BBC Gardeners' World Jun-22

Listen out… for our podcast, with chef Marcus Wareing speaking about growing veg and more, at GardenersWorld.com/podcast Join us… in the gardens of Somerset and Dorset, plus meet Alan at Highclere Castle. Spaces are limited: turn to page 82 Help wildlife… with our dedicated 132-page guide to wildlife gardening. In shops, or online for just £7.99 + P&P at magsdirect.co.uk/GWGWildlife Learn new skills… Turn up the heat in our Exotic Gardening Masterclass at 12pm, Thursday 9 June. Tickets are £20. GardenersWorld.com/grow-how Keep up to date with us at FACEBOOK @GWmagazine INSTAGRAM @gardenersworldmag TWITTER @GWmag PINTEREST @GWmag Looking to get in touch? Turn to page 168 PHOTOS: BBC/PLIMSOLL PRODUCTIONS; JASON INGRAM…

Editor of the Year: Homes & Gardens A few months ago, as we all emerged blinking into spring, wondering where to find the magic in our gardens after winter’s worst, Monty reminded us: “get the sitting part of your garden right… the rest tends to fall into place”. He showed us the way, with a duo of Lutyens benches at Longmeadow that create a convivial space near his back door. While admitting he rarely sits down in the garden, he encouraged us in his column last month that the best thing about a garden is “not necessarily doing much but just being”. Well, if you’ve not yet followed his advice to just sit and be, even for just a while, now is your moment! Our gardens in June are a place of reward…

There is so much to say about June: the gardening year is like a flash mob, starting with the lonely snowdrop in January then building up layer upon layer every week, with more things appearing until we get to June when everybody joins in – shrubs, trees, roses, vegetables, annuals and more. I leave it to Rodgers and Hammerstein (often the best option) with this ditty from Carousel: “June is bustin’ out all over! The feelin’ is gettin’ so intense, That the young Virginia creepers, Have been huggin’ the bejeepers, Outa all the mornin’-glories on the fence. Because it’s June!” “Green was the silence, wet was the light, the month of June trembled like a butterfly”Pablo Neruda STAR OF THE MONTH Astrantia ‘Shaggy’ (the white one) One of the best things about this month is…

OK, let’s not get into the whole geranium/pelargonium thing. Sometimes called scented-leaved geraniums, botanically speaking they’re pelargonium. But we all know what we mean. Let’s not get worked up about it. In this case, I’m focusing on one particular subgroup: scented-leaved pelargoniums that also have colourful flowers. So many have attractive leaves, with delightful aromas, but their flowers are tiny or they hardly flower at all. But don’t we want the best of everything? Foliage, fragrance and flowers? Of course. So we need to be aware that, in the quest for better flowers, the aroma from the leaves may be diminished. Variety choice is crucial. The range of fragrances is astonishing: there’s apple, citrus, a general fruity fragrance, pine and cedar, peppermint, rose, fresh cut grass, cinnamon, lavender – not to mention rich…

Pollinator-friendly perennials This glorious collection of perennials is perfect for attracting bees, butterflies and other pollinators into your garden. They look excellent planted together, filling your containers, borders and beds with colourful, nectar-rich blooms. All supplied as 9cm pots, delivery in 14 days Marbled cream and green foliage that’s topped with smoky blue, fuzzy bottlebrush blooms during summer and early autumn. The evergreen foliage will release a aniseed fragrance when it is brushed against. H x S 75cm x 45cm F Jul-Sep 1 plant in 9cm pot £15 Elegant, pink variety of English lavender. Light, highly fragrant, pink flowers tightly pack each stem in abundance above grey-green foliage. Excellent for cutting, the blooms can be enjoyed as part of fresh or dried flower arrangements, too. H x S 75cm x 75cm…

This world is changing so fast that magazine lead times make fools of us all. Last week’s events are history and this morning’s news is old hat. Yet for all that fluster there are slow trends that will not easily shift or alter. Some, like the rhythm and roll of the seasons, are increasingly essential to our wellbeing and even sanity, but others are less profound and less good for us. I fear that the slow pulse of financial recession and hardship is one of these. Energy costs have doubled and will not come down in a hurry. This affects every corner of our lives and spills outside into the garden. I heat two greenhouses with electricity, along with two heated propagating benches, light two with electricity and heat the big…