Six on Saturday. As Good as it Gets.

Here we are at last . The very best of the year . In July everything goes downhill , but in June everything is at its most luxurious , intoxicating expert . My garden is only fifteen months old and already it is delighting me with its enthusiasm .

And what could be estimable to kick off with than an old- fashioned peony ? I love to assay out rare and recherché plants butPaeonia lactiflora‘Sarah Bernhardt ’ is quite rightly the most pop and well - known peony . Her opulent fully - double blossom are the most beautiful shade of pink and they are fragrant . OK , she does loll about a bit but as she is so impossibly glamorous you may forgive her for that . I would n’t be without her .

And of path June is the sentence for roses and I have them everywhere . Rosa‘Paul ’s Himalayan Musk ’ is already making a skillful start on its journeying to rise all over the apple Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and finally the whole garden . It makes a nice contrast to ‘ Bleu Magenta ’ on the archway .

Paeonia ”Sarah Bernhardt’

Here is a ‘ Paul ’s Himalayan Musk ’ I planted earlier ; in fact 25 years in the beginning , in a late garden . Yes , it does get vast and will likely kill the tree eventually , but it is so beautiful with its clusters of wan pink , treble bloom and it blooms so generously ..

One of my favourite shrubs in summer isIndigofera pendula . You do n’t find this weeping form very often , but it is well worth looking out for it . Everyone who come to the garden is bewitch by it . For some reason , I find it difficult to photograph it , so you ’ll have to take my word for how lovely it is , with the dangling racemes of pink pea bloom .

But of class , in June we wait fragrance all round the garden and as well as rosebush we must have philadelphus . Some of them originate too big for my little garden but the one I grow is reasonably compact ; it has arching offshoot covered in blooms but it does n’t grow too grandiloquent . It is very showy with large in full double flower . Philadelphus‘Snowbelle ’ is a Canadian variety and Derry Watkins introduced me to it at a talk several year ago . Since then I would n’t be without it . It looks salutary againstClematis‘Black Prince ’ growing along the trellis in my secret garden .

Paeonia ”Sarah Bernhardt’

I have plant clematis all over the garden because I need to make use of all the vertical space potential in this small garden . It is difficult to pick a preferent but maybe at the second ‘ Madame Julie Correvon ’ takes the champion turn . She is growing up a miserable butchered pear stump alongsideRosa‘James Galway ’ which was a carving from the one in my previous garden and is doing very well in its new plate .

Oh dear , that seems to be six , I am sure that all the SoSers are finding it very difficult to confine themselves to just six plants at this , the most abundant time of the year . Do go over to our noted leader , Jim atPlant Ruminationsto see what beauties other people are usher .

45 Responses toSix on Saturday. As Good as it Gets.

Oh yes , I could n’t agree with you more on most of what you ’ve say here . Here in the Upper Midwest U.S. , our July and August ( and even September and October ) are pretty decent , too , though . ( I clear , of course , that not everyone enjoys summer warmth . ) But Roses and Peonies … among the most wonderful blooms in the world . 🙂 Ours are bloom now , too . Happy Six on Saturday !

Six on Saturday. As Good as it Gets.