June brings with it the first onset of really warm temperatures, enough so that it drives the early flowering trees, shrubs and perennials from the landscape. The dogwood andthe redbud will have completely gone out of flower as well as the traditional May blooming perennials such as the peony, German and Siberian iris, and Oriental poppy. The redbuds have the dubious claim of producing very prominent and noticeable seedpods by the middle of May which persist into June. They are often so numerous and often so different in color from tree to tree [from green to copper] that they make an ornament of themselves alone.

The Governor’s Palace always offers the flower-curious visitor an eyeful. The perennial beds that outline the center tulip/annual beds are an abundant mixture of perennials known to 18th century Virginians. In June, one can expect to find blooming in the long beds: summer phlox (Phlox paniculata), spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana), Carolina lupine (Thermopsis villosa), daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) and the Yorktown onion (Allium ampeloprasum), a 4 foot tall ornamental onion known to colonize vast stretches of the Colonial Parkway. The front edge of the perennial bed is planted in an heirloom mixture of colors of the globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa), a plant known to have been grown by John Custis in Williamsburg ca. 1735. The permutations of saturated purple, soft pink and dusky white offer a rippling pattern to the front of the perennial beds. A print in our rare books collection features the pink globe amaranth, testifying to that color’s presence in English gardens at a relative early date [[1771].

The boxwood garden to the west of the ballroom is planted in a two-toned, yellow and pink, lantana (Lantana ‘Confetti’), whose soft colors and naturally floppy habit give this garden a sense of serenity. To the east of the Palace itself, in the yellow-berried holly garden, balsam (Impatiens balsamina) has been installed because of the heavy shade on this side of the building. Balsam of this kind can often reach 4 feet tall and have stems more than 2 inches diameter. Their tendency to seed widely and profusely can be troublesome, but they are stout in the heat and floriferous throughout the hot growing year in Williamsburg.     

The Colonial Nursery, opposite Bruton Parish Church, is a treasure trove of flowering plants, especially in June. Expect to see the sweet bay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) in bloom in June along with two hydrangeas, the oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) and smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) the latter of which presents very variable flowers ranging in different plants from a flat flower panicle to a more fully spheroid flower head.  In June some traditional perennial herbs are coming into flower or will still be in flower: valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium), were both essential healing herbs in antiquity. The yarrows (Achillea millefolium and A. fillapendula), the common white and the latter the familiar yellow, have been common in perennial borders for centuries. Both yarrows perform well in the South because of their drought tolerance. Also expect to see the artichoke-like cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) in bloom as well as a slew of other herbaceous plants such as blattaria, or moth mullein (Verbascum Blattaria), common mullein (Verbascum Thapsus) bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), Stoke’s aster (Stokesia laevis), pink root (Spigelia marilandica), flowering tobacco (Nicotiana syvestris), wormwood (Artemesia Absinthium), and lovage (Levisticum officinale), a celery-like vegetable.

While at the Colonial Nursery, ask garden historians and interpreters Wesley Greene and Don McKelvey to show you the tall yellow silphium (Silphium astericus), the sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa), the sea holly (Erygium amethystinum), and the familiar orange butterfly weed (Aesclepias tuberosa). Wesley and Don have established something of a ‘type garden,’ a garden in which representative samples of many different plants are featured. In addition, look for the familiar rose campion (Lychnis coronaria), clary sage (Salvia sclarea), money plant (Lunaria annua), acanthus (Acanthus mollis) two lilies, Turk’s cap lily (Lilium martagon) and Madonna lily (Lilium candidum), and two lavenders, the regular and Spanish lavenders (Lavandula angustifolia & L. Stoechas).

In other gardens, such as the Geddy House on Palace Green, look for the hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) to peek over the fence and flower during May. In the oval garden at the Orlando Jones House, the annual bed is planted with a traditional combination of orange marigold and dwarf ageratum.