Late May - "and all the world sweats with the bead of summer in its bud"
Friday, May 31, 2013
It is only a couple of weeks since my last news update so this
will be a shorter version than usual - about time too I hear you
say! The weather continued with the same mixed bag of we have
had all Spring with the recurring features of persistently cold
winds and below average day and nightime temperatures. Some
dry intervals in between and warmth too highest 19C, lowest
min -2C on 25 May which was not welcome. Not a surprise then
to hear it has been the coldest Spring for 50 years.
A surge of growth at last!
The last 7 days, with torrential rain for 2
days, warmer nights and brighter days has seen the long awaited
surge in growth across the gardens and in the surrounding
countryside. It is a time of great anticipation and hope that
this surge will continue all the way through the summer. This is
that special moment when everything is still fresh and
holding the promise of all the good things to come - probably
my favourite time in the gardening year. When Laurie Lee, the
Gloucestershire poet and author best known for "Cider
with Rosie", wrote his poem "April Rise" he spoke of everything
"sweating with the bead of summer in its bud" which sums up
perfectly how I feel now. Being a countryman at heart he was in
tune with the seasons; his attribution of this explosion of growth
to April is accurate because I feel we are 4 weeks behind where we
normally are at this time of year, and just to confirm the point
only now are the apple trees in flower!!
Good growth around the Gardens
The vegetables in the ground are growing away well, including
carrots with all sowings made since late April up and growing
away, unlike last year when only the final sowing in July
germinated. Peas too without any trouble by mice and brassicas are
also looking good. Spuds are late because they weren't planted
until the last days of April but at least they are up and
thanks to multi layers of fleece on colder nights were little
troubled by several sub zero temperatures. However runner
beans in pots in the tunnel have been abysmal the seeds just
rotting off in several succesive sowings - something I
have never experienced before in 25 years of starting them off in
this way. Sweetcorn in pots is later but not a bad thing given the
cold nights we have experienced.
Flower borders starting to show colour with the stars of the
moment being the fabulous blue Himalyan poppy, Lingholm Hybrids,
aquilegias in the widest range of colours I have ever had including
a superb white spurred form called "Kristall", red astrantias in
various cultivars, the first of the bearded iris and many others
too numerous to mention but reflected in the pics below.
Aquilegia "Kristall" with a yellow hybrid longissima in
the background
Much of the new growth on many plants around the gardens
is dark initially before turning green late as in the fine acer
palmatum var. Dissectum Atropurpureum
Podyphyllum hexandrum showing dark marbled foliage
topped by a pink flower that later becomes an edible? fruit. A
really cracking shade lover and already 2 feet tall
This brooding large clump of rodgersia ?aesculifolia by
the pond edge. It rarely sends up more than a couple of flower
spikes but makes an impact all summer with its structure and
size. A good alternative to gunnera if you don't have room for that
monster!
Some sunshine at last! This lovely form of dicentra
"Gold Heart" Shimmering in yer face yellow for 2 months until mid
/late June
The stream garden with in the foreground a fine
old stand of smilacina racemosa (now maianthemum
racemosum)
In the tunnels it is good to be able to start moving out some of
the more tender plants and to have an end in sight with pricking
out and potting on the many seedlings we started in mid January.
Some of these have been hardened off sufficiently to be planted out
in the borders which are now the focus of attention, to fill the
gaps left by last Autumns's drastic clear out of overgrown clumps
and the ravages of the weather of the past 3 months. Since we have
17 borders (I lose count sometimes!) this is a major and time
consuming task but a very enjoyable one as it gives me the chance
to substantially change some of my planting schemes and to
incorporate many of the new plants I have grown or bought in during
the last 12 months.
The re-sown lawns are looking green even though close inspection
reveals some barer patches which will need to be top dressed again.
It seems that the more I cut them now the thicker the new grass
becomes. Because I can't use weedkiller on the lawns, I have
resorted to the old method of weeding out by hand the rogues,
mostly clover and a few docks. I am pretty pleased how this major
overhaul of the lawns has gone so far and my recently acquired
vinatge Webbs cylinder mower gives a really fine finish which makes
the lawns look better by cutting the grass, rather than slashing it
with the rotary mower.
Contrast this with the picture in April News to
see how the grass has come on. Note the slow growth in the
borders!
Wildlife and countryside
Many of the lambs around us are at the stage where they are
ready for market and their brief but entirely natural lives come to
an end. They are an indelible part of the countryside in
spring and a joy to watch as they grow up. They are highly
sociable and form large groups playing and as they get older,
headbutting each other, Soon it will be time for shearing the
ewes who then have a well deserved break, and "turning out" to give
the fields a chance to grow for the silage and hay harvests.
The birdsong in the valley has been wonderful with blackbirds to
the fore especially in the evening from any vantage point they can
find, the higher the better, where their songs can continue for an
hour or so until silenced by dusk. At which point out come the
bats, pipistrelles mostly from the roof of the Lodge, feasting over
the Paddock Pond on the large rises of flies brought on by the
warmer nights.
I see the pied flycatchers every day, just the pair so
hopefully their young have fledged because they are not seen at the
nesting box any more. Just recently I had the first sightings of
redstarts and last night a large flight of 20 or so geese flew
overhead , probably Canada geese, with that unmistakable honking
sound,. On the tidal River Severn where I used to live, the locals
called geese "sky dogs". Finally a pair of pied
wagtails have successfully raised a brood in an old planter under
the nursery staging - they al;ways choose the strangest places.
Visits
We had a special visitor last Monday and a very welcome
one too. Cherise Viljoen from Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden in South
Africa who is Senior Horticulturist and Nursery Manager had been at
Chelsea Flower Show with the team from Kirstenbosch where they had
won a Gold Medal for their display in the Floral Pavilion. The
Botanic Garden is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year, as
was Chelsea Flower Show so there was a good deal of media coverage
for them which was fronted mostly by Cherise. After the Show
she travelled to Wales accompanied by her mother, to
stay with her friend Hazel from Farmyard Nurseries, who worked with
Cherise at Kirtstenbosch when she did a secondment as part of her
horticultural training.
Although it was dull with rain later, she lit up the
day with her sparkling personality, humour, enthusiasm and
knowledge. She is a complete plant nut so needless to say we got on
famously. It was interesting to see her reaction to many of the
northern hemisphere plants we have here with which she is not
readily familiar. We feel much the same about the many plants of
South African origin, one of the most diverse plant areas of the
world, that we grow here. I had a masterclass in growing dieramas,
rhodohypoxis and plectranthus which she was delighted to find in
the tunnels far from their native land. It was a memorable day and
one we will never forget.
Cherise getting familiar with the local flora (the
magnifient Himalayan blue poppy)
And getting familiar with the local
fauna!!
Time to go - sad farewells to Cherise and her Mum. As a
parting shot we learned that Cape Town where Kirtsenbosch is
located is as wet as our part of Wales but lowest temperatures
rarely get below 7C in winter! Hazel and her Dad in the
background.
On Wednesday it was the last talk of the season to our local
gardening club when I launched my newest talk "50 of My Favourite
Hardy Perennial Plants" which went down well. I have a few more
talks based on perennial plants in the pipeline, I just need to get
busy with the cameras this summer!
Our visitor season starts on 5 June with Saga Holidays and with
a forecast of fine weather it is an encouraging way to start our
14th season of opening for The National Gardens Scheme. Please get
in touch if you would like to make a booking as we still have a few
dates left this summer.