MAY PLANTS
Early summer offers Fleur a cornucopia of f loral favourites, with delicate f lowers in shades of yellow, white and blue and foliage that has a golden glow
THERMOPSIS LANCEOLATA
Sometimes known as lanced-leaved false-lupine, Thermopsis lanceolata has tall, lupine-like f lowers that rise up through grey-green leaves and in May can reach up to a metre in height. It’s also sometimes confused with a baptisia. In late summer upright, dark, seedpods point up looking like arrows between the felt-like leaves and remain attractive for several months. It will develop many beautiful seedlings, although its seeds barely germinate unless soaked in hot water for 24 hours, then sown in the spring when cold. Unlike its close relative Thermopsis montana, it is not invasive.
Height 1m. Origin Asia, Siberia, Japan. Conditions Well-drained soil; full sun. Hardiness RHS H7. Season Spring – summer.
DISPORUM LONGISTYLUM ‘GREEN GIANT’
While species of Polygonatum have long been familiar garden plants their close relative Disporum from Asia is possibly less well known. This is a shame because disporums are a great foliage plants for shady areas, forming clumps of tall, branched stems, laden with large leaves. In spring these are topped with slender, bell-shaped, soft-yellow flowers. This cultivar, introduced by Dan Hinkley from Sichuan Province in China, has new shoots that emerge in shades of brownish red before maturing to green.
Height 1m. Origin China to Korea. Conditions Moist but well-drained soil; part shade. Hardiness RHS H6, USDA 5a-9b. Season Spring – summer.
SAXIFRAGA ‘FLORE PLENO’
A lovely form of S. granulata that produces an abundance of delicatelooking, creamy-white, double flowers, each held above a crenated-leaved rosette atop a 20cm-tall stalk. The plant goes into summer dormancy and disappears below ground after flowering. It loves a fertile clay soil and works beautifully alongside late-flowering shade-loving plants, such as Begonia grandis subsp. evansiana, Cyclamen hederifolium or Impatiens omeiana. In the Netherlands it’s known as bells of Haarlem as it once grew in large numbers around a monastery in the Dutch city of Haarlem.
Height 40cm. Origin Europe. Conditions Moist but well-drained soil; partial shade. Hardiness RHS H7. Season Spring.
LUNARIA REDIVIVA
In the Netherlands this perennial honesty is known as Judaspenning, as it’s said its large, flat and silver-coloured seedlings, which look like coins, first grew where Judas threw his 30 pieces of silver. The flowers open a soft-lilac colour gradually fading to white and eventually forming beautiful silvery seedheads that hang down like earrings – not as round as Lunaria annua, but equally spectacular. It self-seeds easily, and works well in shaded woodland areas where soil is not too dry. It also combines well with other plants in naturalised planting schemes. AGM*.
Height 90cm. Origin Europe. Conditions Moist but well-drained soil; full sun to part shade. Hardiness RHS H7, USDA 5a-8b. Season Spring – summer
CONVALLARIA MAJALIS ‘FERNWOOD’S GOLDEN SLIPPERS’
A most aptly named lily of the valley, with lush, golden-yellow foliage that stays this beautiful sunny colour until autumn. I love lily of the valley, not only for its sweet scent and beautiful tiny bells, but also because it’s imbued with so much symbolism. Despite the fact every part of the plant is poisonous one of its most common associations is with youth and pure love – one of the reasons it is so often found in wedding bouquets. I always encourage everyone to bring a vase of it into the house every year.
Height 25cm. Origin Europe, Asia, North America. Conditions Calcareous soils; dry, shady woodland. Hardiness RHS H7, USDA 3a-8b. Season May.
CORYDALIS ELATA
These bunches of blue flowers held on tall, waving stems are at their most beautiful when they are backlit by the sun, which then highlights the flower’s beautiful, subtle veins. It’s one of several blue Corydalis recently introduced from Sichuan Province in China. Perhaps the best known is the appropriately named C. f lexuosa ‘Blue Panda’ from Sichuan’s Wolong Panda Reserve, but this form performs well in both cool and hot summer climates, and flowers from spring into summer. Its fresh-green leaves make it a good companion for yellow-green flowering plants.
Height 50cm. Origin China. Conditions Well-drained soil; part shade. Hardiness RHS H7. Season Spring – summer.
CHLORANTHUS SESSILIFOLIUS ‘DOMINO’
An unusual and slightly mysterious plant that is wrongly sold by some nurseries as Chloranthus fortunei. It opens in late April/early May with black foliage that gradually fades to a dark green by June, although the scented, fluffy white flowers are held on stalks that remain black. The shiny, young, black shoots look very striking, but they can quickly disappear once slugs and snails discover them. We’ve made several cuttings of the plant with varying results, and it doesn’t always come true from seed. Just to add to its mystery it is pollinated by thrips.
Height 50cm. Origin Asia. Conditions Moist but well-drained soil; part shade. Hardiness RHS H6. Season Spring.
CAREX ELATA ‘AUREA’
It was the well-known botanist and author EA Bowles who discovered this cultivar of the perennial, evergreen grass growing in East Anglia and so gave it the common name of Bowles’s golden sedge. It forms elegant, hanging clumps of such bright yellow it looks as though the sun is shining through it even in winter as in mild years the grass holds on to its yellow colour until late in the year. It needs a moisture-retentive soil as its leaves will burn if the grass gets too dry or too hot. However, in the right conditions its glorious golden colour creates an unbeatable effect. AGM.
Height 60cm. Origin Europe, UK. Conditions Moisture-retentive soil; full sun to part shade. Hardiness RHS H6, USDA 5a-9b. Season Year round.
LAMPROCAPNOS SPECTABILIS ‘VALENTINE’
I’ve loved this brick-red bleeding heart since I first encountered it, back when it was still a Dicentra. The muted colours of its dull-red flowers and bronze-tinted leaves make it a quiet addition to the spring garden amid the vibrancy of most spring flowers. It prefers a slightly damp spot in part shade, otherwise the leaf can dry out in summer making the interesting leaf colour disappear. Its flowers are hermaphrodite, meaning they have both male and female organs. In warm areas the plant goes into summer dormancy. AGM.
Height 60cm. Origin China, Korea, Japan, Siberia. Conditions Moist but well-drained soil; part shade. Hardiness RHS H6, USDA 3a-8b. Season Spring – early summer.