6 / JULY 2022 PRIME
As rare as a day in June By Jan Cashman
M
y husband Jerry’s favorite poem is, “As Rare as a Day in June” by Lowell. The poem is about plants and animals coming back to life in June after the long winter. Because so many plants are blooming, June is a favorite month for gardeners. Gardens have been planted and are up and growing. Lots of the work is done and the enjoyment begins. Let’s take a look at our favorite plants that
bloom in June: Lilacs start blooming in late May but the later lilacs and Japanese tree lilacs flower in June. Dwarf Korean and Miss Kim lilacs bloom in June with wonderfully fragrant flowers. Hybrids of late blooming lilacs (Syringa villosa) such as Donald Wyman, a hardy and vigorous deep purple, bloom in June. Many shrubs such as the viburnums (snowball and
cranberrybush) have white flowers in June. The very fragrant Mockorange is awash in flowers in late June. Roses are on the top of everyone’s list for their colorful, fragrant June blooms. The bright yellow of old-fashioned Persian and Harrisons yellow roses will stop you in your tracks along with the closely related Austrian Copper which has bright orange blooms. These three roses bloom only once a year, but when they are blooming, they are
spectacular. Other hardy shrub roses bloom in June and then intermittently all season; some even flower continuously. A few of our best hardy shrub roses include the hot pink, rambling rose, William Baffin, the low-growing but vigorous red Adelaide Hoodless, and the small pinkish-red Winnipeg Parks that looks a little like a hybrid tea rose but is much hardier. The Morden series of recurrently-blooming hardy shrub
