Sheffield Botanical Gardens in June

I realised the other week that I hadn't been to Sheffield Botanical Gardens in some time. Indeed when looking back I last time I visited was in October 2014! With the passing of time and a different season I thought a visit was in order.

With it being the beginning of June and with plenty of sunshine being about I thought the gardens would be a riot of colour. Unfortunately I was wrong. Many of the beds had not been planted up yet and in the borders there were shrubs and plants but not a lot of colour. However, this is the Botanical Gardens so although there wasn't masses of traditional civic parks planting there was plenty to discover.

The alliums may be past their majestic purple best but their structure adds so much interest to a garden for ages afterwards.

The herbaceous borders are just waiting to come into their full summer glory. The use of the twigs gives a rustic, country feel to planting in the middle of a big city.

Rather than bright colours in the herbaceous border the palette is more muted and subtle. The delicate ruffles of the salmon pink petals of the Oriental Poppies bobbed gently in the breeze.

This is a great time to see peonies at the moment. This one goes by the name of 'Bowl of beauty' Paeonia lactiflora. What an appropriate name for a fine specimen.

I always like a bit of an unusual tree and this one is actually a type of dogwood. At this time of year the 'China Girl' Cornus kousa is covered by an abundant of white flowers (and now you all have David Bowie's 'China Girl' in your head!)

The main concentration of colour was to be found in the Rose Garden. Pan, Spirit of the Wood is currently delightfully framed by the scented blooms.

For full on colour you can't beat the fuchsias at the moment. There was a mass of two tone pendants swinging about in the wind.

The recent rainfall has given the Rock and Water Garden an extra lushness. When I visited the gardens there was bright sunshine but still quite blustery. Over the last couple of days the wind and rain seems to have turned summer into autumn so the effect on the gardens with so many trees could be quite severe. I'll have make a return visit sooner than I did this time.