Top Ten Plants June 2025

Its orange-salmon blooms make it a top pick among July flowering plants, especially in sunny spots. Its leaves are deliciously scented when brushed, and it is an utterly delightful, compact shrub. It needs free-draining soil and a sunny, sheltered location. Even more flowers will appear if spent flower heads are removed as they fade.

• Flowers from July to September
• Hardy
• Grows to 30cm tall and 45cm wide
• Well-drained soil
• Full sun
• Sheltered

A tall favourite for UK summer flowers, blending well with ornamental grasses. Bees love the flowers, which grow on tall, upright stems, and it works well in middle or back borders. Give it plenty of room because, once established, it will form a large clump. Deadhead regularly if you want to prevent it from self-seeding. It looks great combined with taller, prairie-style grasses.

• Flowers from June to September
• Hardy
• Grows to 120cm tall and 90cm wide
• Well-drained soil
• Sun to part shade
• Exposed

This species of myrtle is a lovely, slow-growing evergreen shrub that produces masses of lightly scented white flowers at this time. These are followed by decorative white berries later in the year. This makes it an ideal choice for small gardens or for growing in containers. It needs protection from harsh winds and, in colder areas, is best planted against a wall.

• Flowers from July to August
• Tender
• Grows to 120cm tall and 90cm wide
• Well-drained soil
• Sun to part shade
• Sheltered

Veronica is an excellent perennial providing vertical impact in flower borders with their slender spires of tubular blooms. Charlotte produces white flowers in early to midsummer and may flower again if spent blooms are cut back.

• Flowers from July to August
• Hardy
• Grows to 90cm tall and 30cm wide
• Well-drained, moderately fertile, moist soil
• Full sun
• Exposed

Salvias are available in a very wide range of colours and varying flower sizes and have become more popular recently. This is due to our warmer summers, milder winters, extended flowering periods, and the delicious fragrance released when brushing their leaves. ‘Nachtvlinder’ is a standout salvia, perfect for adding deep colour to plants for July gardens and attracts a host of pollinators. Regularly deadheading encourages the plant to keep producing more flowers into late autumn. Giving the plant a prune in spring keeps it looking shapely, if that’s what’s required.

• Flowers from June to September
• Hardy
• Grows to 75cm tall and 50cm wide
• Well-drained soil
• Full sun
• Exposed

If you’re looking for an elegant, easy-to-grow herbaceous perennial for light shade, this plant is an ideal choice. It produces masses of fine, star-like white flowers on thin, red-tinted stems, blooming for several weeks between early and mid-summer. The airy stems bend towards the light, giving them a graceful, relaxed appearance. Come autumn, the leaves turn fiery red before falling. It’s a great choice for a naturalistic planting scheme.

• Flowers from July to September
• Hardy
• Grows to 100cm tall and 60cm wide
• Well-drained, moderately fertile, moist soil
• Light shade
• Exposed

Water lilies look totally delightful when in full flower, and ‘Colorado’ is no exception with its scented, upright, multi-petalled blooms. The pink-cream and salmon-pink flowers are especially eye-catching. Suitable for medium to larger ponds, it is hardy and free-flowering if positioned in at least five hours of sunshine. For best results, site it away from moving water.

• Flowers from June to October
• Hardy
• Grows to 25cm tall and 100cm wide
• Aquatic compost
• Full sun
• Sheltered

There is nothing more calming and refreshing than the smell of lavender leaves when brushing past on a hot summer’s day. This compact cultivar is ideal for edging paths and borders, forming a lovely, mounded shape over time. It produces dense spires of scented, bluish-purple flowers that rise above aromatic, grey-green leaves. A timeless choice, lavender is one of the most beloved UK summer flowers for borders and paths.

• Flowers from June to August
• Hardy
• Grows to 45cm tall and 60cm wide
• Well-drained soil
• Full sun
• Exposed

This easy-to-grow, deciduous shrub deserves to be more widely grown, if only because it flowers for over six months! What’s more, it’s naturally low-growing and compact, making it ideal for the front of borders or for container growing. It’s pretty, soft apricot-coloured flowers are perfectly placed to be easily seen and enjoyed.

• Flowers from April to October
• Hardy
• Grows to 75cm tall and 75cm wide
• Well-drained, moist, moderately fertile soil
• Full sun to light shade
• Exposed

Although most echinacea have brightly coloured, thick ‘petals’, some are more delicate looking—such as pallida with its graceful form. Pallida has widely spaced, pale-pink ‘petals’ (more accurately called ray florets; that will impress your friends!). The ‘petals’ are noticeably swept back, giving the flowers an elegant look, especially when paired with wispy grasses like Stipa tenuissima. For airy, wild-meadow charm, this is one of the best July flowering plants—elegant and unfussy.

• Flowers from July to September
• Hardy
• Grows to 90cm tall and 45cm wide
• Well-drained, moist soil
• Full sun
• Exposed