End of month Review for May

Is it really the end of May? My goosebumps tell me it's more like the end of March.The photos are all a bit last minute and had to be taken in the rain (again).

Everything has put on a spurt of growth and as you can see from the next photo it's all looking very lush. The sun shade is still out in the hope of a bit of sun. It's not very good at keeping the rain off....

We've been away for a few days working in someone else's garden (more of that in the next post) That was when the weather was warm and ideal for gardening. So our garden is now needing attention and it's wet and cold again.

But everything does keep on growing and I do sometimes wonder what would happen if I just left it? Would the weeds now threatening a mini takeover just disappear under the rampant new foliage of the astrantias and the opium poppies?

Weeding does become increasingly tortuous as the plants get bigger and precious seedlings get squashed by my big feet. So as soon as it dries out I'll be in amongst it again. In the meantime don't look too closely...

The tulips "Queen of the Night" are past their best but have bounced back after heavy rain and a shower of hail. The crambe cordifolia behind is one of three in the garden about to burst into sprays of tiny white flowers.

A dense every spreading of Centaurea montana (perennial cornflowers) are beginning to flower in a corner with some self seeded teasles and a Philadephus for company. I remember seeing this cornflower in a vivid patch of blue by the roadside in Orkney. It can be a bit of a thug but what a colour. I noticed on a recent trip to a garden centre  that there is a new magenta shade for sale as well as the blues, lavender and white shades.

There are two or three Cardiocrinum Giganteum (Himalayan Lily) that have put on a lot of growth recently. They still have several inches to put on before the enormous creamy lily flowers appear from the central bud.

 

This more open area is full of self seeded opium poppies in among the grasses, penstemons and the one lonely giant echium. The poppies desperately need thinning out and are on my "to do" list. But it is a hand weeding job...

Further up the garden, looking back to wards the house the miscathus grass and the buddleja "Black Knight" are looking lush and the flower buds have appeared on the phlomis. This is a moment of joy as there were no flowers on the phlomis last year.

The Ceonothus "Concha" is in full flower. I'm hoping it will bounce back after being weighed down by the recent heavy rain.

Through in the Kitchen garden the herb border is beginning to fill out.

French Tarragon and Rosemary plants had to be replaced and the new ones have been planted in pots. The box towards the right of the picture contains salad leaves.

There has been some growth in the vegetable beds but it still needs to warm up before courgettes and French beans can be planted out. So there are a few gaps....

But in the absence of abundant crops I'd like to draw your attention to the Broad beans which are a Heritage variety with beautiful red flowers.

Lets hope we get some more warm weather soon....

It's worth having a look at how the month of May has been in other gardens at The Patient Gardener's.