“A summer’s sun is worth the having” ~ French Proverb
As soon as washout May turned the corner, the sun’s shone down on June…so far. Being away next week for a little while, I’m now anxious about drought, though a neighbour will pop in to water – I hope before the plants take their last gasp.
And this is the final full month for me and my plants in this small gravelled courtyard. It has been a delightful spot to garden in, for the past 18 months. In such an intimate space I’ve come to fully appreciate the plants, whilst Covid lockdown gave me the time and impetus to catalogue them too.
Some plants are still nameless and hence ex-catalogue, and seeking to ID them from the internet. is not the most reliable source. A London gardener who gave me a giant hosta thought it might be ‘Big Daddy’ but the leaves are not blue-green enough whilst the flowers are supposed to be white rather than lilac. I am currently betting on “Empress Wu”
“Producing a massive, semi upright mound of medium green foliage. The leaves are slightly corrugated with a thick substance, very pale lavender flowers produced from late June to mid July.” ~ New Forest Hostas
Most of the plants will be travelling with me to Derbyshire. The more colourful ones, including Lewisia and my favourite Salvias, will go in my daughter’s garden, adjacent to me, so I can still visit them! Some like my current selection of Nemesias are too garish for the planned Japanese themed garden and being frost tender will have to be protected against the Derbyshire winter. I will have a small glasshouse for them but since they are short-lived it hardly matters.
I don’t want to leave the garden bare for the next occupant and have planted up the three big pots which belong here. This includes clematis ‘Rouge Cardinal’ – just starting to flower now so I still have time to enjoy it.
Before leaving, I also have the satisfaction of having restored an old, resident climbing rose back to full glory. It produced no flowers last year but now with pruning and feeding it is busting out all over in single white flowers. The aphids are also appreciating this show! Garlic spray is some help but mostly this tough rose seems to be impervious to the predation.
Astronomically speaking, it isn’t summer yet but I’ve added some of this month’s blooms to the summer flower portrait gallery. After all, next June’s Japanese style garden, will be a very different palette.
Take a scrolling stroll through the potted garden in June
Garden vignette – petunias and wall art (made from mudlarking on the Thames) 
Lewisia cotyledons in the pink 
Nemesias in pyellow purple combos 
‘Bowles mauve’ perennial wallflower bowling me over with its abundance 
Honesty seedheads ripenings 
Trifolium ochroleucon & repens complement each other 
bumbles love the clover flowers of T. repens ‘Dragon’s Blood’ trifolium 
emerging hosta flowers of ? Empress Wu 
Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’ going for Bronze 
Schizophragma Japanese vine flowering despite needing to be potted on 
young Japanese Umbrella Pine 
my first attempt at cloud pruning on Acer Ukigumo ‘Floating Cloud’ 
Two small stones with sentimental meaning, for the Japanese garden
My Japanesque Garden 
Well done on revitalising the rose. I inherited a couple of white roses that only flowered right at the top and not in great health. I almost took them out, but instead cut them down and am now trying to train them as climbers. Love those stones!
a good project Jude – it’s so satisfying. As gardeners we are part nursemaids too (maybe not a pc term but you get my meaning!)