Fuchsias are also at their prime. Top perennial of the month is phlox. The showy heads of fragrant blooms give an opulent effect to the summer border. Pink varieties are especially pleasing with clumps of steel-blue globe thistle or clear blue veronica. They combine well with edgings of petunias, ageratum or lobelia.
White phlox adds a soft glow to the garden at night.
This month the Cornish heaths come into bloom. Three varieties, 'Mrs. D.F. Maxwell', 'Lyonesse' and 'St. Keverne' are a mass of pink and white appreciated by the hummingbirds. Every season I audition several dozen new or promising plants. Two outstanding plants that I have added to my summer repertoire are an annual and a bulb. This foot-tall plant spreads out two feet and is covered in blooms all summer.