These are the best flowers blooming in July to enjoy in your garden right now
If your garden is looking a little tired after the first flush of summer, don't worry – there's still plenty of colour to enjoy. From towering sunflowers and fragrant sweet peas to showstopping dahlias, these flowers are all putting on a spectacular display right now. Whether you're filling borders or picking stems for the vase, these are some of the best flowers to enjoy in July and into August.
Sunflowers are true sun worshippers. During the day, their heads track the sun's movement across the sky — a phenomenon known as heliotropism — ensuring they soak up every possible ray. As night falls, they gently turn eastward, ready to greet the sunrise all over again.
Stocks come in a variety of colours, from deep purple, pink and red to soft white and cream. Highly fragrant, they're often referred to as 'scented stocks' for this very reason.
Stocks thrive in sunny spots with well-drained soil, making them a popular choice for cottage gardens and borders.
Gypsophila, more commonly known as baby’s breath, is a delicate herbaceous perennial characterised by its slender grey-green leaves, deep taproot, and intricately branched stems bearing clouds of tiny white flowers. Light and airy in appearance, it adds softness, volume, and a romantic touch to garden displays.
Delicate yet elegant, sweet peas are vigorous climbing plants that can reach up to 2 metres in height. Adored for their butterfly-like petals and sweet fragrance, they’re a timeless favourite in cottage gardens and floral displays alike.
These uplifting blooms are easy to grow and reward you with a cascade of colourful, perfumed flowers that bring joy to any outdoor space. Start them from seed or buy young plants, and give them a sunny spot with well-drained soil and plenty of support — think trellis, obelisk, or a classic bamboo teepee.
'Water them regularly, pinch out the tips when they’re small to help them grow bushy, and remove old flowers to keep them blooming longer,' advise the horticultural experts from British Garden Centres. 'They make great cut flowers too and can be taken indoors to fill your home with beautiful, fragrant blooms all summer.'
Nigella, also known as love-in-a-mist, is a charming annual herb with upright stems reaching around 50cm tall and fine, thread-like foliage. Its delicate, airy appearance comes from the hair-like bracts that encircle each single bloom, creating the soft 'halo' or 'mist' that gives the plant its poetic name.
Fast-growing cosmos are loved for their dainty daisy-like blooms. ‘It fills gaps in borders well, keeps producing blooms if regularly deadheaded, and is one of the more forgiving things to grow from seed,’ says Julian Palphramand, head of plants at British Garden Centres.
Cornflower is a charming annual or biennial herb known for its slender, lance-shaped leaves and vivid flowerheads, most commonly in a striking shade of violet-blue. It's a favourite in wildflower meadows and cottage gardens.
With 42 known species and a dazzling array of colours, dahlias are long-time garden favourites that never fail to impress. From soft pastels to bold, saturated hues, these vibrant blooms are the ultimate showstoppers — bringing drama, texture, and a sense of celebration to any garden display.
Neil Miller, head gardener at Hever Castle & Gardens, comments: 'Dahlias are relatively easy to grow, as long as you store them well and feed them. We use chicken feed and growmore (to get them going) at Hever. They enjoy the nitrogen. You can also buy dahlia fertiliser, or you can use rose food, which has a lot of potassium, which is good for the dahlia flowers.
'We find that it's best to grow your dahlias from tubers rather than from seed – you'll get more flowers. If you are too late for tubers, you can buy dahlias as plugs or more mature plants.'
Oriental lilies are bulbous perennials known for their lush, fleshy foliage and striking inflorescences of large, outward-facing blooms. Compared to Asiatic lilies, their flowers are typically fewer in number but significantly larger and more trumpet-shaped, often accompanied by an intense, sweet fragrance.
Alchemilla, a hardy herbaceous perennial, is best known for its soft, scalloped bright green leaves and delicate haze of tiny, chartreuse-yellow flowers. The blooms form a frothy, cloud-like effect that adds a subtle, romantic touch to borders and bouquets alike.
Also known as lady's mantle, Alchemilla thrives in sun or partial shade.
Toby Buckland, gardening expert and former Gardeners' World presenter who worked with Dunster House on the advice, says alchemilla is 'perfect for softening border edges and self-sowing in paths for a natural look'.
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