June 2021 Garden Tour (It's Not ALL Roses)

Wow. So much has changed in the garden from April to May to June. As I mentioned last week, summer is well and truly here.

Are you ready for this month’s garden tour?

June is the most glorious month for roses and although many of the varieties I grow will bloom throughout the summer, past years’ experiences with Japanese beetles have taught me to cherish these first flushes of bloom. (You can read more about the roses I grow in this post from last year).

My monster Above and Beyond rose is nearly finished blooming (though it has lots of new growth and some new flower buds). It’s a few weeks earlier than in past years.

Above and Beyond is on the north edge of my garden planted beside a patio behind the garage. The patio is actually the cement base where a rusty shed used to be. I made a narrow raised bed along the edge and that’s where my clematis are planted.

This pink one is on the left (hidden behind plant stands and chairs) in the photo above.

It’s nearly finished blooming now.

In that same bed is a huge delphinium. I grew it from seed last year and it was tiny. Despite the fact that the packet said the colors would be blues, pinks and purples, mine is white. It’s well over five feet tall this year and will be incredible once the flowers all open.

I still have some of last year’s seed (the mix is called Pacific Giants and I bought it from Botanical Interests) and I want to sow some more.

I love creating collections of pots of fragrant herbs and geraniums (pelargoniums) in this spot beside my cinder block raised beds.

I can’t resist fragrant plants. Scented geraniums, lavender, lemon verbena, mint, rosemary

The cinder block raised beds are mostly vegetables and herbs.

I’ve planted peas, cucumbers and beans on the arches. The pale bluish-green leaves are purple poppies, all self-seeded. Near the peas are my weird and wonderful walking onions.

Walking onions are perennial or you can dig up the original bulbs and replace them with the tiny babies that grow on their flower stalks. If you leave them be, they’ll “walk” across your garden, bending over to plant the babies themselves. The leaves and baby onions are great for salads.

The glowing orange rose along the back (east) fence is called Westerland.

It made it through the winter with no problem (last year it died back to the ground). Soon it will be full of flowers. To its right (beyond the foxgloves and poppies) is a deep orange lily.

The other direction is a pale pink rose called Quietness.

Here’s one more view of that half of the garden from a little further back.

Switching places and going back where the shed used to be, this is your view looking the other direction:

To the right, is an L-shaped raised bed I call my herb garden (though I’ve planted herbs just about everywhere in my garden and this bed isn’t only herbs). It’s where the Gertrude Jekyll David Austin rose is growing. It smells amazing.

My other David Austin rose is The Poet’s Wife.

It’s been so beautiful this year. It smells a bit like lemons.

Can you see it in the below photo?

The closer rose is Head Over Heels.

Sweet pom-poms of pink flowers.

My garden is a mix of flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruits. I like to think of it as part cottage garden and part potager. Sometimes a bit formal, often tightly-planted and sprawling. Its coming abundance inspired my newest fabric design:

It will coordinate beautifully with my other garden-themed designs. I’ve entered it in Spoonflower’s Vegetable and Herb Gardens Design Challenge.

I’m sure just as my garden has changed from April to May to June, it will change even more by July. I hope to sketch a garden map for you before my July tour. And maybe I’ll even make a video. Is there anything you’d especially like to see?

What about your garden? What’s growing or blooming or bringing you joy this month?