June Birth Flowers: Rose and Honeysuckle (gouache style)

June's birth flowers both grow wild in British hedgerows as well as in gardens. The native dog rose, Rosa canina, has simple pink or white flowers, while garden roses range from compact shrubs to huge ramblers, some flowering once and others repeating into autumn. Wild honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymenum, twines through hedges and trees. Its tubular cream and yellow flowers, often flushed pink, are followed by glossy red berries that birds eat.

Bare-root roses are planted between November and March, in sun and rich soil. Deadhead repeat-flowering kinds through summer to keep buds coming, and prune most shrub roses in late winter, though ramblers are cut back just after they flower. Honeysuckle likes its roots in cool shade and its head in sun, and it's pruned lightly after flowering. Its scent is strongest in the evening, when moths come to feed, so it's worth planting near a door or seat.

Full-blown garden roses in pink, coral and plum fill this picture, with honeysuckle alongside. These are roses at their most open, the stage they reach in June's first and fullest flush. The deeper plum tones give the picture weight, and the honeysuckle brings in the hedgerow side of the month.