From drought to deluge and back again!
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Writing this months News item I am infinitely more cheerful than
I was a month ago, when 2 severe frosts had just ravaged the
gardens. In some areas the situation is better now, but the legacy
of those frosts lives on still, and some plants that
should be coming up to their best in late May, are
showing signs of stress . More on this later, but just
to give you a first impression of what I mean:-
Corylopsis spicata without a single green leaf and no
sign yet of any new buds opening. A 15 year old shrub with pale
lemon flowers every Spring. Hope it survives for next
year
Recovery of some plants was greatly assisited by
warmer weather, sunshine, milder nights and plenty of rain just
when we needed it most
Weather.
16 days with some rain, 15 sunny days. Only one frost -1C on
10th. Max 27C on 26th and 4 other days above 20C, Strong
easterly winds on the first 7 days of the month. Overall a good
weather month for gardeners.
Clear blue skies were a common feature of th
month. The large fir tree was home to a large magpies nest. More on
this later.
A superb late evening sky which proved to be
true to the old weather lore rhyme "Mackerel sky, mackerel sky,
never long wet, never long dry" There was drizzle the following
day!
More serious rain followed this cloud formation
towards the end of the month.
Garden update
A wide range of vegetable seeds are up and away, most of
them under cover of horti fleecewhich creates a microclimate for
rapid germination, retains more moisture than you would believe and
protects the young plants from pests large and small. My first
sowing of peas was totally undisturbed by rodents which in most
years can devastate a whole row overnight (hope this isn't tempting
fate!).
Seed sowing underway early May with lots still to be
planted!
Superb germination of pea "Hurst Green Shaft! a long
time favourite of mine. A 10 - 11 week pea!!
You will not believe how stony the 2 vegtable beds are.
This is not a path but the stones I raked out of one of the
veg beds! It's the same every Spring and yet with only about
15 inches of soil on bedrock we still manage to have good crops and
surprisingly of carrots !
Just a year ago this was our third vegetable bed
which to make the House Garden more manageable was turned into a
fine lawn and you know what? it creates a wholly new aspect
to the garden.
Tender vegetables in the tunnels are growing strongly and
having been hardened off in cold frames, runner beans were the
first to go out on 21 May. Sweetcorn, courgettes and Ridge
cucumbers need a week or so longer. 28 large pots of tomatoes have
been set out in the main tunnel. Far more than we need I know but a
range of cultivars provides variety and different culinary
uses. Shop bought tomatoes seem even more tasteless than ever,
irrespective of where they come from, and we can't wait for our
own, fed largely by well rotted sheep manure, to start cropping,
hopefully from late July.
For most vegetables I always succession sow to spread out
the harvest over a longer period especially brassicas, legumes,
salad crops, carrots and beetroots. I am never in
a rush to fill all the veg beds at once which leads to gluts. As
always our first crops were lettuce "Little Gem" from a January
sowing in the tunnels and grown on with radish under fleece. date
of harvest 18 May. Greyhound cabbage ready to cut next
week.
In the flower boders it is always good to see the first of
the early summer stalwarts come into bloom, living up to their
reputation as hardy and long lived plants.
Part of the Picket Fence border at the front of the
house.
There are still gaps in some of the borders which we are
actively seeking to fill up, alongside all the other demanding
tasks all over the gardens. They just never stop, and the rain has
brought on a huge flush of bittercress and lesser willow herb which
Moira assiduously removes before they have chance to seed.
Nursery stock is building in the tunnels and cold frames
for the gardens and to sell at Gelli Mydog for the NGS Open
Day on 11 June. More on this later. Salvia cuttings have done well
and we have built up a wide choice of cultivars. Of all the garden
tasks my favourite of many is the propagation of plants.
Frost damage update
In places in the gardens where our 85 or so hydrangeas are
growing it seems like autumn has arrived with shrivelled leaves and
precious few signs of new growth. Deutzias which normally
flower from late May onwards have damaged buds wich are
unlikely to flower. Such a long lasting impact from just 2
sharp frosts.
This superb fatsia japonica variegata is almost totally
defoliated and it's the same with 2 others elesewhere in the
gardens
Even shrubs that look healthy like viburnum
"Kilimanjaro", still bear some of the scars of the frosts on the
leaves
Although much of the damage is on shrubs, many
herbaceous plants have recovered, but there are some serious
casualties like most lilies, none more upsetting than the martagon
species and hybrids in which all the buds have been destroyed which
should just be coming into flower now. However Cardiocrinum
giganteum in the next pic has recovered sufficiently to send up a
couple of shorter than usual buds.
What's looking good?
Only a picture gallery can do justice to the wide range of
plants that reached their peak in late May.
Lupin "The Governor" at twilight
A congflagration of pelargoniums in the large
tunnel
Iris Sibirica "Silver Edge" and yellow candelabra
primula at the Paddock Pond edge
Bearded iris in dry sunny conditions, but less
floriferous this year thanks to those frosts. The scent is almost
as good as the flowers
The highlight of late May is the flowering of the
big poppies. In the Red Border one of the first plantings in 1999
was Papaver orientale "Beauty of Livermere" and is still going
strong
For a number of years we also had good stands of
the famed and fabulous Himalayan blue poppy in the form " Lingholm
Hybrids" but as they have a tendancy to do, they have faded away
,so to get our blue poppy fix we took a trip to our friends Liz and
Paul and their fabulous garden at Llwyngarreg to see theirs
instead
The only true long term perennials are those that came
into being as the result of a natural crossing of different
species. They produce no viable seed so at present splitting is the
only way to reproduce them. The George Sherriff Group contains some
of the best named forms and this one is "Ascreavie" It really is
that intense blue!
In a lighter shade of blue is amsonia
tabernaemontana which as the name suggests is a native USA prairie
plant with wonderful steely blue flowers in May and June followed
by golden yellow foliage in autumn
Geums have made a comeback in the last few years
having previously fallen out of favour. "Totally Tangerine"
is a tall long flowering form, if cut back after the first
flowering. This pic doesn't do justice to the colour but trust me
if you don't like orange flowers this may not be the one for you!
Go on give one a try and match in with blues and brown leaved
grasses - suddenly a new you!!
The first daylily of the year is always
hemerocallis lilioasphodelus which has the benefit of masses
of smaller intensely scented flowers particularly in the evening.
Many of the more recent yellow cultivars which have scent come from
this wild form.
Wildlife and countryside
A masive amount of activity all aroud us, with birds still
in their main breeding season and plenty of young rabbits in the
surrounding fields but not yet in the garden (Kit the Cat sees to
that!).
There was a special bird highlight during the month. I
heard a high pitched shrieking call whilst working in the garden,
and looked up to see many small birds frantically flying off in all
directions, the sure sign of a bird of prey. The call suggested a
Peregrine Falcon and sure enough what came into view was that
familiar sickle wing shape, not one bird but 2. My only
reservation in identifying the birds was that they seemed too small
for peregrines. There is a summer visitor however called a Hobby
which is at the end of its usual range in our part of Wales. Their
usual prey is smaller birds particularly swallows and martins but
also dragonflies indicating what fabulous fliers they are.
Subsequent research on the internet confimed my identity and
suggested that they are now spreading into newer habitats in areas
on the edge of their normal range. What a thrill and happily they
flew off without making a kill.
To read more about the hobby go to www.hawkandowl.org/species/birds-of-prey-a-z/hobby/
At the beginning of this News Item I mentioned the
large fir tree which had a long established magpies nest. In a gale
at the beginning of the month it was blown out of the tree into the
Red Border. No damage done even though it was quite a heavy
structure. It needed a cart to to take it away and Kit Kat
decided he would try it out (it was lined with moss and
feathers which were much to his liking)! No chicks or eggs so most
likely an old unused nest.
The warm weather in the last week of the month brought out the
first damselflies in a range of red and blue bodied forms,
including a beautiful Blue Demoiselle, with large, midnight
blue wings. It was fairly common here until the last few years
since when I have not seen it until last week. No camera of course
- doesn't it always happen?!
To dicover more about this damselfly go to
www.british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/beautiful-demoiselle
Wild flowers are swelling the fields and lanes. none finer than
ox-eye daisies, together with red campion and absolutely masses of
buttercups (no finer impact than in a hay meadow but such a thug in
the garden!).
My farmer neighbours on their family farms, are at their busiest
time of the year with shearing, calving and the silage harvest all
coming at once. They work incredibly hard and all their efforts
keep the familiar mostly upland landscape, looking much as it has
done for centuries.
In a News Item towards the end of last year I expressed
severe concerns about the future of our ash trees, the second most
common native tree in Carmarthenshire after the oak. Ash Die back
disease is now endemic and many of them lost their leaves in mid
summer and the small branches and twigs began to fall. I was
concerned that they would not come back but many have recently come
into leaf, albeit not vigorously. This is one of the finest old
specimens I have found in our area putting up good show.
Whether for all of the ash this is just a last hurrah we will have
to wait and see.
Visits
We had a number of exciting and enjoyable outings, somehow
finding the time in a busy garden month. From masses of pics here
are some of the best
Malvern RHS Spring Festival one of the best for
some years
in its 60th year it was good to see the stand of
the Hardy Plant Society win a Silver Gilt medal retracing the
history of the Society and some of the plants beloved by its
members
A variety of plant societies had a stand and this for me
was the best, mounted by the British Iris Society. What a huge
plant family with a long and fascinating history. Disappointing
that it was only considered to merit a Silver Gilt medal by the
RHS
After that we needed a laugh which was immediately
provided by an outlet serving Pimms!
Staying on after Malvern, not far away is Spetchley Park
Gardens a favourite garden with a unique atmosphere, even or
because of the rain! To find out more go to
www.spetchleygardens.co.uk Sorry I couldn't get the link to
work.
A fantastic shrub stole the show in the walled
garden. Can you identify it? It stumped me and by all accounts many
other visitors too which makes me feel better!! Answer at the
end.
Whilst in Worcestershire, a favourite spot for an
asparagus lunch is the Round of Gras (the bundles that apsargus is
tied into) at Badsey, Evesham
Clyne Gardens, Swansea www.swansea.gov.uk/clyne
Nestled in a lush valley a few hundred metres from the
sea and just a couple of miles from the city centre, is this jewel
of a garden which is now managed by the City Council. Rhododendrons
in profusion and a host of rare trees form the backdrop but there
are many tender and moisture loving plants. Go the website for
history and information. Open all year round and free
entry.
The paper handkerchief tree davidia involucrata
var.valmoriniana in glorious full bloom, one of nine in the
garden!
Emrothrium cocciheum, the so called Chilean fire
bush
Japanese bridge over the stream fed by the lake at
the head of the garden
Swansea Bay
Go and see it if you can.
And over the late Bank Holiday a trip to Aberaeron
for the annual plant fair in Alban Square, a public space
surrounded by Georgian houses in a seaside town that is famous for
them.
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION POSED EARLIER. The shrub at
Spetchley Park is viburnum macrocephalum. It is rather tender hence
the wall it was growing up.
Finally we will be selling our plants at Gelli Mydog,
Myddfai SA20 0JQ which our friends Robert and Barry are opening for
the NGS for a second year, on 11 June 12.00 - 5.00 pm. We
have a very good range of plants for sale and the gardens are well
worth seeing:- large borders and stream garden, superb manicured
lawns, wildflower meadow and wide ranging views of upland country.
Teas; Signposted from Llandovery and Llangadog. Look for NGS
Yellow Signs. Do please come if you can.
Let us hope we all have a good June to enjoy our gardens at one
of the best times of the year. Thanks for reading.