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| GARDEN DIARY | ||||
| April/May 2010 | ||||
| Click Here For Last Month | ||||
| Susie Pasley-Tyler Things in the garden are looking very different from when I last wrote my diary at the end of February. I can never remember a better spring show than we have enjoyed during April. So many of the early plants that had been held back by the extremely cold weather have coincided with later flowering things which are appearing as scheduled. So, for example, at present in the garden we have both daffodils and bluebells flowering at the same time. It is extraordinary to see daffodils in flower at the end of April. Blossom on all the fruit trees is magnificent and the magnolias are full of flower and so far unscathed by frost. |
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| Pulsatilla vulgaris April 2010 | Tulip negrita & euphorbias in Acacia Border | |||
| .Tulips are coming out in rather a hurry all at once, given the very warm weather of the past two weeks and everything is longing for rain which is being promised in the next few days. I don’t normally water at this time of year, but I have been concerned about newly planted roses and shrubs and likewise herbaceous plants which have gone in recently in the current very dry conditions. Sadly, many of the beautiful woodland plants are not lasting as long as normal in the unusual heat. Erythroniums have gone over more quickly, trilliums are looking rather like they do in June and the wood anemones have had a wonderful but rather short flush of flower. | ||||
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| Erythronium, anemone & epimedium in Woodland Garden | Fritillaria meleagris & ferns in Woodland Garden | |||
| The orchards are currently a magical sight to behold – masses of cowslips, tulip sylvestris, pheasant’s eye narcissus, fritillarias and shortly these will be joined by the blue of camassias, while overhead there is a canopy of cherry, pear and apple blossom. In the Water Garden yellow dominates the scene at present with Lysichiton americanus (skunk cabbage), Euphorbia palustris, Caltha palustris (marsh marigold), forsythia flowering rather later than usual and Fritillaria imperialis. Next on the scene here will be the glorious scented yellow azalea (Rhododendron luteum) and Primula japonica, together with the shuttlecock fern (Matteucia struthiopteris) amongst others. The wisteria on the house is just starting to come out and on the terrace and elsewhere in the garden the scented viburnums (juddii, carlesii etc.) are in flower. | ||||
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| Lysichiton, euphorbia & caltha in Water Garden | Magnolia & Prunus by pond April 2010 | |||
| The main job now is weeding! Unfortunately the garden thugs seem to have enjoyed the cold winter. Ground elder is very vigorous. We don’t appear to have lost much surprisingly after the coldest winter on record for at least thirty years. Even our myrtle which looks brown is showing signs of shooting. We are looking forward to a wet day to persuade us to return to the polytunnel to continue the endless task of planting up this season’s pots to go out after the last frost at the end of May. In the garden we are also now deadheading hellebores which are showing signs of going to seed. At this stage they look so much better with just the new foliage. | ||||
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| Tulip purissima & Pan | Tulip Orange Emperor & Polemonium | |||
| We are opening the bluebell wood from the beginning of May, although it may be a few days into May before the bluebells are in full bloom. Like everything else in the garden they will benefit from some rain. We shall look forward to seeing many of you during May to see the garden, the bluebells and the start of the Wildflower Meadow. | ||||
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| Wisteria on house | Bluebell Wood | |||
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