Favorite Plant Combinations: June

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Wanderin' Wind rose with Six Hills Giant catmint

Griffith Buck rose ‘Wanderin’ Wind’ with catmint

Yikes! The last day of June! So many things I wanted to share with you, and the month just flew by. If I want to share my favorite plant combinations of June while it is still June, I’d better get started. This is the same rose I mentioned in my review of hardy rose books. It’s a Griffith Buck rose called ‘Wanderin’ Wind.’ Last year it didn’t do much, but this year it is putting out a lot more blossoms. I really like it surrounded by ‘Six Hills Giant’ catmint, don’t you?

The next combination was earlier in June. The meadow rue is called ‘Black Stockings’ and it’s one of the few things I’ve gotten from White Flower Farm lately.

'Black Stockings' meadow rue and 'Concord Grape' spiderwort

I haven’t seen it offered anywhere else, not that I get around that much. It looks wonderful fronted by ‘Concord Grape’ spiderwort, which is a bit more common. The color of the two flowers is pretty much identical, and the dusky stalks of the thalictrum echo the color of the Tradescantia foliage. This year, at least, the spiderwort was just getting going with its flower power when the meadow rue was at its peak, and now that the spiderwort is going gangbusters the meadow rue is just about over. I tell myself the meadow rue will have many more flower stalks next year and there will be even more overlap.

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

In its own way, frost may be one of the most beautiful things to happen in your garden all year . . . Don’t miss it. Like all true beauty, it is fleeting. It will grace your garden for but a short while this morning. . . . For this moment, embrace frost as the beautiful gift that it is.

~Philip Harnden in A Gardener’s Guide to Frost: Outwit the Weather and Extend the Spring and Fall Seasons

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Kathy Purdy July 5, 2007, 5:48 pm

Old Roses, lavender likes perfect drainage, which I don’t have around here. Catmint has a wonderful fragrance of its own, so don’t hesitate to try it. Bees and a small orange butterfly also love it.

Annie, I know Purple Heart as a houseplant and could probably put it in a container as an annual and plop it in front of Black Stockings. But meadow rues will be done blooming soon and usually don’t rebloom. Summer is here, yes, after a fashion . . . it was 38.2F on Monday morning (July 2nd). And on July 4th, the morning started a mild 53.1F but the high was only 65.3F. Some people would feel cheated, but I prefer that kind of summer to the hot-and-humid variety. And it rained on the 4th, which we needed badly.

Trishia July 3, 2007, 2:53 pm

Those Wanderin Wind roses are beautiful… they make me think of a fairy tale of sorts.

I am going to start my very own garden, so no roses for me yet, but these are going on my ever growing wish list- thanks for displaying them so nicely!

LostRoses July 1, 2007, 11:35 pm

Very nice combinations! I do think catmint sets off roses very nicely and so much easier to grow than my “dreamed-of” lavender which never really took off for me. You’ve reminded me that I have some happy combinations I like very much and had better hurry and get a picture of before the heat wilts everything.

Annie in Austin July 1, 2007, 10:14 am

The roses are so perfect and substantial looking – the catmint sets them off just right.

I haven’t had a WFF catalog in a long time since so little of their stuff will work in Central Texas, but I used to think of it as a ‘wish book’. The ‘Black Stockings’ does work with that spiderwort. We grow Setcresea, PurpleHeart, which is in the same family with similar pink flowers and deep purple leaves. If meadow rue could live here, ‘Black Stockings’ and
Purple Heart’ would be one dramatic combination.

I’m so glad you finally have summer, Kathy!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Cynthia July 1, 2007, 10:03 am

The rose and catmint are so subtle and soothing together. I really do like that combination. Thinking of you guys – I will get in touch with a bona fide correspondence!

Carol July 1, 2007, 6:38 am

I do like the pink and blue combination of the rose and catmint. I can’t believe June is past, either. I saw back-to-school supplies in the store yesterday, though “oddly enough”, no kids were looking at them!