If you have been waiting for the right moment to see the roses in bloom, now is the time! The next few weeks will be full of beautiful roses blooming their perfumed heads off in the Rose Garden. Many of our favorites have already sprung into bloom, but there are more to come! We have over 40 varieties of roses on display. The Rose Garden is in transition this year as the garden beds were reshaped last fall and we transplanted a fair number of our roses from one location to another. We also have a dozen new varieties that will take this year to establish their roots and get comfortable in their new garden home. We can’t wait to see them in their glory in the coming years! For now, we enjoy all the roses in bloom.

June is indeed for roses, but it is also for many other favorite perennials! Ornamental onions, which we have more varieties of than ever this year, are in full swing. From very tall to very short, they dance around the gardens. The Rose Garden is currently home to our largest collection of ornamental onions (Allium) due to the addition of ‘Miami’, ‘Ostara’, ‘Graceful’, and a great increase in our collection of A. schubertii. We love A. schubertii for its fireworks explosion structure that never fails to impress (it also makes a wonderful dried decoration for display year round). A. ‘Ambassador’ is one of our most asked about ornamental onions. Its presence in the garden is impressive. It adds both a sense of fun and whimsy while providing height and structure at the back of the garden bed.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few of the beautiful blooms in the Idea Gardens. Jerusalem sage (Phlomis tuberosa ‘Amazone’) is an unusual flower that always elicits curious questions. This member of the mint family is a stunning structural plant with flowers that remind me of a more elegant bee balm.

The fringed pink blooming along the path in the Cutting Garden is being quite the showoff this year. We started this little beauty from seed last spring and it showed such little vigor that we contemplated removing it from the garden. Sometimes that brief threat is all that needs to happen for a plant to bounce back tenfold the following year! (No kidding, we have noticed that whenever we remark at how poorly a plant is doing, it comes back full and beautiful next time we check on it.)

The bellflower can be an aggressive plant (some may call it a garden thug), but we love it for its pollinator friendly blooms and for how well it does as a cut flower. If we have too much, we just remove a portion and either send it to compost or share it with friends. It’s a plant that keeps on giving.

Whenever you visit Blithewold, there is something to appreciate, some new plant in bloom. June may be one of my favorite months, but you will forgive me if I say that in July, August, September, etc., too. I love all the months here. The gardens and grounds are such a treasure and it’s a privilege to tend to them.

What is your favorite plant in bloom in your garden right now? We are always here for inspiration!

*Feature Image: Rose ‘Lillian Austin’ with Snapdragon ‘Maryland Appleblossom’