Darling buds of May
It is the month when gardens burst into life and are full of colour
THERE’S a freshness in the garden in May which is unlike any other month of the year.
Every leaf is new and pristine, and juvenile foliage often has a lightness of green that will deepen over the summer.
So many flowers take their opportunity to blossom, opening their petals to the welcome sunshine.
Where councils adopt the No Mow May regime, roadside verges and roundabouts are full of wildflowers and in the woodlands there are carpets of wild garlic and bluebells. It’s a joyful time to reconnect with nature and marvel at its wonders.
Aquilegias are a delight this month. Also known as Granny’s bonnets or columbine, they are the quintessential cottage garden plant.
Their picturesque flowers sit on top of long slender stems over pretty scalloped leaves and come in a variety of colours from blues and purples to red and yellow, and sometimes a combination of colours.
Some of my favourite varieties are ‘William Guinness’ which has dark purple and white petals and ‘Black Barlow’ with rich purple double flowers.
‘Nora Barlow’ is an old and popular variety with pretty pale pink, green and white flower heads.
For something more delicate, Aquilegia longissima has fine lemon yellow flowers with long spurs.
If you want to keep your cultivars pure, you will need to deadhead them after flowering as they are easy self-seeders and will hybridise with each other.
They are best grown in fertile, moist but well drained soil in sun or semi shade – mine grow happily under the dappled shade of the birch trees.
Irises are another top bloomer for May and I’m sure we will be spotting many of them as usual in this week’s Chelsea Flower Show.
Iris germanica, or the bearded iris, is pure glamour in the border with its luxurious velvety petals.
The flower is made up of different petals – the upper standards and the cascading falls. The so-called beard is a line of fuzzy hair like structures on the fall petals.
The petal colours can be jewellike in their intensity – for example ‘Carnival Time’ which has a mixture of copper-orange and amber red tones.
If you like something more dark and moody, ‘Deep Black’ has intense indigo purple flowers or you can keep it soft and romantic with the peach and coral tones of ‘Pink Pele’. Set above the flat sword like foliage, these are a must for a hot sunny border.
Irises enjoy very freedraining soil so would be good in a gravel garden as well.
Ideally set the rhizome just proud of the soil as this is where it can get really baked by the sun.
Callistemon has also been catching my eye this week. Its common name, bottlebrush, is the perfect description as the cylindical bristle-like brightly coloured stamens do resemble a brush for washing bottles. A native of Australia, it grows best here in sheltered sunny spots. Callistemon ‘Splendens’ is a reliable variety for growing in the UK and has the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
It’s not something I’ve ever grown before in my own plot but I’m contemplating it as I like its tropical appearance – I’ll keep you posted!
Aquilegias are a delight with their picturesque flowers atop long stems