June is the month when growth and flowering usually hits its peak in our garden. This year, while growth is now lush and has caught up after a slow and cold start to the growing season, flowering of many plants, such as peonies, is several weeks behind and their floral performance is notably less abundant and more fleeting. While an Irish summer is never dependably sunny, here in the midlands, it certainly seems that we are experiencing cooler, dull and more overcast days than normal, punctuated by occasional days of warm and glorious sunshine alongside deluges of rain and with everything in between.