Heat Wave! Well, it hasn’t rained for almost a week, which amounts to the same thing in this neck of the wood. Do not fear, rain is forecast once again for next week so I will bask in all its waterproof-free glory whilst it lasts. I will live, defiantly, in the moment.
May is possibly my favourite month, it is the anything is possible, all mistakes have been forgotten, I’m sure it is meant to look like that, pre-reality check month. A torrent of positivity and, to add to the joy, now we have sunshine. Fabulous. I think we had been get Six on Saturdaying, there is no time to waste. I’m certain our leader, the indomitable Jim at Garden Ruminations isn’t hanging about, tempus fugit, hay must be made!
Shall we start with a bang? This little evergreen azalea, unnamed and brazen, is a pocket rocket at the moment.
Last week I popped into a local nursery that specialises in bedding. I was passing quite close by and there would be no harm in doing a recce. Just for a look, you understand. I came away with two lemon verbena plants and this Bergenia ciliata ‘Dumbo’ that I rescued from the bargain bench. Lemon drops and a baby elephant, irresistible.
A self-seeded, possibly bird planted, Welsh poppy unfurls its flowers with all the elegance of a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. Gosh, that was a bit poetic, I think the sun must be getting to me!
The only candelabra primula to make an effort this year is this white, yellow-eyed, beauty.
Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ is slow to leaf but well worth waiting for. This small tree has done so much better than the specimen we left behind in North Devon, it must be enjoying the clay soil and the (almost) incessant rain. This living in the moment is trickier than it sounds.
Underneath the pear tree is now officially known as the Guano Bed. It is here that the bird feeders hang, the sparrows squabble, the starlings bicker and our other avian visitors try to avoid the chaos. And it is here that the birds poop, covering all vegetation with a splattering of guano. Hidden, under protective foliage, are the iridescent pearls of Solomon’s Seal flowers.
Another SoS completed, it is getting much easier as the garden wakes. I hope, wherever you are in the world, you are managing to live in a perfect moment. I’m trying.