Depending on how the weather has been, we find that July in the garden will go one of two ways. If it’s been warm and wet, everything seems to put on a growth spurt and you get lush, often floppy, foliage spilling out all over your borders and paths. But, if it’s been drier, you might find that your early flowering plants have finished but your later flowering plants aren’t quite in full swing yet. But isn’t that constant variety one of the joys of gardening?
We have two suggestions to help bring some flowers to your July garden. Both are quite structural, so will provide height if you have floppy foliage, and both are in flower now to help fill that mid-summer gap. They are Hemerocallis and Echinacea. Here are their key facts.
Hemerocallis
Also known as the daylily because each individual bloom only lasts for one day, it gets its name from the Greek words ‘hemera’ meaning day and ‘kallos’ meaning beauty. Just keep picking off the spent flowers as they finish to keep more flowers blooming.
Plant profile
Echinacea
Also known as the coneflower, Echinacea is loved by insects and birds, and research shows that it has a variety of medicinal properties for humans too. Echinacea derives its name from the Greek word ‘ekhinos’ for hedgehog in reference to its spiky central cone.
Plant profile
Further reading this month:
Looking after your garden while you’re away – our tips here
Our advice on caring for your garden in dry weather
Suggestions for jobs in your garden this July
Hambrooks garden design, landscaping & garden maintenance throughout Hampshire for over 50 years.