June 2026 In the Gardens
Its overall been a good month for plants in the gardens compared to the overly rainy June we had last year. The most recent winter was harsh, with weeks of below freezing temperatures but we also had good snow cover for the mid to latter part of the winter. Tea and China roses got hit hard, with the Lijiang Road Rose killed back to the base so no flowers on it this year. No damage to things like Crepe Myrtles even though I'm pretty sure we got to around 0F at worst for lows this past winter. Spring was erratic, warm spells and cold spells in sequence and a fair amount of rain at times and less at others. It wasn't good for the butterflies. I and others have noted they are fewer in number than usual this year so either the winter was too rough or the spring too cool and wet at a critical time for the larvae.
Two roses that were unbothered by the winter were Bliss and Earth Angel. Both have recently been severely cut back as they were getting too large for the area they are in. I am questioning whether to keep Earth Angel as its flowers never open out fully. Pity because it checks all the other boxes, fragrance, disease resistance, not too thorny, and easy and fast to grow. Bliss is a near perfect rose, the flowers could last a bit longer but they are fragrant and do open up nicely.
Meanwhile Silene armeria, aka None So Pretty, has been flowering all month in both its normal hot pink and far less common palest pink, almost white, forms. Looks good with Lychnis coronaria and Nigella in the photo below.
Hippeastum, probably H x johnsonii, has also done well this year. It does get some wood chip cover for winter but the flowers appear over several weeks and are quite showy. Got them on ebay from someone in Texas iirc some years ago.
The dianthus below is from a strain I think with extra long fringes. It survived the winter and has flowered nicely near the front door.
The grey leaved form of the South Africa Haplocarphya scaposa survived with barely any winter cover and are flowering very well this year. Normally green leaved, this special grey leaved form is equally easy to grow and was found by a friend in the South African highveld (thanks Matt!). I want to collect seed but the goldfinches tend to tear up the flowers before a lot of seeds mature, however this species will flower all growing season and the finches lessen in their destructive habits after their chicks are raised so there should be plenty of seeds later on. The plants are perennial and seem long lived if happy. Osteospermum jucundum in white and light purple can also be seen in the foreground.
An all red form of Kniphofia caulescens is the rarest of the three kinds I got from Silverhill seeds many years ago. Most came out as orange and yellow bicolors, some came out all yellow, and a couple came out all red. The start blooming at the end of May and carry on through June. I am going sequentially so this one is blooming on June 1. This species is completely hardy here and plants I gave to people in much colder zones have also had success with it. Here it will even resow and as the original plants get bigger it may need some thinning at some point.
This campanula, maybe C persicifolia, has sown itself around in a garden near the path to the back patios. Stems occasionally will flop but not too often, and it is pretty.
The deutzia from Emeishan in Sichuan flowers every year but it took a hit in the last year and is beginning to recover nicely. The pink flowers are quite pretty.
A pink cistus from Wave Hill made it through the winter, no doubt snow cover helped. The deeper colored Brilliancy that I already have also survived but any part above the snow was severely damaged. Voles also attacked it the winter before when I put some plastic tarp over it, so this winter I did not protect them and the voles didn't chew off the bark from the bases like they did the prior winter. Luckily I had ground layered it so there were plenty of rooted shoots to get it to survive the vole attacks.
A strange kniphofia bloomed out front, it must be a hybrid sort. Its not very tall, and is either something I got from a nursery or friend or a random seedling that appeared. Flowers remind me a bit of multiflora but its way earlier to flower and way smaller.
Kniphofia caulescens in its typical form. Probably from seed cleaning chaff I dumped in this particular plant's case.
Oenothera fremontii is a long lived perennial that spreads out to make a mat with large lemon yellow flowers. Similar to O missourensis but with more silvery and narrow leaves and a bit smaller flower. Grew it from seeds from the NARGS seed exchange.
In the potted zoo, a Costus spectabilis sends up a large golden yellow flower before the cool flat leaves appear. This is a weird and beautiful species that comes from tropical Africa. It has a long rhizome that branches and tries to escape from drainage holes. Pots are dried off and stored inside for the winter, and I also tried storing rhizomes in a zip lock bag with a slightly moist paper towel and that worked too. It wants to grow on the forest floor where it can spread out and make many rosettes with flowers. Those flowers can sometimes appear after the leaves start to grow out too.
A delosperma species, maybe ashtonii or who knows really, shimmers in the South African garden. Its one of the toughest ones here and grows in several spots but here it really shines. Grown from seed I got years ago on a visit to Denver Colorado.
A closer look at the helichrysum, one of several hardy South African species that I grow. This one is common in the highveld, my seed came from the Dullstroom area. It also features attractive golden buds and flat nicely textured foliage.
Soon the hardy opuntias begin their brief but spectacular bloom. The purple pink one is a hardy form of O basilaris in the front gardens in a sand pile. Course sand is useful for growing many species that might otherwise rot in our heavier natural soils given our fairly heavy rainfall.
More opuntias in the sand pile mostly western sp and also the eastern native O compressa (humifusa) do well here.
Kniphofia caulescens in various color forms in a garden in the back where it tends to dominate.
Helichrysum pagophyllum from NARGS seeds. All the smaller fuzzy sorts need to be sprayed to keep painted lady butterfly caterpillars from destroying the tiny plants. They never attack the larger helichrysum species but do go after the grey fuzzy leaved medium to smaller ones. The flowers arent the main feature of this species, but they do add an interesting touch to the plant. It remains to be seen how it will fare through the hot summer after flowering and presumably setting seeds. As I write this on July 1, we are forecast to have several hot days, and tomorrow might exceed 100F. That is not something this plant is going to like, but then again it grows well in Utah which could perhaps see temperatures like that, albeit without our humidity. Dianthus basuticus from Silverhill Seeds has done well in this spot for years.
There isnt a great deal of shade around here but I do grow several kinds of arisaema, most from seeds. This one has done well for years, perhaps it is one of the forms of consangineum (though it flowers earlier than the others I know are consangineum) but I am not good with the taxonomy of this genus.
Kniphofia thompsonii is easy to get through our winters even though it comes from Kenya and nearby. It does get a decent wood chip mulch for winter protection. It spreads more than other kniphofias and never sets seed. Some say its a triploid form and thus sterile but I wonder if we just need more clones in cultivation as some kniphofias are self sterile. Grows quite tall spikes here in the South African garden, even though its not native to South Africa it fits in well with its companions.
Dieramas begin to bloom in June as well, in shades of pink, red, white and silvery blue purples. I grew most from seeds from Plant World Nursery. The rock garden seed exchanges are also another good source. They benefit from a light winter mulch and snow cover but the leaves will end up mostly fried by spring so you should cut them back before the new foliage begins to grow out. In warmer climates many if not all would be evergreen. They are not the easiest things to photograph with their dangling flowers that move in every breeze.
Zantedeschia albomaculata is the hardiest of calla lilies. This particular one got winter mulch because of its much more cold sensitive neighbors like Salvia patens. Most others get no winter protection and they even spread by self sowing.
By the latter half of June Erythrina zeyheri, the plow breaker (ploegbreker in Afrikaans) is stealing the show with its brilliant red flowers and huge foliage with veins lined with prickles. It is one of perhaps two species in the genus that are dieback herbaceous perennials with a massive lignotuber to overwinter as. I do protect it generously with wood chips for winter but dont know just how much frost it can take. Some else is growing it successfully in Virginia but I think it did not do well in North Carolina. It comes from the highveld of South Africa and as such probably hates hot nights and humid very hot days. It does get frost in areas where it grows to varying degrees. Its hard to find this species, the best sources would be South African seed vendors like Lifestyle Seeds and Silverhill Seeds. And it will take time to grow it to blooming size but it is long lived and spectacular. In a hot dry summer it might get spider mites which a miticide or frequent watering on the foliage will take care of.
Rosa mulibracteata blooms later than most other roses, but is an attractive shrub. Only one plant grew from seed ex Sichuan, China but it has done well. It sets very few seeds itself and it remains to be seen if they are hybrid or actually the species itself that could grow from those seeds.
Some delospermas really like the brick patios out back and escape from gardens into the patios. They often do better in the patios with reduced competition and a habitat more like the rocky ones with crevices many come from. The hose runs to a sprinkler which is activated by the camera to keep away raccoons from the pool. Raccoons destroy water lily flowers and fish if they can catch them.
In that same garden some of my oldest dieramas bloom along with a helichrysum sp ex Silverhill that Panayoti thought might be triphyllum but I am not sure of that. What I am sure is that it is hardy though there was some slight dieback from this harsh winter.
Speaking of helichrysums, here is H splendidum, a huge plant sprawling over a wall near the garage doors. I have other large plants scattered on the property of this species and they do sometimes self sow gently. It needs room to look its best but it can be cut back if too large. However it is best not to trim it after winter, wait until it flowers then trim it if needed. The flowers seem to be produced from stems that went through the winter so flowering will be impacted if a spring cutback is done. I would have expected more dieback from this past winter but perhaps the snow cover helped. Or maybe they are adapting to our climate better. It grows at medium to higher elevations in South Africa. I had a form I found in a lower elevation but it barely survived past winters and didnt get through this winter at all. These came from either Silverhill Seeds or Panayoti Kelaidis seed collections many years ago. Even out of bloom the silvery fragrant foliage is nice as is the total resistance to all pests including deer and rabbits.
Berkheya purpurea is the easiest of the hardy South African thistle daisies to grow here in New York. It needs no winter protection and will self sow to make nice colonies if you grow more than one clone of it. Mine were grown from seed so that is not a problem. Here it is doing well with Arundo donax Golden Chain behind it. No pest bothers this plant as it is prickly. Even the gold finches fail to get ost of the seeds but those same spines make harvesting seed a literal pain. Forceps and gloves are advised.
It will flower off and on throughout the growing season but is at its best in late June.
Our native prickly pear, Opuntia compressa (aka humifusa) makes a short lived but spectacular display.
Annual larkspur is something I have in the gardens as it reminds me of my childhood summers in West Viriginia. My great grandmother grew it, calendula, and bread seed (aka opium) poppies as resowing annuals in her gardens. I grow all three as well. Its actually rather difficult to find seed of single flowered larkspurs like I grow, what is sold is often double flowered and less attractive in my opinion.
It wants to run like the closely related Asclepias syriaca does, but its western cousin A. speciosa "Davis form" ex Annies annuals barely hangs on here. Its in an area where it has tough competition from crinums, kniphofias, and the neighbor to the south's lawn so it isnt going anywhere. Leaves can be velvety whitish but that varies (from what I saw in the nursery years ago) and what I got via mail order isnt quite as cool as I hoped foliage wise. But the flowers are really nice and no one else grows it around here so why not?
Some Japanese Iris bloom out front. Deer did nip some flower buds before I sprayed yet again with Liquid Fence to keep them off. The back gardens are fenced but the front is not so repellant must be used. Truth be told I wish the town would get rid of the deer as they bring in ticks with Lyme disease and destroy a lot of nice plants that people could otherwise grow in their gardens. Not to mention what they have done to the native forest flora in the area. Yeah I cried when I was a little kid and saw the movie Bambi but I sure hate deer now. Even when planting deer resistant stuff their damn hooves can trample seedlings and smaller plants, plus they seem to enjoy relieving themselves in the gardens at times. Gross. Luckily our deer pressure is light to moderate compared to say Long Island where I hear real horror stories from. They also are worse in other parts of our county but still are a problem everywhere as we killed their natural predators the wolf and also cougars. Coyotes do what they can but probably more are taken out by cars. Actually more people driving cars are taken out by deer than by all the venomous reptiles and insects in the US, something like 200-400 people a year. Rats with hooves some of my fellow gardeners call them and I do concur.
A cholla, Opuntia (or Cylindropuntia if preferred) imbricata out front. There are three large seed grown chollas here, all in sandy gritty soils. Totally hardy and well defended against all mammalian herbivores, weeding nearby can be a challenge that requires careful movement or leather gloves and long forceps.
The flowers of a seedling rose from cultivated roses ex Tianjin China. Roses are extensively used in green ways along the roads in northern Chinese cities and some change color as the flowers age. Rabbits destroyed all but two seedlings, the other one is a deeper red but both have nice double flowers and flower at a small size. I hope they can survive and grow larger one day.
Berkheya cirsiifolia in bloom in the South African garden. Its even more prickly than B purpurea and equally hardy. One winter voles managed to eat some roots but not all of them.
An earlier shot in June of Ferula sp, maybe communis, in flower. If its communis it will die after seeding. That would be a pity as the lacy foliage is a delight. Right now the seed forming stalk is bent over from storms but lots of seed will ripen soon.
Allium texanum is a decent member of a genus that can get a bit unruly in some species. It flowers after the foliage dies back and is hardy here. Grown from NARGS seed years ago, I also have it in the school gardens.
Impatiens arguta is hardy in protected areas near the house, at least and I have several forms of it. This one from Yunnan, China is a pale blue lavender and blooms a bit earlier than the others and so far isnt as tall. Some of the clones I have received do not set seed in our climate but this one will. The white form also sets seed readily. Nearby an epipactis orchid blooms, its supposed to be E gigantea from out west but its hardly gigantic.
A gracile wahlenbergia species from Silverhill Seeds and a purple calla lily from Trader Joe's (lol) have done well over the years in the S African garden. The wahlenbergia needs no protection, the calla does benefit from some mulch but might not need it as I have a few now and may not have covered all of them last winter. The wahlenbergia is a lot like W. undulata but smaller in all respects. It will bloom till frost.
Yet another helichrysum species. I thought it might be a Macowania but now I know it must be helichrysum of some sort. Its the most compact of the bushy ones I grow and the seed came from near the Lesotho border near the area called Castle Gardens.
Kniphofia pauciflora out front. It flowered later than the parent plant which produces a few seeds each year. Luckily its not self sterile as it is a highly endangered species in the wild. I give it winter mulch since it comes from near the coast of KwaZulu/Natal so experiences little if any frost in nature, yet it can tolerate a degree of frost if it can survive here, even with mulch.
Daylilies are beginning to bloom at a quickening pace as June draws to and end. July is their greatest month but some nice ones start earlier. Just the other day a gardener asked me why do I grow daylilies? I suppose those of us who are real plant nerds arent supposed to grow such easy things but sometimes easy is good, and when you get into them daylilies come in many sizes,shapes, and colors. I like that there are new flowers to see each day while they bloom and they also flower at a time when most local gardens are not at their best, as most local gardens are what I call spring gardens. My goal is to have color all year long if possible and sometimes I achieve that when winter is very mild (even if a few galanthus, eranthus, crocus and a late calendula or viola is all I've got for winter). The major drawbacks for daylilies are that their foliage is not easy to place in a garden so they tend to look best with each other, and they are not deer resistant. Yet somehow I see loads of ditch lily (the orange wild Hemerocallis fulva, triploid seedless sort) in areas filled with deer and they seem to ignore it. The overplanted but actually rather pretty Stella d'Oro seems mostly untouched too unless people are applying repellants. Deer tend to go for the young foliage and flower buds. There are some pests like thrips that can bother the flowers of some varieties more than others and in the deep south daylily rust is pretty bad but it doesn't exist up here (and I hope it stays that way). If you want to try daylilies I suggest visiting a daylily nursery where they will dig divisions out for you on the spot. That way you see what you like and get a better idea of the variety that is out there. I grow both named sorts and unnamed seedlings that I have brought for five dollars and am happy with both. I also made my own seedlings and am selecting the few best and culling the rest which are out front so I have to constantly spray them with Liquid Fence when they bloom. Whenever I put the culls out and advertise it on facebook people come and happily take them away as even the culls are quite pretty indeed. I've already heard good reports about how they have done from some folks this year. There will be more as I intend to not have daylilies in the unprotected front gardens and keep them in the fenced back gardens where deer are not a problem so far.
