Welcome to Wisley in early summer. Flowers, fruit and foliage delight all your senses this month: the fragrance of roses; tasty, tantalising strawberries; cool, lush leaves in all sorts of shapes and sizes are waiting to be enjoyed.
On Weather Hill the Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden, sponsored by Witan Investment Trusts plc, is now a year old and fully established. It looks wonderful. The cornus trees near Bowles Corner are looking great too. You can find Cornus kousa var. chinensis here, and in the Arboretum, where their beautiful leafy flowers stand out from a distance.
In the Trials Field there is plenty to keep your interest. Statuesque delphiniums in shades of blues, purples, pinks and creamy yellows stand tall. Delphiniums are grown here every year so we can ensure the best cultivars are given the Award of Garden Merit. Which is your favourite? Look out too for sweet peas and clematis.
In the Glasshouse Borders some of the 16,000 perennials and grasses we planted have come into bloom. Behind the Glasshouse, the Perennial Meadow is starting to look really pretty. In the Glasshouse itself you’ll find pelargoniums on display, as well as many glorious flowering and foliage plants from cacti to bananas.
On Battleston Hill and the Wild Garden the Cardiocrinum that look like giant lilies, and Gunnera that is like huge rhubarb are spectacular. On hot days these garden areas are wonderfully cool, shady spots.
The Country Garden is a June highlight, with a combination of geraniums, iris, lavender and honeysuckle. Daylilies (Hemerocallis) start to come out too, and next door on the Mixed Borders look out for H. lilioasphodelus.
On the side of Weather Hill the Model Vegetable Garden is changing rapidly as everything is growing so fast. The beans are running up the canes, the salad crops are romping away and the potatoes are being earthed up. On the opposite side of the hill, the Fruit Demonstration Gardens display ripening strawberries and an assortment of fruit that you can grow at home.
Seven Acres is packed with peonies, Weigela and Deutzia in full bloom. The highly fragrant mock orange, Philadelphus, is breathtaking. The scent of this shrub is even more inspiring in the still of the evening, and is a worthwhile addition to any garden.
Roses are the flavour, and scent, of the month. The Golden Jubilee Rose Garden is coming into its prime. Modern cultivars are colour matched and complemented with clematis. There is plenty to inspire you here!