When Summer Reaches Its Peak

In this exceptionally hot summer of 2026, with heat wave upon heat wave drying out even the greenest gardens and garden centres selling out of irrigation supplies, it is easy to think the best of the gardening season is already behind us.

But look a little closer.

This is when butterfly bushes begin to hum with butterflies, globe thistles become favourite landing places for bumblebees, sunflowers feed countless insects, and hoverflies quietly go about their work.

High summer is different from spring.

In early spring, every flower seems precious because so little else is available.

By April and May, the garden seems to explode. Everything grows at once. Borders become lush, shrubs burst into leaf, and gardeners suddenly find themselves trying to keep up with weeds that seem to grow overnight.

By late July and August, especially during an exceptionally hot summer like this one, that lushness begins to fade. At first glance, abundance seems to have given way to scarcity.

But peak summer is the season of Buddleja, globe thistles, sunflowers, crocosmia and countless other late-flowering plants that keep pollinators well supplied when the garden seems to have slowed down.

Buddleja, commonly known as the butterfly bush, is perhaps the easiest place to begin. Its long flower spikes can attract dozens of butterflies on a warm afternoon, often including Painted Ladies, Large Whites, Peacocks and Red Admirals. Standing beside them, the garden almost seems to buzz with movement.

Whether cultivated or wild, thistles are equally irresistible to pollinators. Their nectar-rich flowers seem almost designed as landing platforms for bumblebees, allowing them to work methodically from one tiny flower to the next.

Sunflowers offer more than cheerful colour. During flowering they provide nectar and pollen, and in autumn their ripening seeds become a welcome food source for birds.

Leave a few standing through winter and there's a good chance you'll be rewarded with a new generation of sunflowers the following spring.

Even shrubs not usually thought of as pollinator plants can become surprisingly busy during warm summer days. A flowering hibiscus may not rival a butterfly bush, but on a sunny afternoon it rarely stays unnoticed for long.

And among the summer flowers, the first signs of autumn already begin to appear. Japanese anemones slowly lift their silky buds above the foliage. Once they open, they flower for weeks, producing blooms that look delicate but prove remarkably resilient.

And although small, they are also a source for pollinators, such as this Giant Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria). Often overlooked, they are among the garden's most valuable visitors, pollinating flowers while many of their larvae feed on aphids elsewhere in the garden.

Perhaps this is what we enjoy most about gardening.

Every season has its own moment.

Spring belongs to lungwort, tulips and an abundance of other greenery.

Early summer belongs to roses and the first lavender blossoms, among much else.

And high summer, particularly this 2026 summer, may seem tired and ready for autumn to start. But even now, butterflies, bumblebees and other insects are more present than you might think.

Don't ever lose your passion for gardening. Every season, whether shaped by cold, heat, rain or drought, has its own beauty. And with every tree, shrub and flower we plant, with every corner we leave for wildlife we help create places where both people and nature can flourish.

Take me to the next journal post!