All apart from one week from the 20th which was warm sunny and dry, May was a wet and at times windy month also cool – a bit like most of April really.
However, plants started to grow at last, but with the lack of sun it has been mostly foliage growth and in some respect to the detriment of flowers. Having said that the Rhododendrons and Azaleas, although later flowering than last year, have been spectacular. Our fruit blossom was over quickly, I hope that there will be some cooking apples, a few pears and maybe a very few damsons. There are no Victoria plums at all.
Some people think that I am very strange in that I love weeding! Unfortunately with the recent rain I have got somewhat behind with the weeding and now, in the lower garden particularly they are running riot! Hairy bittercress, and dandelions being the most prolific. Happily the pignut is almost gone from the flower beds and the remainder of its leaves are yellowing – there is still plenty of it under the boundary hedges though.
The new beds under the pergola are planted up and filling out, the Aquilegia "Green Apples" is so dainty in flower and the Achillea Moonshine is just coming into flower.
I still have some new plants which I had hoped to use to fill spaces, but the foliage growth has been so great that I can no longer see the gaps for which they were intended! I have lost one or two hosta's from the bed around the "dry stream" and need to put some new ones in – I have already got a Krossa Regal or Big Daddy that I could use... or maybe some ferns instead!
All our pots for our terrace display are now growing on nicely as are the hanging baskets, and at last I have managed to split all the canna's, giving enough for the displays as well as quite a few for sale on our Open garden days.