This is your ultimate guide to gardening in summer – what to plant, where to plant it and what not to do, with the help of the founders of garden design studio Semple Begg
Award-winning garden design and landscaping studio Semple Begg were the designers behind the summer flowers in Dior’s Cruise 2025 show garden and boast a long list of acclaimed city and rural projects, including the ‘The Elsewhere Garden’, which won an award at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2023.
Founders Susan Begg and Nicola Semple build their gardens by creating a sense of place, using collaboration to form awe-inspiring spaces that don’t just look beautiful but champion sustainability, too.
“Gardens and landscapes are by their very nature dynamic and we seek to create spaces that you can enjoy from the outset and then maintain in the long term,” the duo say.
Here, Susan and Nicola lead you through the best summer flowers to plant in July and August. It isn’t too late to add colour – and remember that what you plant now will flourish in autumn, too.
1. Salvia Nachtvlinder
Salvia is such a rewarding summer flower. Light and graceful in habit, the deeply aromatic foliage is topped by luscious purple, pea-like flowers. Planted in full sun, in light, with free draining soil it will flower continuously throughout summer from June to September.
2. Gladiolus Ruby
This Papillio hybrdid manages to be both breath-takingly glamorous and much more natural in appearance than the Vegas showgirls of the Gladioli family. It is one of the best summer flowers because it likes a sunny position in free-draining soil.
3. Coreopsis Moonbeam
Moondbeam introduces a soft yellow into the garden in the summer months. Yellow is a colour that clients are often wary about using in their gardens, but when placed correctly it can add charm to a green space. Moondbeam is robust, super-long flowering and in our experience, is hardier than other Coreopsis cultivars.
We like it with neutrals like the grass Stipa tenuissima and Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Album’ as in the photo and we’ve also paired it with blue tones such as with Calamintha nepeta ‘Blue Cloud’, Scabiosa caucasica ‘Perfecta’ and Campanula lactiflora ‘Pritchard’s Variety’.
What not to do when planting flowers in July and August
If you have gaps in your planting then plug them with late flowering perennials such as Agastache, Anemones, Asters, Echinacea, Heleniums, Hylotelephiums or Perovskia. In terms of location, ‘right plant, right place’ is the mantra you will all have heard. Follow nursery recommendations, shady plants for shady spots, sun lovers for sun traps.
When selecting the best summer flower combinations, we aim to create a balance of leaf and flower forms with 2-3 plant species in flower at any one time. How to achieve this comes with experience and if it all sounds rather daunting, seek help from your local nursery, they really are you best friend.
Colourful and pleasing summer flower combinations are entirely subjective and there is no right or wrong. If it makes you happy, you have got it right.
Best garden centres in Scotland
For perennials we recommend Macplants near Pencaitland in East Lothian. They grow a huge range of perennials, grasses, alpines and shrubs for all situations. What’s more, Gavin McNaugton and his team are a generous wealth of knowledge. We have learnt so much from them over the years. It’s definitely worth a visit and their plants always look supremely healthy. You won’t be able to resist.
Kevock Garden Plants are another nursery gem right on our doorstep. We would describe them as connoisseurs of specialist plants; bog, alpines, woodland plants and much more. Regular winners of Gold at Chelsea Flower Show, need we say more. Order online.
