Daily rain and temperature for June

I’m not a fan of yellow, but this pretty but short iris came from my Dad’s garden, so it’s a keeper.

My Kolkowitzia is almost fully open on the first of June.

This year, I did not prune back my rugosa rose in spring. The result was that it bloomed earlier, allowing me to enjoy the blooms before the Japanese beetles got to them. I’ll continue that strategy!

I like to prune my Ninebark in spring so the plant has fresh, bright foliage and stays smaller. But I leave some branches to enjoy the early spring flowers.

This is Salvia ‘Pink Dawn’ from Proven Winners. It’s a stunner in the garden in early June. The problem is it doesn’t repeat bloom well, only sporadically. I hope to find a more strategic placement than the front of the border next year or try cutting it down to the ground to see if the foliage will remain tighter.

It rained heavily in early June, knocking down many of the peonies. Oddly, the blooms also seem to be smaller this year despite the early spring. Mind you this one may be starting to get too much shade in the morning.

The same garden, with a slightly wider angle, shows the Boomerang lilac I cut down severely. I’m not sure I like this lilac. It does bloom twice, but the fall growth is leggy, and the blooms are sporadic. You can’t cut it back without losing spring blooms, so it has an open loose habit. It’s not ideal for the space it’s in. I will try another approach to pruning next year to see if I can create a better look; otherwise, I think it’s coming out.

Always a favourite and good performer is Weigelas. This one is French Lace.

Here is the Kolkowitzia just four days later, now fully open. It blooms the same time as my native White Fringetree (Chionanthus virgincus) and my Weigela Wine & Roses.

I’m reworking a garden behind my pool into a traditional cottage garden. It’s one of the few areas that is almost entirely perennial. Many of these plants were moved or planted this spring. Here it is in bloom in early June.

And here is the cottage garden again at the end of June. The pink salvia in this garden is Salvia nemerosa Rose Marvel. With deadheading, it definitely blooms all summer. The purple salvia is Salvia Blue Marvel, which also has a long bloom time.

Some baptisia and globe onion at the edges of the woodland garden.

This was a new test plant in 2023. It came up late, so I was a little worried, but it’s a stunning native, Spigelia Indian Pink. I’m hoping it will seed more plants for next year as it looks too small to split.

A few more pinks and purples in the June garden.

Another new trial plant from 2022, Stachys monieri ‘Hummelo’ Bettony. It didn’t perform well at the edges of the woodland garden last year so I moved it to the cottage garden. It splits very well, and the foliage stays nice all summer, so the plan is to spread this around the front edges much more over the next couple of years.

Some lavender in the dry stone retaining walls along the walkway.

Another popular plant I’m not super happy with is this pink Incrediball. It’s looking its best here at the end of June, but the blooms are small. And while it does rebloom, the next blooms are even smaller yet. And given that the deer like to browse this plant as it grows, I’m not sure it’s worth the effort. Next year, I will cut it to the ground and see if fewer stems will increase the bloom size. I have a cage inside that I hope will hold up the stems. If that doesn’t work, it’s likely coming out eventually.