The Glory That Is June: GBBD, June 2022

Last week, I was visiting the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens with friends on a perfect June day when I got to chatting with a visitor from the Pacific Northwest. When she commented on the beautiful weather (blue skies, sunshine, soft breezes, and temperatures in the seventies), I said, “In my imagination, every June day in Maine is just like this.” I know, of course, that is not strictly true; June can have cool, rainy days and hot, humid days. Nevertheless, when I think of June, I think of long, glorious days and glorious flowers.

June is the month when my garden goes from having flowers blooming here and there to an early summer floral display. The front border, now in its second year, is lush with foliage and flowers of Allium ‘Globemaster’, Siberian irises, four varieties of hardy geraniums, three varieties of spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana), and Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis). The three Baptisia australis that I planted in this border a year ago were not well enough established yet to bloom this year. When they do, they will make the June display even more lushly floriferous.

Baptisia x ‘Purple Smoke’ is putting on a lush display on the side slope, where it is accompanied by the fading flowers of Amsonia tabernaemontana, and by blooms of peonies, Geranium x oxonianum, Geranium x canabrigiense ‘Biokovo,’ Tradescantia virginiana and Siberian irises.

Many gardeners consider spiderwort too thuggish to be welcomed into the garden. In my garden, though, it provides big clumps of colorful blooms for much of the summer, including along the walkway to the patio. Although it does seed itself around enthusiastically, I don’t mind pulling it out where I don’t want it. I often wait to see the flower color on the volunteers (in shades of white, pink, purple and blue) before I decide on their fate. The intense magenta flower on this seedling that popped up in a hidden spot behind the peonies is a keeper.

The Siberian irises, which began flowering at the end of May, are now past their peak, but they are still putting on a good display on the side slope. This is another plant that self-sows readily in my garden, and the original varieties that I planted more than twenty years ago have now had their genes combined and recombined by the bees into a lovely range of colors.

The peonies bloom later than the irises and are just hitting their stride. The first varieties that opened, in the fragrant garden, are still blooming; and the last varieties to bloom opened their first flowers today. In the fragrant garden, the flowers of peonies ‘Dr. Alexander Fleming,’ ‘Duchess de Nemours,’ and ‘Shirley Temple’ are accompanied by Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch,’ the first flush of roses, and the flowers of the dwarf mock orange (Philadelphus) ‘Snowbelle.’

As glorious as I find this June display of flowers, these early summer blooms are just the opening movement of a garden symphony that will crescendo in the weeks to come. Buds on astilbes, goatsbeard, lavender and spirea will open soon; and they will be followed by the daylilies and all the flowers that join them in high summer. So much garden glory to look forward to!

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is hosted by Carol Michel at May Dreams Gardens. Visit her blog to see what other gardeners have blooming this June.