Gardens in July

I must apologise for not writing an article in June. It’s a very busy time of year for gardeners; I spent most of my time working outside and I hope you have had time to spend in your gardens during what was a relatively dry June. July will be a very special month for me as I will be getting married; it will be start of exciting and new things to come. The same could be said of plants in the garden at this time. Many common border perennials are at their best in July. The early part of the month sees the dominance of radiant colours and fragrances of roses. By the end of the month more exotic additions, such as Canna’s, Cosmos and Sun Flowers, begin to bloom. There are so many plants which could be mentioned in July, but the one I would like to focus on is Hemerocallis, you may know it by its common name of Daylily. The name says it all. Each individual flower is only in bloom for one day. In fact the Greek word Hemerocallis means ‘beautiful for a day’. Although each bud on this far eastern plant flowers are short lived, new buds keep developing throughout the summer. The daylily prefers full sun but will tolerate some shade In my experience it can grow happily in both free draining and clay soils. In fact the common orange daylily is currently awaiting listing as a noxious weed! But don’t let this put you off, there are many varieties of more unusual daylilies which will add a sparkle to any border.


Things to do this month – Keep those weeds at bay:10 minutes of hoeing everyday is both good exercise and is a simple way of keeping your garden under control. In the vegetable garden once early crops are used, prepare the ground for new plants: sprinkle fertilizer and fork it in. Vegetables to sow in this space now are carrots, lettuce, spring onions and turnips.