BEST PLANTS FOR JULY - SIX ON SATURDAY

For this week's Six on Saturday, I've put together a selection of the plants that have given me the most pleasure in the garden this week.

Pink Echinacea

 1. These pink Echinacea were bought as mail order plug plants in May 2016 from one of those very very cheap offers you see in magazines.  Which means that they've taken three years to develop into decent sized plants, but I think it was worth the wait.

Agapanthus Peter Pan

 2. This was a quick snap taken after this morning's rain of some Agapanthus which I can look at from my window as I type this post.  I've grown them in posts so they can be moved out of the way once they have flowered.  I decided to get some Agapanthus  after I visited Ickworth (National Trust) where the wide stone terrace had huge great terracotta pots full of them standing on the steps.

Morning Glory Carnevale di Venezia

 3. I grew these stripy beauties from seed this spring, which makes me very happy because it means they were practically free.  They are growing up a painted obelisk planter on our sunny terrace.  They replaced some clematis which found the location too hot.  If you've not grown them before, and I hadn't, they are called morning glory for reason.  It's because the flowers are only open in the morning, so you need to get out there with your morning coffee to enjoy looking at them.

Clematis Polish Spirit with a lilac Phlox

4. I love dark purple and deep red clematis.  Polish Spirit, one of the first I planted, is now well established and I look forward to it blooming each year.  Next to it I've planted a lilac Phlox which I bought from Kiftsgate.  It's called 'Cool of the Night'.  It doesn't seem to be any bigger than when it was first planted, but perhaps it dislikes being so crowded.

Rosa Compassion 

 5.  Rosa Compassion makes it on to the July favourites list because this is the first year it has been tall enough to reach to the top of the arch, and because it smells so lovely when you walk through the arch and look up at the roses looking down at you.

Mulberries

6.  We have a huge old Mulberry tree in the garden.  This week the first of its fruits were ripe.  As they ripen they fall from the tree, so they are mainly harvested by picking them up off the ground.  They are slightly sharp and I'm rather short of ideas of what to do with them.  I've made them into muffins (good) and Jam (rather solid).  Does anyone have any other suggestions?

That's the end of my selection for this week, but The Propagator who hosts Six on Saturday has plenty more for you to browse.