Planting Seeds in June: A Guide
Gardening Tips for a Vibrant Summer Garden
As the spring season unfolds, it's time to start sowing seeds for a variety of vegetables and flowers that will bring colour and life to your summer garden. Here's a guide to help you get started.
Vegetables to Sow
This month, consider sowing radishes, beetroot, French beans, summer squash, pak choi, Florence fennel, honesty, and foxglove directly into well-prepared soil. For carrots, sow seeds in a 1cm deep drill, making sure as many stones are removed as possible. Carrots can be sown outside now for harvests later in the season.
For lettuce, sow 'Tom Thumb', a butterhead lettuce with small green heads, ideal for container growing, or 'Romaine Ballon', a delicious cos variety, best sown in small batches every two or three weeks. Spring onions such as 'Guardsman' and 'White Lisbon' can also be sown outdoors this month.
To ensure continuous cropping, sow vegetables like lettuce, beetroot, and spinach successionally over the next few weeks.
Flowers to Plant
Cornflowers, also known as bachelor buttons, can be sown in well-draining soil with full sun exposure after the last frost has passed. Sown early this month, cornflowers should be flowering around mid- to late-summer. They add a bright blue color that is relatively rare in gardens and attract pollinators like bees.
To grow cornflowers, sow seeds outdoors after the last frost, space plants about 12 inches apart, and water sparingly once established since they are somewhat drought tolerant. Leaving some flowers to go to seed can allow for self-seeding and natural spreading in the garden. For best seed germination, seeds can be surface sown and may benefit from cold stratification (storing seeds in the fridge for 4–6 weeks) to mimic natural conditions before sowing.
'Lollo Rossa', a loose-leaf lettuce with frilled red leaves, is another attractive option for the garden. Radishes, salad leaves, rocket, and round carrots such as 'Rondo' and 'Paris Market 5' are particularly suited to container growing.
Zinnias can also be sown outside this month, with 'Zinnia' 'Lilliput Mixed' offering a selection of bright yellow, orange, purple, and pink fully double flowers.
Unique Varieties
'Painted Lady' is an excellent bicoloured variety of runner beans with red and white flowers, while 'Tom Thumb' is a butterhead lettuce with small green heads that can be picked around 10-12 weeks from sowing. 'Snowstorm' and 'White Lady' have pure white flowers that are less prone to being eaten by birds, and 'Centaurea' 'Classic Magic' is a mix of white, deep purple, and smoky mauve flowerheads.
'Centaurea' 'Black Ball' has deep crimson button-blooms, and 'Guardsman' is a mild-flavoured spring onion with strong, straight stems. 'Romaine Ballon' is a delicious cos variety of lettuce, best sown in small batches every two or three weeks.
Garden Layout
Pale tulips look beautiful underplanted with drifts of azure blue forget-me-nots (Myosotis sylvatica). Runner beans can be transplanted into the garden now or sown outside this month. Choose a warm sheltered spot and provide sturdy support with canes in a wigwam.
Cornflowers and Companion Plants
Cornflowers are a magnet for pollinating insects, benefiting wildlife as well as looking fantastic in arrangements. 'Centaurea' 'Classic Magic' looks gorgeous on its own in a vase, or paired with the white umbels of Bishop's flower (Ammi majus) or wild carrot (Daucus carota).
Tips for Success
To provide continuous harvests throughout summer and into autumn, sow spring onions outdoors this month in small batches. Tomato side shoots can be potted up to create new plants for free in early June.
For runner beans, choose a warm sheltered spot and provide sturdy support with canes in a wigwam. Zinnias can also be sown outside this month.
By following these tips, you can enjoy a beautiful and bountiful summer garden filled with a variety of vegetables and flowers.
Incorporate raised beds into your home-and-garden lifestyle for efficient and productive gardening, especially for container-growing vegetables like lettuce, spring onions, and carrots. For example, 'Tom Thumb' lettuce thrives in raised beds, as do dwarf varieties of carrots such as 'Rondo' and 'Paris Market 5'.
To create a vibrant display of color alongside your vegetables, consider planting unique flower varieties, like the bicolored 'Painted Lady' runner beans or the attractive 'Lollo Rossa' loose-leaf lettuce, which complements the overall gardening aesthetic.
