As the month with the longest days and the shortest nights, June is when your garden will be getting the most sunlight, and hopefully benefitting from warmer weather and improved growing conditions. Lots of things will be happening in your garden, and this is the time to start harvesting salad plants and even early potatoes. If you haven’t done it already, it is also a good idea to plant out your summer bedding and seed-raised plants. Remember to keep everything well watered and moist during dry spells. Image source: www.growcookbrew.wordpress.com.
There are lots of other jobs that need doing this month; the Royal Horticultural Society’s website has a helpful list of ten jobs for June – View here
But June isn’t just about harvesting and maintenance, there are still plenty of things you can be sowing and planting this month. Here are a few of the flowers and plants you can start growing in June.
Flowers you can direct sow outdoors in June
Calendula are fast growers that can be sown directly as late as June and will provide a great show of brightly coloured flowers in late summer. Delphiniums like Larkspur can also provide a welcome splash of late summer colour. For lovely white flowers at the end of summer try Candytuft. Calendula flowers available from www.thompson-morgan.com
Normally, you would start to grow sunflowers in pots, but the warm weather also makes it possible for them to be sown directly into the ground in June – as long as you are sure the last frosts are over. Give them plenty of moisture at first and watch them quickly grow into charming and colourful flowers that are the very symbol of summer and much loved by children. Sunflowers available from www.unwins.co.uk
Flowers for next year
It seems a long way off, but now is also the time to start thinking about some of the flowers you will want to see next year. If you have a greenhouse, you can start to sow perennial seeds like Delphiniums and Lupins as well as Canterbury Bells.
Now is also a good time to start sowing winter flowering pansies. Sow them indoors in seed trays in June and they will be ready for containers in time for winter. Expect a beautiful array of much-needed colour in the short dark days of January and February. Image source: www.nature.besthdwalls.com.
Buy Winter-flowering Pansies Winter Pansies available from www.unwins.co.uk
Fruit and vegetables to plant in June
A great many vegetables can be sown directly outdoors in June. Runner beans and French beans that are kept undercover can either be sown into module trays or straight into the ground. Carrots are also ideal for sowing at this time of year, but make sure to keep them covered with a fine mesh to protect them from carrot flies. Image source: www.farmtohomeorganics.com.
Other vegetables you may want to consider sowing are courgettes and squashes, swedes, spinach and spring onions. June is also a good month for herbs that grow quickly. Coriander, dill and parsley can all be sown straight into the ground. Image source: www.magicgardencymru.wordpress.com.
For planting out vegetables, June is good for cauliflowers, kale plants and pumpkins. Remember to keep the ground rich in nutrients as well as nice and moist as these need a lot of feeding. Vegetable and herb seeds available from www.vegetableseeds.net