What to do this month...
Give borders a little extra oomph by introducing flowers that pack a colour punch
How better to bring the wow factor to your garden than by using feature flowers to add a vibrant shot of colour to a border. You’ll be spoilt for choice by zinging oranges, rich purples, glorious pinks and redoubtable reds.
Small clumps or drifts of plants with vibrant blooms really stand out from their neighbours and add a bit of oomph to a planting scheme. You might use accent plants in a contrasting colour, such as a shot of orange from a geum against acid-green Smyrnium perfoliatum flowers, or rich purple alliums and paler pink foxgloves. Try weaving a deep blue anchusa through subtle creams and lemons to give these colours some depth.
Alternatively, incorporate a deeper tone of a colour used predominantly in the planting scheme, for instance magenta-pink lupins or deep purple aquilegias among a border of pastel pinks and pale lavender works beautifully. This design idea helps to lift the softer colours and prevents them from looking too washed out.
Sow honesty
Honesty is a spring-flowering biennial with the added bonus of glistening, moon-like seed pods in autumn and winter. There are white and pink-flowered cultivars; look out for ‘Chedglow’, which has deep purple foliage and stems that contrast strikingly with the hot pink flowers.
Most biennials should be sown between June and July, but honesty needs to be sown a little bit earlier, in May. Sow the seeds into modules filled with multipurpose compost, water, label and place them somewhere sunny.
Germination should take a couple of weeks. Move into individual 9cm pots when the seedlings have two sets of leaves.
Plant waterlilies
Waterlilies are a glamorous addition to any pond. Some are tiny and perfect for small ponds and water features, while others need room to spread.
● Plant in aquatic baskets or mesh pots. Line them with hessian to stop the compost leaching into the water.
● Use an aquatic compost. Plant the waterlilies so their crowns sit level with the compost.
● Trim long
