Friday, 23 May 2014

A day in the garden

If you came this way in may time, you would find the hedges
White again. in May, with voluptuary sweetness.
T.S.Eliot in this excerpt from 'Little Gidding' describes exactly how the countryside is looking at the moment, the  hedgerows and verges are heavy with white blossom, it's exceptionally beautiful this year due to the mild winter and plentiful rain. (It's tipping down with rain again today.)  The months of May and June are the best times for my garden, everything lush with new growth and some of my favourite flowers, iris, peony and roses, in bloom.
Sunshine in the morning tempts me early out of bed and into the garden
where the shadows are still long and everything is quiet.

I had been due to go to the Chelsea Flower Show with my daughter this week but wasn't able to make it. When I saw the jostling crowds on television I was sure that I'd made the right decision. (And it saved me from the temptation of buying more plants when I haven't any space left to grow them!) I have just as much pleasure in wandering around my own patch.
The forget-me-nots that act as ground cover are running to seed. I'm always loathe to pull them up because they leave the borders looking rather bare. But I've got annuals waiting to go in the ground so this week I was ruthless and put the forget-me-nots on the compost heap.
They will already have seeded themselves generously about the place for next year.





In the early part of the week we had clear blue sky and a bit of real warmth. I put some tomato plants in the garden. (Possibly a big mistake, today it is cold!)
But for Skywatch Friday, some blue sky and roses.
The evening sunset makes the garden look different again.




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16 comments:

  1. WILDSIDE23 May 2014 at 17:24

    Sigh! I'm feeling the same way about here. Everything is so incredibly amazing if not productive. I'm avoiding buying things, we are so overfull. The wildlife are really loving us, including all the baby ones. It is such a privilege. I'm feeling so deliriously happy to the point it is a bit perplexing! And obnoxious. But go with it. Avoid the questions?

    Hope your day goes well!

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    1. Share my Garden27 May 2014 at 11:35

      No, not obnoxious, just fantastically uplifting.

      Thank you, the day went well!

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  2. WILDSIDE23 May 2014 at 17:29

    P.S. My older neighbor has some iris that look like yours that smell exactly like grape bubblegum. They were a gift so she doesn't know their origin. But they are amazing! She offered to give thinnings to me in exchange for my help digging them out, but due to circumstances (family & otherwise), I've regrettably had to turn all that down... What do yours smell like?

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    1. Share my Garden27 May 2014 at 11:50

      Like your neighbour my iris were a also gift. I think that it is 'Jane Phillips' but I may be wrong. It is very prolific and lightly perfumed. My other iris are mostly sibiricas. I've got the Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix book of early perennials and their photos of iris are mouthwatering!

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  3. Gemma Wiseman23 May 2014 at 18:29

    Your little garden world is so enchanting. So many nooks of magic. I too would get great pleasure in wandering such a world.

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  4. elaine 23 May 2014 at 22:58

    It's the best time in my garden to - by July it is all starting to look a bit tired. I've been doing the same with the forget-me-nots, although they look lovely and fill all the gaps nicely, same with the wallflowers. But like you I needed the space - those few days where we had some actual sunshine I got most of the waiting plants in situ. Your garden is looking lovely - I didn't realise you had so many shaped balls in the garden - who gets the job of trimming them?

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    1. Share my Garden27 May 2014 at 11:55

      I think that there is great skill in keeping a garden going all year round. Like you, my garden tends to flag a bit in late summer.
      I've not got so many shaped balls, I think the same ones have been photographed from different angles. I start to trim them in a wobbly manner and then Himself takes over. (A clever strategy, it also works when edging the paths!)

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  5. WendyMcLeodMacKnight24 May 2014 at 03:15

    Amazing! I need to fly you to Canada to help with mine!

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    1. Share my Garden27 May 2014 at 11:56

      Oh, fly me over, Wendy, I'm sure I can create mayhem at the other side of the Atlantic just as well as here!

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  6. Kcalpesh24 May 2014 at 14:07

    Beautiful. Your garden is a stunner..

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    1. Share my Garden27 May 2014 at 11:58

      It is a source of enormous pleasure to me. I like grubbing about in the soil just as much as wandering around and marvelling at the beauty of flowers.

      Delete
  7. Casa Mariposa24 May 2014 at 19:42

    Everything looks amazing! I'll take your rain. We're a bit dry. Love all the stone work. :)

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    1. Share my Garden27 May 2014 at 12:02

      I know that I go on endlessly about the constant rainfall here in Blighty, but I'll admit that without it we would not have the abundance of growth that I am enjoying so much at the moment. And watering by hand in dry weather is such hard work. Hope you've had a good downfall.

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  8. Paula25 May 2014 at 13:58

    Your garden is so beautiful, it almost hurts, in a good, touching way. :-)

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    1. Share my Garden27 May 2014 at 12:05

      A sunny day in May, after or just before a shower of rain, is just wonderful. Everything fresh, new and full of promise.

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