We leave May, the last month of Spring, behind and move into summer. June is a 'bitty' month in the kitchen garden; a bit of sowing, a bit of transplanting, a bit of pruning, a bit of watering, a bit of pest control and a bit of harvesting (strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes and cucumbers). In the flower garden, June is often the best month for roses.
On June 5th, Mary is out checking which jobs need doing first. It is a sunny day and already 22 ℃ at 11:45 am. The roses (right foreground) are just starting their main flowering period. The garden is lush and green and there is a constant hum of bees.
June 17th and the scent of roses pervades that part of the garden. We visited the
David Austin Rose Gardens at Albrighton, Shropshire a few years ago to view, smell and buy some specimens for our small rose garden. We came away with five varieties: Maid Marion, Munstead Wood, Mary Rose, Gertrude Jekyll and Sir Walter Scott. All five have a beautiful fragrance - what is the point of roses if they don't smell? The roses are also a popular haunt for our local sparrow and tit population - they will happily eat the aphids and offer a natural form of pest control. Note also the foxgloves flowering under the shade of the apple and medlar trees. These provide colour, and nectar for the bees, all summer and even into autumn. The white area, just visible behind the apple trees, is fleece meant to deter the blackbirds from eating our sweet cherries before we get the chance.
Not too much has changed by the end of June (30th). The roses are still going strong and the hydrangea is flowering (left foreground). There is plenty of other stuff going on in the garden that I may cover in another post.
See the table below for a summary of June 2021 weather parameters from our garden Davis Weather Station (equivalent data for June 2020 shown in red). June was dominated by high-pressure systems giving a warm dry month with moderate rainfall. So good for the garden with the first pickings of strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes cucumbers and courgettes.
June 2021 (2020) |
Weather Parameter | Value | Dates |
Average Monthly Temperature | 17 oC (17 oC) |
|
Maximum Monthly Temperature | 31 oC (34 oC) | 2nd |
Minimum Monthly Temperature | 6 oC (6 oC) | 23rd |
Number of Air Frost Days | 0 (0) |
|
Number of Hot Days (> 25 oC) | 11 (8) | 1st, 2nd, 8th, 10th, 12-16th, 24th, 30th |
Monthly Precipitation | 39.8 mm (53.2 mm) |
|
Greatest 24 h Precipitation | 11.2 mm (18.4 mm) | 24th - 25th |
Number of Dry Days | 20 (17) |
|
Monthly Sunshine Hours (estimated) | 200 (193) |
|
Average Wind Speed | 3 km/h (4 km/h) |
|
Highest Wind Speed | 26 km/h (40 km/h) | 9th, 26th |
Maximum Barometric Pressure (Sea Level) | 1028.8 hPa (1025.5 hPa) | 13th |
Minimum Barometric Pressure (Sea Level) | 1008.5 hPa (997.3 hPa) | 20th |
Average Barometric Pressure (Sea Level) | 1019.1 hPa (1012.5 hPa) |
|
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