Blog: Cottage garden plants come to the fore
We’re now in midsummer, when the choice of plants seems limitless, and my choices for what to grow in June have a real cottage garden vibe.
I would never categorise my plot as a cottage garden – my tastes tend towards the Mediterranean, arid or tropical. However, when I look around, there are a lot of suitable cottage garden plants there. But what does cottage garden mean? Well, nowadays it usually means an idealised and tightly packed mix of bulbs, annuals, perennials and flowering shrubs and climbers. It’s informal, bright, with a cheery mix of colours.
These are plants that are often British natives and are naturally at their best in early summer. The foxgloves and sweet rocket are rampant self-seeders and couldn’t be easier to grow. I’ve picked out the best plants in my garden that are reasonably priced, widely available and easy to cultivate for beginners.
What to grow in June – Foxgloves
I couldn’t miss out wonderful bee-friendly Digitalis! These tall, stately spires (60cm-1.5m) are so welcome, especially since they like shade – think of the conditions of a woodland clearing. Our UK native is Digitalis purpurea, with bell-shaped, tubular pink flowers with a spotted centre. About 10 per cent of plants are the white sport D. alba, which I love. You can identify them as their leaves are a paler green.
Of course, there are many cultivars, such as Dalmation Mixed and the Excelsior Group with grander flowers, also easy from seed. Most foxgloves are biennial, flowering in their second year, then setting seed and dying. However, some are short-lived perennials. A basic rule of thumb is, that the taller the flower, the shorter-lived it will be.
Foxgloves are very poisonous and can kill an adult if eaten, so avoid them if you have young children or pets. For more on foxglove lore, read my in-depth guide. If you deadhead the main flower stem when it has finished, you’ll get a second flush. Leave these shorter flower spikes to set seed if you want more plants. As biennial types take two years to flower, make sure you sow seeds every year, so some plants are blooming, while others are in their first year. If you fancy a more exotic foxglove, check out Isoplexis bella.
Sweet rocket
Sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis), is a biennial growing to 1m that was already in my garden when I moved in. Most of my plants have white flowers, which glow in the evening light. There are also very pale lavender plants, very like honesty.
The flower heads look a little like phlox and look great in a jumble with alliums, Welsh poppies and foxgloves. They fill that gap nicely between the last of the bulbs and the first of the annuals and later perennials.
The flowers’ fragrance intensifies in the evening. It performs really well in the long border, which is very informal (every plant for his or herself) by June! They’re popular with pollinators and are happy in the partial shade provided by the hedge. Like foxgloves, deadhead spent blooms for a second flush, but allow some flowers to develop seeds. Here’s more on biennials.
What to grow in June – Rambling roses
What’s the difference between a rambling rose and a climbing rose? Well, it’s all about the timing of the flowers. If there’s one big burst of blooms in June and that’s it, you have a rambler. Climbing roses tend to repeat-flower all summer and into autumn unless they are very old varieties. My advice – if you’re short of space, go for a repeat-flowering climber. I was too young and foolish to know this at the time.
My rambling rose was one of my earliest buys in a sale, labelled ‘cream rose’ – not very helpful! It has clusters of almost peach buds which open to cream and are a delight, but short-lived. However, like Wimbledon, strawberries and Pimm’s, it’s a spot-on indication of late June.
Pruning is key to flowering and something I’ve often got wrong. However, I got my act together and carried out renovating and pruning in February, and it’s covered in flowers. The RHS has a good guide on this.
Basic pruning is quite simple in late summer, after flowering. When the supports have been covered, thin and shorten excessive growth by removing one in three of the oldest stems. In tight spaces, prune out all flowered stems and tie in new ones to replace them. Finally, shorten side shoots by two-thirds.
