Synopsis
By now, many gardens are at their most floriferous, but it is roses that steal the show, as alluring in the border as in a vase where a single bloom needs no more than an eligible escort to frame and emphasise its beauty.
There is no shortage of volunteers. Herbaceous borders house creamy achilleas, catmints, lavenders and dainty-flowered clematis — 'Arabella' creates a most unusual blend with Rosa 'Lady Emma Hamilton'. Many David Austin roses make excellent cut flowers. Snowy 'Winchester Cathedral' is amongst the earliest to flower, 'Queen of Sweden' is the perfect pink, whilst prickly little 'Harlow Carr' has both a strong scent and excellent repeat flowering.
Perfect partners abound amongst summer's frothy flowers. A 'must' is airy gypsohpila, or Baby's Breath, which creates an ethereal collar around contrasting blooms. There are also various lacy umbellifers such as Pimpinella major 'Rosea', Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing' and Ammi major, an annual that is easily grown from seed. Finally, many self-seeders make lovely cut flowers, returning year on year once established in a gravel garden. Amongst the most easy-going are love-in-the-mist, cornflowers, poppies (for their green seedheads), Verbena bonariensis and Alchemilla mollis — the lime green froth enfolds a white rose in a cool green haze unmatched by any other flower.
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