so provide nectar and pollen early in the year. Choose the single flowering versions to best attract pollinators and enjoy their beautiful flowers at a gloomy time of year.
Ivy (Hedera) – we’re encouraged to keep a corner of the garden untidy as this provides a great habitat for insects and wildlife to use as home! Ivy is a great plant to leave or plant in such an area as it provides a safe haven of nooks and crannies for wildlife to live in and its flowers over the Wintertime provide nectar and pollen at a time when there’s not a lot around!
Lavender – the quintessential British Garden Shrub, Lavender is a great plant for insects and especially Bees. They love its nectar and pollen and it flowers for a long period over the Summer.
Crabapple (Malus)– a small Crabapple tree is a brilliant garden tree but not only for us! It provides beautiful Spring Blossom and Autumn Fruits which we enjoy but also the wildlife in your garden.
Ice Plant (Hylotelephium spectabile) – This succulent looking perennial flowers for ages from Summer onwards. This means there is nectar and pollen available for a long period but also it looks great if you leave the flowerheads on over Winter and therefore provides seed and shelter for birds and insects.
General planting tips for attracting insects into your garden are:
Avoid the use of chemical weed killer and pesticides
Plant a wide variety of colours, scents and shapes of plants
Plant a variety of plants that flower all year round
Avoid plants with double or multi layers of petals
For more information The RHS do a great guide to Plants for Pollinators and you can find their campaign logo on plants they recommend for insects at Garden Centres across the country.
Have you got a favourite insect-friendly plant? Let me know in the comments below. Or if you want help to make planting choices for your garden drop me a line.
Early Spring seems to be the season of yellow: Daffodils, Winter Aconites, Primroses, Crocosus but lots of people have a thing against yellow flowers in their gardens, and I have to admit I was one of them! I’m not sure why it is, perhaps yellow was unfashionable, a bi too ‘in your face’. But I think I was won over to yellow by orange! It took me to yellow and I have started to love it now, especially with orange!! Yellow also looks great with reds and blues and really zings infront of dark foliage or even a black fence! Here are a few flowers that might win you over to yellow!
Primroses – Quite a delicate shade of yellow to get you started! These hedgerow favourites are a great source of colour during Winter right through to Spring. They selfseed really easily and so will multiply for you. I love them planted in my gravel path, so they have a really natural look and once SApring is here you can transplant them to where you want so is the time of year to ask if you can have a couple from any rfiends with them in their garden!
Inula – This was a gift from a lady I gardened for. Her garden was on the North Downs so very chalky and alkaline, I’m on very sandy soil which is rather neutral in acidity and most of my garden is quite shady. These Inulas seem to love both conditions and from a couple of bits I dug up they have now formed a patch which flower from Summer through to Autumn.
Primrose
Inula
Mexican Satin Flower (Sisyrinchium striatum) – This perennial forms clumps of vertical sword-like leaves and in the summer straight stems shoot up with clusters of the tiniest pale yellow flowers. It loves being in the sun on really well drained soil and is so delicate and gorgeous.
Rosa banksia ‘Lutea’ – A beautiful rambling rose with sprays of small double, deep yellow scented flowers in April and May. Pros: its thornless and great for covering an arch or pergola. Cons: it only flowers once!
Lupin ‘Chandelier’ – Lupins were all the rage last year at the Flower Shows and they come in a wide range of colours; some bright and gaudy but some a bit more toned down and pastelly. I love this yellow Lupin with its geometric spire of flowers. They like it sunny and look great in a border of other plants, and remember to deadhead once its looking scruffy as it may well flower again for you.
Sisyrinchium striatum
Rosa banksiae Lutea’
Lupin ‘Chandelier’
I hope that gives you some ideas, I’m almost certain that yellow makes us feel good, it does bring a smile, so have a go at injecting some sunshine into your garden! Have a look at my board The Yellow Planting Edit on Pinterest for more inspiration.
Typically, we think of July as Summertime in Britain. Hampton Court Flower Show, Wimbledon and The Proms all feature this month and are markers of a British Summer. Then picture the quintessentially British Summer Garden and I bet you see beds of jumbled up Cottage Garden favourites, jostling with each other for space and competing with their colour!
Actually, July in the garden can be somewhat different! It’s a bit of a green month; sometimes providing a bit of a lull between the fresh greens and colours of Spring and the more intense colours that come with those plants flowering in late Summer. So, if you’re feeling a bit jaded in this heat and your garden is too here are some ideas for planting to pick you up in this July gap!
Lavender – the colour seems more intense than usual this month and I wonder if the dry weather is helping to lock in the colour and scent! It typically likes dry conditions, not liking heavy clay soils and the potential for soggy roots! Shear off the flowers after they have flowered and then shear again in the Spring to keep the bushes compact as they are prone to getting leggy and woody.
Hibiscus – the flowers on Hibiscus look so tropical but love the conditions in Britain. It’s just getting going in July and will last into the Autumn. Prefers a well-drained soil too and a hard prune in Spring.
Roses – Is it just me or have they been spectacular this year? Whatever your favourite colour or scent you will find a Rose for you. Just keep deadheading or picking them and they will flower for you all Summer long, if not year long! Prune them over the Winter, removing anything that is dead, damaged or diseased and a 3rd of stems and they will thrive and flower for you.
Allium Sphaerocephalon – is the later flowering Allium and was all over the Flower Shows this year. It’s a dark purple and tear dropped shaped and looks great planted through a border. Remember to plant in groups of odd numbers for bigger visual impact but a great plant that even when the flowers have faded will leave a striking seedhead for you to enjoy for the rest of the year.
Yarrow (Achillea) can be spotted at this time if year with it’s flat topped umbels and feathery light green foliage. It comes in a variety of colours, prefers well-drained soils but again gives you striking seedheads when the flowers have faded. All you need to do is cut them down when they look too scruffy and wait for the flowers again next year.
The Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) is tough as old boots! But produces the most beautiful flowers and (as its name suggests) the bees and the butterflies love it! Cut it down every Spring so it doesn’t get out of hand and it will reward with you flowers and scent!
Just a few ideas to bring some colour to July. Let me know what your favourites are.
So having caught up with all the coverage from Chelsea here are my thoughts on what we can take away from the Show to use in our gardens:
Yellow seems to have been a really popular accent colour with yellow Globeflowers (Troillus), Ladies Bonnets (Aquilegia), Woad, Hot Pokers (Kniphofia) and Lupins appearing in lots of the show gardens. And we’re not talking pastel Yellow here we’re talking bold and dramatic hues of Yellow bringing sparks of brightness to the foliage. All of these plants can be used in our gardens and I would add Sneezeweed (Helenium) and Aunt May (Sisyrinchium striatum) (pictured) to the Yellow Hit List!
Plants with vertical spires of flowers also seemed to crop up all over the place with Foxgloves (Digitalis), Mullein (Verbascum), Foxtail Lilies (Eremurus robustus) and especially Lupins making bold statements throughout the show gardens. We can definitely use these in our gardens, I would clump then together in odd numbers to make more impact and add Turkish Sage (Phlomis russeliana) and Bears Breeches (Acanthus mollis) to a list of high performing Flower Spires!
Corten Steel – we seem to have fallen in love with the coppery tones of corten steel and its been used in lots of differentways: planters, pots, water bowls, edging and pergolas. It’s definitely a modern material that we can use our gardens that melds with other materials and styles, whether traditional or more modern and is easy on the eye in its simplicity and sleekness. I especially like these Light Fittings by Nordlux at Wayfair.
So yes they are Show Gardens that sometimes cost more than my house is worth but I very much see them as the Couture Shows in fashion; they’re exciting and innovative and always provide inspiration for even the smallest of spaces!
Clue: it’s not a gathering involving shouting catchy phrases like “yee-haw”! A Hoedown is what I called my Garden Consultation Service, purely because ‘Garden Consultation’ sounds so boring! If you want to yell “yee-haw” at the end I’ll be more than pleased!
It’s usually an hour (but can be more) spent standing in your garden with you talking through anything garden related! Someone called it Garden Therapy as they were feeling so stressed and overwhelmed by their garden and not enjoying it all! Others have found it really helpful at different times: perhaps you’ve recently moved in, about to put your house on the market or have just built an extension and now can see your garden more. In the past I’ve covered:
Identifying what plants are what
What to prune and when
How to prune
What to do after an extension has been built or after a garage has been pulled down
How to make fences and walls look better
What shape borders or beds to make
Ideas on what plants to use in different places
Lawn care
What materials would work in a small courtyard
What plants wouldn’t mind living in pots
Making decisions about taking out shrubs or moving them
Where it’s best to put waterbutts and raised beds for veggies
Pests and diseases
What’s a weed
Where to put the trampoline!
My objective pair of eyes and ears can be really helpful to solve problems, be a sounding board or come up with ideas. After our hour I write up our discussion including any links I’ve promised and email it to you so you have a record of our discussion and signposted places to go to to take action (or delegate the actions!).
Here’s what Claire had to say following our Hoedown:
“I spent a lovely hour in my back garden with Renée having a Hoedown. She is so enthusiastic and knowledgeable. I feel very inspired now and, most importantly, confident that I can change my garden to suit my family. Renée listened to what I hoped to achieve and asked all the right questions. I can’t wait to get started and thanks to Renée’s follow-up email with links and reminders of what we talked about it didn’t matter that I forgot most of the plant names we talked about! Thank you.”
The cost of a Hoedown is 1 hour of your time, 1 cup of tea for me and £75 (Monday to Friday) or £95 (weekends and evenings) within 5 miles radius of Redhill. I’m more than happy to travel further afield but will need to agree additional expenses to cover mileage.
Harvest Daisy (Inula) – t
So having caught up with all the coverage from Chelsea here are my thoughts on what we can take away from the Show to use in our gardens: