In June there are so many lovely flowers out that when I made the large English herbaceous border at Portvakten (the Gatekeepers Cottage) I decided to fill it up for a dazzling early summer display. As regards flower borders I do think more is more, but to create some kind of harmony I have chosen a narrow pastel colour palette of blues, lime green and pink with a dash of deep yellow and some white later on in the season as we go into July.
In June, the enormous Allium Giganteum take center stage. To my mind they are extraordinarily beautiful and as the bees are crazy about them too I think they are perfect. My friend Sonja though has christened them Corona flowers, as to her mind they look like a caricature of the virus in close up. "Shhh!" I tell her, "don't be mean or they won't flower as nicely next year!" It may be that she has gotten all to much of them, having been here since lock-down started... My poor Godfathers got stuck in Amsterdam due to travel restrictions and won't join us until September so at least we're happy that someone has been able to move in and enjoy the summer season here!
The Aquilegias too have put on a tremendous display. I transplant the pink ones into this border to keep up with the pink-tinged theme, but even so a little yellow one has managed to sneak in. Well, let it stay then if it really wants to join the party!
In between I have planted Ladies mantle (Alchemilla mollis), Geranium Johnsons blue and Great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis). These are all very easy perennials that will put on a good show if given half a chance. Happily this year they have started filling up the gaps that new borders inevitably have as it takes about four years for perennials to really bush out and reach their optimal size, so now there is less of a problem with weeds. Next month the peonies, delphiniums and dallies will start flowering but until then I wish you all a lovely mid-summer time!
