Time for some colourful flowers I thought. So, here is a post on some beautiful blooms in my English garden.
I will concentrate on summer blooms. Primarily because I am sure we are all looking forward to a sunny summer over the wet and gloomy depths of winter.
In addition, we clearly need some fabulous colour to boost our wellbeing. Furthermore, we can start planning for plenty of beautiful flowers to fill our gardens and aid our pollinators.
I have chosen some of the wildflowers that I grow, along with some hardy and half hardy annuals. Perennials and shrubs will feature in some later posts.
Naturally, some dahlias will be featured in this post, starting with the beauties for pollinators at the top of this post. I just cannot resist them!
So, without further ado, here are a few of my favourites in my English garden.
English garden blooms
My first photo for this post is one of my flower borders in June.
I love to sow wildflowers in amongst other flowers and enjoy blooming borders packed full of colour.
More importantly, I try to grow as many wildflowers as I possibly can because since the 1930’s, 97% of UK wildflower meadows have been lost.
Crucially, wildflowers are needed as they play such an important role in supporting our pollinators.
In the border seen above I have red and white campion, ox-eye daisy, corn chamomile, common poppy, and corn marigold. Although, I grow many more as well.
All of these can be sown in borders or even in large pots in Spring.
These all flower after the white comfrey has bloomed, another trooper of a flower for the pollinators.
I do keep the comfrey in check though as it is a bit of a thug. However, it is a fabulous thug for the pollinators and other beneficial insects.
More colourful blooms
My second photo is of one of my flower borders in July. I always think of cornflowers as essential for an English garden. However, cornflowers are not native to the UK. But they have been here for a jolly long time, thousands of years in fact. Therefore, they are considered to be naturalised now.
I grow the dark, almost black varieties, the pinks, the reds and the whites, as well as the beautiful blues.
My flower border also has the bright pink cosmos Gloria, echium blue bedder, and the dahlia Topmix Pink.
In addition to the riot of fabulous colours, every flower is excellent for pollinators.
Both the cornflowers and echium blue bedder are hardy annuals. Therefore, the seeds can be sown direct in borders or pots in Spring.
I thoroughly recommend sowing seeds as they are a cost-effective way to bring an abundance of colour into the garden in a short time.
More English garden flowers
Next, I have one of my absolute favourite flowers, the beautiful dahlias.
Native to Mexico and Central America, they were introduced to England in 1803.
After this time, numbers grew and grew, as did our love of these beautiful flowers.
Indeed, our gardens would be a poorer place without them. I could not be without them, in my English garden.
Although most of the dahlias in the border seen above are of no use to pollinators, the photo at the top of this post and below includes plenty that are.
Also, I have added a link below for a post containing ten of my best dahlias for pollinators.
10 beautiful dahlia flowers for pollinators
I think it is of vital importance to have dahlias for pollinators, but we can also indulge in some of the flamboyant decorative or dinner plate ones too. Both for their beauty in the garden and for the vases in our homes.
The white flowers in the photo are cosmos and they are a fabulous flower for the pollinators. So, the bees, butterflies and hoverflies still get a feed from this border.
Beautiful blooms in August
My next photo is a snapshot of a border filled with cosmos, dahlias, borage and sweet william.
I grew twenty-six varieties of cosmos last year and have my eye on plenty more for this summer.
Absolutely loved by pollinators, they will bloom from early summer right through till the first frosts.
Likewise, the fantastic dahlias will flower over the same period of time. My dahlia in the photo is Honka Pink. A beautiful vibrant dahlia that is jolly attractive to the pollinators too. I grow every type of honka dahlia, and my favourite is the dark Verrone’s Obsidian.
In addition to the pink honka, the borage is a bee magnet, with flowers refilling with nectar every two minutes. Therefore, I grow plenty of borage. And the sweet williams are great for pollinators too.
Overall, a flower border that is a veritable feast, chock full of nectar and pollen.
Wildflowers for pollinators
My final flower border photo for this post has an abundance of wildflowers mixed in with other blooms.
This wild border was an absolute magnet for the pollinators last year.
I filled this border with ox-eye daisy, common daisy and also plenty of red campion. In addition, I planted some different varieties of sweet william, all grown from seed. My favourite dark red variety called Nigricans, some white Alba, some pinks called Higgledy Mix and a patterned variety called Electron.
Besides all of these, some lavender is planted in there for some purple blue colour and also for the pollinators.
I had allowed the edge of the border to keep some long grass but did have to keep this in check of course.
Although, the colours clash here, with the red and the pink, the pollinators came in their droves so that was ok with me.
If you would like to grow some wildflowers, the seeds can be sown in the Spring. Although, I hope you will also grow other flowers with them that you love as well.
Moreover, the hardy annual seeds can be sown at the same time as the wildflowers, directly into the ground or in pots.
More beautiful blooms
I have many more beautiful blooms in my flower borders which I will add to some more posts later. But, for now, here is one of my beautiful cosmos flowers with a lovely bee.
Of course, most of the flowers in this post can also be added to window boxes, as well as borders and pots. So, our world can be full of colour for months on end, everywhere we look. And we get to help our wildlife too with some nectar and pollen supplies.
Wherever you can add some wildflowers or other flower seeds they will be a beautiful and beneficial addition to your outdoor space.
If you need some flower seeds, I have added some links below for hardy annuals and some fabulous cosmos options.
I always need more flower seeds, and cannot resist adding to my seed boxes, ready for Spring. The links can be used for wildflowers too.
Click here for Sarah Raven hardy annual seeds
Click here for Thompson and Morgan hardy annual seeds
Cosmos for an English garden
I have added links for cosmos seeds below. I cannot resist beautiful cosmos flowers and as mentioned earlier, had twenty-six varieties in my garden last year.
Thompson and Morgan have Double Click Snow Puff, which looks wonderfully frilly. I also have my eye on the delightful Pink Mosaic and Cupcakes and Saucers mixed.
Sarah Raven has the beautiful Apricotta, the in colour for 2024 I hear. Also, I fancy Dwarf Sonata White which would be fabulous for the front of a border, in pots and window boxes.
I have spotted so many fabulous options, so do have a look.
Cosmos seed options from Thompson and Morgan
Sarah Raven cosmos seed options
I hope that you have enjoyed this flower filled colourful post on my English garden, and will join me next time.
Do let me know which flowers you will be growing.
This blog is an affiliate for Thompson and Morgan and Sarah Raven. If you click on one of these links above, and make a purchase I may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you.
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