The darling buds of May
Vibrant colours are yet to come this year, but the garden is full of promise
WE are now into one of the most exciting and beautiful months of the gardening calendar.
Plants are responding to the longer days and warmer temperatures with lots of growth. In the hedgerows, the buds of hawthorn are almost ready to burst.
The birch trees in my front garden are leafing up, while underneath them is a mini forest of purple Queen Anne’s lace (Anthriscus ‘Ravenswing’) starting to produce their frothy creamy white flowers.
The lime green fronds of the Shuttlecock fern are unfurling and the spherical buds on the peonies get plumper day by day, full of the promise of their glamorous flowers.
The word-like foliage of irises is shooting up and hostas will soon be swirling up through the earth in their various colour variations and leaf shapes. Tubes looking like periscopes herald the entrance of Solomon’s Seal (polygonatum) which will delight in May with its arching stems of creamy flowers giving the appearance of droplet earrings. The vibrant colours of summer are yet to come but the garden is full of promise.
Lilacs will be in bloom soon and are prized for their wonderful fragrance. There are many varieties available from the unusual such as ‘Primrose’ which has elegant pale yellow flowers and the lovely ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ with fragrant double lavender-blue flowers complementing heartshaped leaves. Lilacs can grow quite large, but for smaller plots Syringa microphylla ‘Superba’ is a good compact choice. All will attract bees and butterflies to their delicious nectar. For strong foliage, the Euphorbia family is outstanding in May. Euphorbia mellifera is an evergreen dome shaped shrub and one of my favourites with bold leaf rosettes and at this time of year delicious honey scented flowers. The feltlike foliage of Euphorbia characias ‘Wulfenii’ has been joined by its luminous yellow flowers – making it one of the most dramatic plants of late spring and early summer. Euphorbia polychroma covers the ground in a golden carpet. Another foliage classic is Melianthus major, a plant that has become a lot more popular mainly because of its brilliant jagged leaves looking as if they have been cut out with pinking shears. If you rub the leaves, they produce a surprising peanut scent. Now they are sending up their strange maroon spikes of flowers.
Viburnums with their large white pom pom flowers make strong focal points in May. Viburnum x carlcephalum and Viburnum macrocephalum have open branching habits and luxurious creamy white flowers.
Viburnum plicatum ‘Mariesii’ grows in a different way with tiered spreading branches and flattened saucer shaped flowers in pure white. If you’re out shopping this weekend you’ll see plenty of bedding plants available.
If you are tempted, remember there can still be frost at the beginning of May. So choose what you like and keep them protected for the next fortnight or so. In advance you could prepare your containers so you are ready to get planting as soon as weather permits.