Top ten plants for July gardens

The vibrant purple-blue flowers in summer bloom on upright stems, adding deep colouring to borders. Not only can they add bold colour in your garden but also into your dishes and drinks as the petals are edible.

This perennial has a tall, slender habit, growing up to 1m tall. It doesn’t demand much, making it a great addition to gravel gardens or within mixed borders. The pretty pale pink flowers are attractive to bees.

Commonly found on banks of streams, this native plant is easy to grow with the fluffy sprays of flowers on stems that reach 90cm tall. They’ll look well-suited in wildlife gardens, wildflower meadows and informal planting schemes.

Another plant that the pollinators will enjoy, this spreading, bushy annual has bright yellow blooms through summer. The flowers contrast with the blue-green foliage made up of fine leaves. In a gravel garden or alpine rock garden, this low growing plant will look marvellous.

The cascading purple flowers form tassels that drop from the branches to create a waterfall effect. They are great focal points in the garden where they grow up to 1.5m tall. Flowering from July to September, the blooms look stunning in the garden but can also look great as cut flowers or in a dried flower arrangement.

With miniature pom-pom flowers in dark crimson, they look almost black on a cloudy day. Perfect for use in a dark and dramatic planting scheme. Pollinators will flock to the blooms, making them a great addition to wildlife gardens.

White flowering borage makes a difference to the usual blue borage flowers. The petals of this beauty can be used as decoration on bowls of soups and salads. Meanwhile, the leaves can be added to dishes to add a cucumber-like taste.

The appearance of the flowers explains the common name, as the white and yellow colouring gives the look of an egg! The flowers complement the lime-green fern-like leaves that will add a brightness to a border or as edging where it grows up to 15cm tall.

Growing up to 1.8m tall, the large heart-shaped leaves are towered over by tall black stems covered with small yellow flowers in dense clusters. With their tall growth, protect them from strong drying winds, with shelter from midday sun.

Last is an evergreen perennial which adds texture and interest to the garden. The soft white foliage is the star of the show, but it is joined by small purple flowers through summer. Perfect for underplanting, edging, and ground cover, they also work well in gravel gardens and cottage style spaces.