Ahhh, the joy of the Summer Garden! The deliciously long evenings, butterflies galore, exotic tropical scents, happy Sunflowers, Dahlias, Morning Glories & many of the showiest bloomers of all!

And to make it more tempting, June & July are the two months here at the nursery when more new & exciting plant varieties are available than any other time of the year! Rare tropicals, loads of Salvias, South African perennials & shrubs & much, much more.

A garden can enthrall us for more than just one season…

When I first started gardening, Spring was the THING! That April gardener’s sap would rise in my body – compelling me towards the nearest nursery – to find floral expressions of my enthusiasm & excitement in the freshness & newness that is Spring. But like so many other newish gardeners – Spring was the only thing.
I would work so hard creating an exuberant Springtime extravaganza & I’d bask in the excitement. As the end of May rolled around, my charming Spring bloomers would fade, the weeds creeping in to replace them. By June, my garden no longer felt inviting. I’d begin to avoid it & by mid-Summer it was just plain ugly & I knew it was too late to do anything about it. By Fall, it was a disaster, choked with weeds, neglected treasures dried up & perennials overgrown & starving. And so, by the next Spring I would feel frustrated, feeling every year I was starting my garden over from scratch. Most of all, I’d miss the joy of a Summer garden.

A Summer garden is
sensual ...

With a little maintenance & planting, your Summer garden can be the most inviting & sensual garden of all. And with our long days, there’s lots more hours to enjoy it! You can easily create a lovely garden space to enjoy that old-fashioned idea of Summer leisure time. Some of my favorite garden memories are of laying all day in a lounge chair, reading a good book, surrounded by flowers gently moving in the breeze.

Bees, Butterflies and Birds love Summer, too! View more Wildlife Friendly Plants

Or sunbathing on a towel, achieving perfect garden trance-like tranquility, occasionally lifting an eyelid to take in the amazing insect world around me. Surreal Monarch butterfly caterpillars munching away on a nearby milkweeds, soon to shed their skins to reveal extraordinary, jeweled, turquoise chrysalises. Bumblebees buzzing, their legs plumped with golden pollen. A hummingbird & dragonfly caught in an aerial stand-off a few feet above my head. Sights, sounds & scents of Mother Nature’s magic when we’re still enough to notice.

Prepare for a sensual
Summer garden now!

If you’ve already enjoyed a wonderful Spring garden it’s easy to make your Summer dreams come true!

Here’s what to do:

1) Pull weeds now!!! You shall not dismiss it! Remember every weed you let go to seed can equal 100 weeds by mid Summer. Yikes!

2) Pull out faded Spring blooming annuals now. Some will have dried seeds or seed pods on them which you can save for Fall or early Spring planting.

3) Turn over the soil in the empty spaces a bit to prepare for planting. It loosens & aerates the soil, which is nice for a new plant’s roots to grow in.

4) Cut back Spring blooming perennials like Columbines, perennial Foxgloves, Penstemons & Delphiniums.

Deadhead and cut back Spring Blooming Perennials

Here in northern coastal California, Delphiniums & some Columbines will re-bloom during Summer. Cut Columbines to the ground & Delphiniums to about 4” tall. New growth will sprout up & even if they don’t bloom, the foliage will look healthy & pretty in your garden.

5) Add a bit of compost around both growing perennials (if you haven’t yet) & freshly cut back perennials - they love it. A 1” layer is good. Lately, I am loving grape seed or grape pomace compost, coming in from the vineyards. It’s a beautiful black color, very nutritious, pretty cheap & weed free! We sell it at the nursery or you can buy it in bulk from landscape suppliers like our local American Soil Products ($30.00/yard).

Heliophila longifolia (blue), Linaria reticulata (red) and Verbascum 'Cotswold King' shine in Summer.

6) Get ready to plant. See my list of favorite, easy Summer bloomers at the end of this article. Do be aware the care info is based on what we know from our experience at the nursery & what folks have told us. I know you folks in hotter areas (like Sacramento) tend to plant most Summer bloomers in part sun to part shade. Also, plants listed as drought tolerant do need some water for a while until they become established.