You know how everything builds up in spring to culminate in extravagant floral exuberance in May and June? By contrast July and August can seem a tad underwhelming in the garden. But a few summer troopers will lift the mood and keep the interest going. Here are six of my favourites to beat that summer slump:
1- Hemerocallis (daylilies)
Producing classic lily flowers in sunny shades, daylilies give an instant lift to summer borders. With loads of buds on tall stems, each open flower lasts only a day (hence daylily) but they keep on coming over many weeks. I also like the lush strappy leaves that first appear in early spring.
2- Leucanthemum vulgare (oxeye daisies)
Summer wouldn’t be summer without daisies. These resilient yet graceful plants form strong clumps and look great repeated through border or along a path. Colourful beetles, bees and other insects love the open flowers. Oxeye daisies like sun but tolerate partial shade, and are generally low-maintenance. That said, they do spread and need dividing every few years.
3- Hydrangea (various)
Shade planting can be tricky in summer, as many woodland species flower in spring, taking advantage of the open tree canopy, and then go quiet over summer. But Hydrangeas come to the rescue, starting to flower around now. White-flowered varieties brighten up shady corners and add a real note of freshness on hot summer days. They do need rich, moist soil and as the Hydra in their name tells you, regular watering.
4- Geranium ‘Rozanne’
I think everyone has heard of Geranium Rozanne by now! It’s the geranium that never stops flowering from May to October in my garden, which is why I include this one in almost all my planting plans! Its lilac blue flowers with white centres look great combined with white flowers or pale hard landscaping materials (seen here tumbling over limestone steps in a little park we visited in the Loire valley town of Orleans).
5- Malva sylvestris (mallow)
With the charm of a cottage garden favourite, mallow is a lovely long flowering perennial that demands very little. In the same family as Hibiscus and Hollyhock, it makes an airy, bushy plant keeps on flowering through summer into autumn. This wildflower European native is very attractive to insects too, especially bees. It grows happily in sun or partial light shade.
6- Campsis radicans (Trumpet vine)
Ending on a climber, Campsis looks like it belongs in the tropics but grows surprisingly well in Northern Europe (it’s actually native to North America). Maybe even a little too well. Oldtime readers of this blog may even remember that I once sought advice on how to get rid of it!! As you can see I was unsuccessful, and so my love-hate relationship continues. It is very vigorous and sends up suckers everywhere, and the sticky nectar-rich flowers attract wasps. So position it with care! Maybe not right by the terrace where you have summer lunch (because of the wasps). But it flowers beautifully and impressively through summer in clusters of coral-red flowers, taking over from where the roses left off in May and June. Almost forgiven!
So there you have it, no need to slump in summer! Do you have a summer flowering favourite that gives your garden a lift at this time of year?
I have all the plants you presented to us, except for the Campsis, which has often been presented to me as an invasive plant and difficult to get rid of. So I prefer to abstain. To beat the summer crisis we need plants that bring colour and wildlife. Echiums are great for that!
You are right Fred! The Campsis is problematic. I would love to add some Echiums but for that I need a sunnier garden.
Ah-ha! I have a flowering mallow-like plant that has appeared from nowhere & looks very similar. I’m now wondering if it might have been from a packet of mixed wildlife seed that I may or may not have sown – I can’t remember. Thank you!
Ah, a nice surprise arrival. Mine is still flowering away and no sign of stopping.
I have four of your six. I did once have mallows, but they get rusty so I disposed of those and my trumpet vine failed to survive after the snow, perhaps as well if it is one of those that sends runners! Lovely to see a post from you again. I hope your new business is going well.
I miss my regular blogging days, am still busy so that’s a good thing but it’s all consuming. I suppose everything will quieten down in winter! Yes best give the trumpet vine a wide berth, I would never plant one voluntarily but just have no choice but to enjoy this one which I inherited!
We have chatter here over the past weeks about that slump which comes in summer, how the freshness of earlier in the year is replaced by a dullness – especially in the greens, grass most so! – and how it has come upon us so much earlier this year. It has also brought into flower plants which we associate with a later season – Crinums are into flower here, imagine – but generally the garden and its plants are suffering from the heat and lack of rain and this gardener is suffering also!
That is very true, the weather/climate change has really started to noticeably alter the seasons and I agree spring goes too fast and summer slumpiness is upon us! Must be especially strange to witness this where you are, in what was always a wet, green island!