Beautiful new growth on my acer
May is always quite magical, with everything starting to come alive in the garden. I’m sure things are happening much earlier this year though. The acer near the back door looks wonderful with its beautiful new spring growth. We’ve been very lucky, there have been no strong winds since the leaves emerged, so it still looks perfect! A recent half-price offer in the local
garden centre inspired me to buy another small acer, ‘Sango-kaku’, which is now potted up around the pond, too.
Back in February, I told you I was creating a raised cacti bed. Well, it looks wonderful now, planted up with some hardy varieties.
I’ve got a small ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ along the central path and a large, old apple tree by the studio that are usually buffeted by strong winds, but this year the blossom is incredible on them.
If you stand at the top of the garden and look back to the house, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the heart of the jungle. The palms all weathered well under fleeces this winter and look amazing with the gorgeous sunlight on them. I managed to overwinter many geraniums and pelargoniums again, and one in particular has flowered early and the small pink blooms are almost electric. It’s called ‘Meadowside Midnight’.
One of my favourite pictures of the garden in the last couple of weeks is of the mystical fern fronds unfolding alongside the pond. Plants looking great in the garden at the moment are the delicate ajuga ‘Pink Lightning’, bursting skyward alongside the central path. On the other side of the path I planted 10 Phuopsis
stylosa ‘Pretty Pink’ last season and they didn’t look great earlier
in the year. They’ve recovered
well and are soon going to be producing masses of delicate pink flowers that’ll trickle over the dwarf brick wall.
Just flowering too is the beautiful Berberis ottawensis
purpurea ‘Superba’, clinging to the rusted metal support in the centre of the garden. It’s Chelsea Flower Show
next week and I shall be there on May 23, on behalf of the National Garden Scheme. I was also contacted by the Austrian Horticultural Society! It is bringing a group of 30 to the show and had heard of my garden. They wrote saying they really wanted to visit. I’m not usually open in May but have agreed to let them come, following their visit to the show, next week. They’ve decided to enjoy tea and cakes, too!
Read more about the garden at www.driftwoodbysea.co.uk.