Flowering in my Sussex garden this summer

Following on from my similar May blog post about garden wildflowers, here is what was in flower a month later.

White herb robert – Geranium robertianium

This continues my theme of what is a weed and what is a wildflower? My friend Mercy sent me this plant, which seems happy in my garden. It is a wild herb robert which is naturally white rather than the usual pink. You can see the plant still has a pink tinge in the stems and seed heads. I have now purchased seed of a variety of this Geranium called Celtic White which has none of the pink colouring at all.

Scented mayweed – Matricaria recutita

This is a scented plant whose flowers can be made into a relaxing chamomile tea and is also known as annual chamomile or German chamomile. This chamomile was never wild here – it has escaped from my dried flowers shop daisyshop.co.uk where I sell it by the kilo. But it is a common wildflower in England apparently.

Scarlet pimpernel – Anagallis arvensis

I love scarlet pimpernel and remember my dad pointing it out to me on a walk as a small child. I found it very appealing and slightly mysterious, knowing there was a story about a man with that nickname. Dad was not a gardener or botanist, people just took more of an interest in nature then I think.

Red dead-nettle – Lamium purpureum

And as a kid what’s not to like about a nettle that not only doesn’t sting you but has pretty purple flowers?

Petty spurge – Euphorbia peplus

This little thing is very pretty but always grows one at a time in just the wrong place. If it would stick to one patch and cover some bare soil I would probably leave it be.

Hedgerow cranesbill – Geranium pyrenaicum

Another cranesbill which grows like a weed in my garden and self seeds in the lawn. I think it may actually be a cultivated variety which has run wild. I mentioned it in my May garden post, but have since been able to identify it (thanks again to Mercy), and have spotted it in the wild in Devon and Wiltshire.