As we enter the late part of May everything is picking up pace in the garden. The days are finally warm enough to be out until the evening in a T-shirt and seedlings are being kicked out of the greenhouse as fast as I can find room for them in the beds. I need the sheltered greenhouse space very soon for the all important sowing of biennials which will begin to be sown in late June; foxgloves, sweet rocket, sweet William are just a few of the seeds which will be sown in preparation for next years harvest. Last years biennial seed sowings are nearing their moment to flower now and I wait in eager anticipation, desperate for the bounty they will provide. The foxgloves in white and apricot bulking up nicely, already spoken for, for a wedding in just a few weeks time.
The birds are singing a cacophony of tunes and as I write this the cuckoo is calling in the distance. My few precious peony plants are now covered in fat buds, it won’t be too much longer to wait for them. The white lilac tree gracefully nods in the warm breeze, gently calling me to come and smell its flowers, the scent it so delicate. Happy little geums are providing me with plenty of stems to cut, the candy like lupins are growing strong and tall; every year they are a stalwart for cutting here in our garden. Clematis Montana takes over from the blackthorn blossom to provide a most enchanting backdrop to the garden in these final days of May; it reaches high up into the holly tree, very soon it will pass the baton onto the laburnum whose mass of cascading bright yellow blooms are just ripening up now. The very charming Aquilegia (granny’s bonnets) are looking at their best this week, also brilliant in bouquets to dance above larger blooms; they are so lovely and come in so many varieties.
It’s good to be outside and getting jobs ticked off the growing list. There’s been lots of weeding and staking this weekend. Staking, for the biggest of the flowers to come, like the statuesque delphiniums (fittingly named pacific giants!) the dahlias, which are only just sprouting up, (feeling accomplished to get them staked before they need it for the first year ever!) the Lilly’s and the sunflowers.
Anyway that’s all for this week, blessings from this patch to yours, until next time, Rebecca.