What’s in bloom in June?

posted in: Gardening | 23
This WordPress blog is not public.
What’s in bloom in June? Well here in the garden there are plenty of blooms ‘shouting for attention’. We had a wonderful start to summer at the beginning of the month with many days of warmth and sunshine.  While this weekend the weather has gone back to it’s seasonal Scottish norm. That’s cloudy skies, cooler temperatures, a brisk breeze and intermittent showers.  At least that means that the pollen count isn’t so high for us allergy sufferers.

The gardening year is still a few weeks behind What’s in flower in June 2012 and What’s blooming in June 2011.  Though I’ve noticed the delay mostly with the flowering shrubs like Sambucus and Physocarpus rather than with the herbaceous plants. The last of the daffodils finished flowering in the first week of June. While the Brunnera flowers are still in bloom. A nice surprise this weekend was to discover yet another colony of native terrestrial orchids forming. So as well as orchids here’s what else is in bloom in my Perthshire garden today.

What’s in Bloom in June?

At the moment the magnificent blooms of the laburnum tree are just past their peak but still shouting for attention.  The bees love these flowers and there’s always a hum in this part of the garden when it’s in flower.

 

Yellow rain tree in Perthshire Laburnum x watereri 'Vossii' - what's in bloom in June
what’s in bloom in June – Laburnum x watereri ‘Vossii’
please note all parts of this tree are poisonous

You’ll also notice that in the background there’s lots of foliage as I’m a firm believer that flowers enhance a garden and give impact at certain times of the year while it’s the foliage that holds it all together.

 

Thyme for Bees

Part of the background in the laburnum photo above is from one of my scree beds (to the right of the steps and in between the paths and driveway).

This scree border is approximately 20 feet x 13 feet and rarely features on the blog!  Here at the moment there are drifts of white Cerastium tomentosum (Snow in Summer), dwarf dianthus and pink Helianthemums (Rock Roses).  While there are many hummocks of orange scented thyme – Thymus citriodorus fragrantissimus  along with a carpet of Thymus praecox ‘Purple Carpet’ hugging the pebbles on the scree.  All single flowers rich in nectar for the bees.

 

Perthshire rich nectar thyme flowers - what's in bloom in June
what’s in bloom in June – Great nectar rich flowers for the bees

It’s also the place where the native Northern Marsh Orchids | Dactylorhiza purpurella thrive and as I mentioned earlier I found a third colony this weekend in that area of scree.  Two of the colonies are just starting to flower at the moment.  (Last year I wrote an article on growing the Northern Marsh Orchid in your garden).

 

Perthshire Dactylorhiza purpurella | Northern Marsh Orchids flowers
Dactylorhiza purpurella | Northern Marsh Orchids

 

The alliums are shouting for attention all over the garden and they too are a great nectar source for the bees.

what's in bloom in June - Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation'
what’s in bloom in June – Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’

While in the back garden there are many allium colour variations ranging from dark purple to a much paler mauve.

 

mauve flowers Allium hollandicum aflatunense | June
Allium hollandicum aflatunense

The alliums contrast nicely with the golden leaves from the Humulus lupus vine (Golden Hop).

Perthshire flowers Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation' June
Allium hollandicum  ‘Purple Sensation’

While at the border edges all around the garden there are many clumps of the smaller chive flowers – Allium schoenoprasum.

 

Allium schoenoprasum Perthshire garden flowers in June | Scotland | chives
Chives | Allium schoenoprasum

In the Wet Shady Corner

While in Muddy Boots Corner  the dark leafed shrub Weigela florida ‘Foliis Purpurea’  is in flower with its pink trumpet shaped blooms. There’s also a Sorbus vilmorinii tree in flower too  behind the Weigela and they both survive here as they are grown in a raised bed.

While in the wet soil below are the candelabra primroses –  Primula japonica  ‘Millers Crimson’ and Primula pulverulenta along with a new addition this year to the garden –  Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’.

flowering plants in June - what's in bloom in June
what’s in bloom in June
centre: Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba;
top right: Weigela florida ‘Foliis Purpurea’
bottom right: Primula flowers

 

In the Dry Shady Corner

While in the other corner which is shaded by a neighbours birch tree are the digitalis, aquilegia’s, meadow rue, Briza media, forget me nots, geraniums, and even more alliums.  All mingling together to create a chorus of pastel pink, blue and purple.

The flowers contrast nicely with the dark leafed Sambucus ‘Black Lace’ and Berberis atropurpurea  ‘Rose Glow’.  Along with the silver blades from the calamagrostis grass and the Acintidia kolomikta vine with its pink and white blotched leaves.

garden flowers - what's in bloom in June
what’s in bloom in June
pink purple Meadow Rue | Thalictrum aquifolium flowers June Perthshire Scotland
Meadow Rue | Thalictrum aquifolium

A View from Above

Finally here’s a birds eye view of part of the back garden on 15th June 2013…in between the rain showers.

whats in bloom in June | Perthshire Scotland garden
leavesnbloom garden – what’s in bloom in June?

As you can see new pathway hasn’t been lined with bark yet as I’ve sowed the free wildflower seeds there that I received from the RHS to celebrate National Gardening week.  I can’t wait to see what flowers there!

 

Have you lots of flowers that are shouting out for attention in your garden just now?  

 

Follow Rosie Nixon:

Photography Tutor and Gardener

Rosie is a garden photographer, writer and nature lover. She enjoys soaking up nature and is easily distracted from doing the weeding by anything that flutters, flies, buzzes, creeps or crawls! She enjoys sharing the beauty of creation through her photography. Rosie has been featured on TV on BBC2's The Beechgrove Garden and she uses the outdoors as her natural light studio. Her work can be seen at one of Scotland's only photography galleries - Close Gallery, 4b Howe Street, Edinburgh.

Latest posts from

23 Responses

  1. Angie

    Rosie – I do love your Laburnum tree. Ones around my neighbourhood are looking particularly good this year!
    We've lots of similar plants and I've noticed too that it's the shrubs that are lagging behind.
    Your garden is looking great and I do like that your purples and yellows make a statement. Whilst your alliums are looking good, I lost many too flooding last year and will replace in autumn.
    Happy Bloom Day 🙂

  2. Bernie H

    Every corner of your garden is looking fabulous. That Laburnum is just spectacular. The scree bed in the background looks gorgeous.

    The little Dactylorhiza stole my heart. What a stunning looking flower. The Alliums are lovely too.

    Both the shady corners are beautiful, and I love your shot of the Meadow Rue.

    Another wonderful GBBD post.

  3. Mark and Gaz

    The garden is looking lovely Rosie. Laburnum is looking spectacular all over, a tree on most years I see in bloom late April or early May but this year is an exception.

  4. Rose

    Beautiful images, Rosie! All your garden looks lovely, but that laburnum tree certainly commands attention–stunning! Thanks for also showing your scree garden–you've given me some inspiration for an area I'd like to plant next year. Always good to catch up with you on Bloom Day!

  5. flowersandhome

    You have such a beautiful garden with lots of colourful blooms. Absolutely love it!
    I enjoyed all your Columbine posts as well!
    Marian

  6. HELENE

    Your garden looks lovely Rosie, and your photos are just stunning 🙂 I can see you are a bit later than us down in London but that's just the way things are, right! You'll soon have roses and everything else in bloom.

  7. Millymollymandy

    Fabulous! That first image just zings! Your garden is wonderful Rosie and your delightful pictures are a pleasure to look at and really bring your garden alive for us. All those Alliums remind me that apart from Chives, I don't have any until the A. sphaerocephalons come into bloom. Must get some Purple Sensations or similar!

  8. Rosie Nixon

    Thanks Angie
    I sometimes lose alliums too. I had a large collection up until those two bad winters and now I'm building up the stock again via the seedlings from these new bulbs.

  9. Rosie Nixon

    Thank you Mark and Gaz The yellow show of colour for 2013 for that part of the garden has just ended in the past few days – since every thing is that bit later this year I'm getting impatient for the daylillies to start to flower under the tree.

  10. Rosie Nixon

    Thank you Rose My scree beds probably have a 'mish mash' of plants in there. So much got eaten by rabbits for the first few years – if it was rabbit proof then it stayed!

  11. Rosie Nixon

    Thank you HELENE You're always weeks ahead of me with blooms but this weekend I'm going to have to go out and see how many buds I can find on the roses as they look so lush just now.

  12. Rosie Nixon

    Hi Millymollymandy I'm sure that the purple alliums would do even better in your French climate than they do in mine. I saw on the internet last week that Which magazine had picked out the best alliums for gardens – A. Purple sensation wasn't one of them but A. sphaerocephalon was no1!

  13. Lynne Cherot

    I very much agree with your comment reagarding foliage. Yellow and maroon foliage is hard to beat for me:) Lynne from Sensible Gardening

  14. Alistair

    Rosie, everything is looking excellent at leaves in bloom. The lovely weather in June has also resulted in a surge of growth up north also. In fact the majority of days when the forecast said it would be about 14c in Aberdeen it was more often 19/20c.

  15. Andrea

    I love to sit in that bench at the center of your garden, have a cup of coffee and a book, or just sit and look at everything around me. That is not a thing you can do here in the tropics as it is hot, there must always be something like a gazebo here to sit and chat.