Following a very wet May with 5.5 inches of rain and a very mild month, the garden is looking incredibly lush and full of promise as we begin June. The fat rose buds are slowly breaking into flower, and our new stumpery has really benefitted, particularly the hostas, which are giant.
The interest throughout the gardens is particularly diverse in June, from our English garden-style influenced borders full of roses and herbaceous favourites to the damper borders around the moat, which are full of Iris sibirica, Rodgersia, Astilbe, late primulas, and ferns. These are influenced by the bold and varied plantings at Beth Chatto’s garden in Essex. The Jocelin border is more contemporary in style but full of herbaceous favourites like astrantia, geraniums, lupins, roses, grasses, and artemisia.
This month, we have planted the new exotic border by the back gate. It contains many exotic plants like banana palms, cannas, beschorneria, dahlias, euphorbia, agapanthus, and calendula. There will be lots of orange, yellow, red, and blue, adding a whole new level of interest to the inner gardens. Jo and her community garden volunteers have been very busy, and all the cut flower plants and vegetables are now planted out. They have also created more structure for the cut flower plantings to grow through so they do not flop as much. By the end of the month, it will be a riot of colour.
Our jobs at this time of year are mostly rounds of maintenance with lots of mowing in between!
We look forward to welcoming you to the gardens throughout June.
James Cross, Head Gardener