Designing a sunny border for May and June

Planting choices

When I look at the area to be designed in a garden, I like to know what its primary purpose is because this guides my choice of plants. Here the border is intended to be interesting in late spring. Often there may be other requirements – the owner might like the space to be attractive to wildlife, use the planting as a means of screening or to be low maintenance. With its main function established, the next consideration is the style of the planting. It could be Mediterranean, country cottage or architectural. These style choices have an impact on the planting scheme and help narrow the selection of plants available.

The plan shows six variations of a border design. It will suit any free-draining fertile soil with a

This describes how acid or alkaline soil is, and is expressed as a number between 0 and 14. Soil with a pH of 7 is neutral, an acid soil has a lower value, and an alkaline soil has a higher one. Most plants grow best in soil that’s within a specific pH range, so it’s useful to know your soil’s pH. Testing kits are easy to use and widely available in garden centres and online.

Plant list

1. Delphinium ‘Rosemary Brock’ 

2. Delphinium ‘Celebration’

3. Geranium ‘Rozanne’

4. Iris ‘Jane Philips’

5. I. ‘Superstition’

6. Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’

7. Nepeta ‘Walkers Low’ 

8. Papaver ‘Patty’s Plum’ 

9. Rosa ‘Heritage’

10. R. ‘Queen of Sweden’

11. Salvia ‘Mainacht’

12. Stachys byzantina 

13. Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Album’

Bulbs interplaced throughout

• Allium ‘Purple Sensation’
• Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Pearl'
• Tulipa ‘Spring Green’

When I design with plants, I think how my choices behave (their growth habit) and co-exist with other plants. Community and resilience are key themes in gardening at the moment, and were significant in my garden design for ‘The Facebook Garden: Growing the Future’, which was due to be unveiled at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2020, but we eventually brought to the show after the Covid pandemic, in 2022. The garden celebrated how online groups come together to support the future of our forests. The idea of plants working together for joint success applies to planting design too.

Rosa ‘Queen of Sweden’

Stachys byzantina

Central to my border design are scented shrub roses. These include Rosa ‘Heritage’ and R. ‘Queen of Sweden’. I’ve added irises to provide height, in this case Iris ‘Jane Philips’ and I. ‘Superstition’, as well as Delphinium and Veronicastrum. Tulipa ‘Spring Green’ provides early seasonal interest.

Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ is great interplanted among the perennials, drawing the eye with its lollipop shape and strong accent colour. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and Stachys byzantina provide plenty of colour at ground level. These two can be thuggish in their growth habits, so expect to divide them every 2–3 years and you’ll have some free plants to give to friends or extend the planting scheme further.

My other key plants include Nepeta ‘Walkers Low’ – clip it back after its first flush of flowers to extend its flowering season. Also included are Salvia ‘Mainacht’ and Papaver ‘Patty’s Plum’, whose flowers provide a useful link to the pink roses.

The design I’ve created can be adapted easily to fit a border in your own garden. It’s a splash of May and June exuberance to make you smile, and there’s always the promise of summer ahead.

Joe Perkins Design

www.joeperkinsdesign.com | 01273 230511