As summer finally arrives, there’s a wealth of plants bursting into beautiful blooms. For many gardeners, myself included, this is the month when my garden looks its best – with plenty of fresh, flowers to enjoy and before the summer heat starts to take its toll on the plants.
Discover some of the best plants for the glorious month of June, below. Our choices include recommendations from the Gardeners’ World team and familiar faces from across the gardening industry.
Find more June inspiration:
Foeniculum vulgare
Chosen by Frances Tophill, Gardeners’ World presenter
This herb has it all; stature, flavour, aesthetic and ephemeral beauty in borders, and flowers that bring in the pollinators, especially hoverflies. The seeds of fennel are used in curry and the leaves with fish. I also use the flowers in a vase.
Leontopodium nivale
Chosen by Sue Kent, Gardeners’ World presenter
My daughter and I love the Sound of Music film, so when she married in the month of June, I grew edelweiss, not realising their flowers would be understated and hairy! However, many guests like them so much they ended up taking a pot home. I have cultivated them ever since.
Echium pininana
Toby Buckland, director of Toby’s Garden Festival
Echium pininana is my garden’s June highlight, when its gargantuan 15ft flower-spikes tower over the borders and buzz with bees by the thousand. It’s a ‘one-shot’, tender plant that dies after flowering, but not before it abundantly self-sows for flowers in summers to come.
Linaria ‘Fairy Bouquet’
Chosen by Sinead Fenton, Aweside Farm manager
Their playful colours and petite form, take me back to my childhood. To time spent reading stories and imagining magical miniature worlds that knew no bounds. They spark cherished memories, all filled with colour and joy and it’s why they’ve come to be one of the flowers I always look forward to most. Their playfulness is captivating and warming!
Gaura lindheimeri
James Alexander Sinclair, BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine columnist
Everybody’s borders (even Monty Don’s) get scraggy sometimes and gaura is the perfect plant for filling a gap. Light and airy, long flowering and goes perfectly with most things – especially grasses: with grasses the match is as perfect as strawberries with cream or Robson with Jerome.
Calycanthus × Raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’
Chosen by Hazel Gardiner, floral designer
Used in our RHS Chelsea exhibit, Calycanthus × Raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’ will always have very special memories. It received lots of attention due to the combination of pleasing oval leaves and gorgeous burgundy flowers with a dash of white in the centre. The blooms have a light cinnamon fragrance, which also evokes memories of my Caribbean heritage.
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt’
Chosen by Angelica Wilson, commerce & digital marketing executive
Although peonies don’t have the longest flowering period, I wouldn’t be without them, and excitedly look forward to ‘ the peony season’. One of my favourites is ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, arguably one of the best varieties for cutting, with unassuming tight buds on tall stems opening into enormous, blousy pale-pink blooms with ruffled petals.
Sweet pea ‘High Scent’
Chosen by Emma Crawforth, horticultural editor
A great performer, that smells gorgeous and produces delightful blooms with a delicate picotee edge. As you would expect from the name, it is one of the most highly scented varieties available.
Jasminum officinale ‘Argenteovariegatum’
Chosen by Jaime Johnson, outdoor educator and blogger
The heady scent of jasmine is enough to transport me immediately to heaven – or at least to the bottom of the June garden, which certainly comes close. It’s got to be one of the best fragrances in the world, and the pollinators agree. This plant is versatile in the garden too; being excellent for hedging, screening or training over structures. Try Jasminum officinale ‘Argenteovariegatum’, for its grey-green and cream variegated leaves.
Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’
Chosen by Louise Curley, author of The Cut Flower Patch
My garden wouldn’t feel like a garden if it wasn’t alive with wildlife, and Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ is one of the best plants to attract a range of different bees. It’s a ‘good doer’, tumbling over the edge of my raised beds from May to October.
Sisyrinchium striatum
Chosen by Catherine Mansley, digital editor
If you want to fill a border with summer flowers cheaply, Sisyrinchium striatum is a great option. This fuss-free perennial seeds itself around very generously, and once you’ve planted it, you’ll find clumps of its sunny flower spikes popping up everywhere.
Heuchera
Chosen by Jason Williams, creator of the Cloud Gardener blog
Heucheras are great for a shady balcony. One of my favourites is ‘Mega Caramel’ – the leaves dwarf a regular heuchera. The under leaf is purple, while on top a beautiful caramel colour. From June it will send up spikes of white/pink flowers.
Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’
Chosen by Kevin Smith, editor
All common bistort needs is a bit of shade and soil that stays reasonably damp – beyond that’s it’s hassle free. Slug proof, easy to propagate and perfect for covering ground and keeping weeds at bay. I think the pink fluffy flowers look brill with ferns and hostas.
