Colourful flowers to fill The June gap

Gardens can look a little lacklustre once the spring show is over, so it’s worth seeking out blooms to keep you going until summer favourites kick in, says Graham Rice.

- Graham Rice

EARLY June can be a tricky time of year in the garden. The wonderful wallflowers of spring and the forget-me-nots and polyanthus have been barrowed off to the compost heap, the tulips have died away, and the main rush of shrub roses have yet to fill borders and beds with their colour and scent. Look around the garden at this time of year and it’s easy to feel a little, well, underwhelmed.

It’s not just us gardeners who feel it, either. The so-called ‘June gap’ can be bad news for bees, too, as that unmistakable lull in the floral display leaves pollinators having to work a lot harder for sustenance. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be like that. And nor should it be. Our buzzy friends need all the help they can get these days, so planting to provide continuity is very important – after all, if the bees are happy, the fruits they pollinate will be happy too as effective pollination means bigger crops. Equally, in today’s smaller gardens, where we need every inch of ground to make a contribution for as long as possible, allowing everything to run down for a week or two is simply not an acceptable option.

Deadheading dedication

There are two ways to ensure that June isn’t the ultimate ‘meh’ month. To avoid disappointment you should firstly work on extending the season of the plants that are at their peak in May. Deadheading can be crucial here, so choose your weapon and get snipping. Of course, not all plants are designed for an extended display – no amount of deadheading of rhododendrons and wisteria, epimediums and pulmonarias, for example, will provide flowers in June (although it may help the plants in the long run). But nipping off any faded blooms makes a significant difference to violas, geums, cranesbills, perennial wallflowers and catmint.