I don’t know about you but My May garden is well and truly exploding with life and colour. It’s a joyful thing, but it also means there’s plenty, no masses, of work to do.
Last week I talked about the May gardening jobs I’d spotted in the front and patio areas of my May garden. It felt like quite a list of tasks to keep me busy. But as a stroll around the rest of my garden, I see there’s plenty more that needs my attention.
As I mentioned last week, I don’t write a rigid list of gardening jobs. I wander around and spot the things which need tidying, sorting, treating, changing. If the thing I spot is quick and easy to do, I may sort it there and then. That’s why I usually have a bucket with my gardening gloves, secateurs and minnie trowel accompany me as I wander. If it’s a bigger job, or I’m short of time, I’ll make a mental note. (Then probably forget!)
Obviously in all this wandering I also spot things which I like or plants which look particularly good or happy. If so, my job may be to do more of something. To make a note of a plant or colour combination that’s working or a plant which likes certain conditions.
My May Garden Means Bearded Irises
One thing in my May garden which is working wonderfully is my bearded irises. As I mentioned last week, the mauve ones at the front of our little cottage are in full flight and looking very pretty.
But I also have some in the back garden too. They’re in front of my lovely little potting shed and they’re not pale mauve. Well, up to now, they’ve been nothing at all, as they’ve been yet to bloom. But this year all that has changed. And to say I’m excited is an absolute understatement!
I blogged about bearded irises and my plans to plant some hot coloured ones at the front of my potting shed, almost exactly three years ago. Gosh where has that time gone!
Back then I wanted hot coloured irises as I was doing a whole more vibrant scheme in this partiular part of my garden. I thought orange, red and yellow bearded irises would look perfect in this spot. But I couldn’t find anyone who did them.
It was during lockdown and I hunted and hunted on the internet but to no avail. I was literally on about page 8 of my Google search when I stumbled on the The English Iris Company. The delightful founder, Simon Dodsworth, spoke to me on the phone as he was so amazed I’d unearthed the company and wanted to know how the heck I’d found them.
After a chat with the charming Simon I ordered among others Red Pike and Rivendale.
Well, roll the clock forwards three years and at last a few of them are flowering for me. The delay between planting and blooming doesn’t surprise me. Bearded irises can take a while to settle in. But these have been well worth the wait.
However looking at them in the border, I’ve concluded that in the same bed there’s too many purple Dutch Irises (Purple Sensation). I think I’d popped them in while I waited for the others to take off. They look lovely but they’re dominating too much. In particular they’re blocking the light from a lovely hot orangey peony which is also growing in the bed.
The Purple Sensation Irises are also preventing the light from reaching the bearded irises’ rhizomes (the bulbous tuber-type part). And this is important as that affects their blooming.
So for now I’m going to cut the Dutch irises and put them in a vase. They’re great as cut flowers.
Then, in late summer, early autumn I’m going to move some, if not all, of them. I may put them in one of my many empty pots.
A quick footnote to my beared iris story. I also ordered and planted an orangey yellow one called Old Hall, but he hasn’t bloomed for me yet. The picture above taken by Marianne Majerus for the English Iris Company shows what I’m waiting for. Maybe it will flower in my May garden next year…I can only hope!
Honeysuckle & Aphids
Another plant which is really rewarding me this year is my Honeysuckle called Rhubarb and Custard. Its name is spot on as its colours do mimic that delicious pudding (and boiled sweets).
I planted the Honeysuckle about four years ago to start covering and add interest to the bottom wall of our garden. Ultimately we will change this end of the garden as it’s where our two ugly sheds reside. I hope both of these will come down this year as Mr F-W is cracking on creating a beautufily new shed elsewhere which will take all his stuff.
But I didn’t want to wait until the sheds were down before planting this climber, as I know only too well how long plants can take to get going. So I planted it quite a while ago.
Well, after a few false starts the honeysuckle this year is looking beautiful and spreading nicely. Glorious clusters of pinky, orangey, yellow and cream.
However, it is an aphid magnet! I’m waiting for the ladybirds to eat them, but they’re being rather slow. So, I need to resort to some of my other – still chemical free – methods.
There are a number of natural garden pest control methods I can try. If there are just a few aphids a simple spray of cold water may do the trick in simply dislodging them. Though I’ll probably have to repeat it as the blighters can be persistent. But looking at the honeysuckle this is a larger invasion. I think I’ll have to resort to dusting the plants with flour. I believe it constipates them! Obviously I won’t do this if there is any sign of ladybirds around.
If you want a nature friendly spray that’s a bit more than water for aphids, a mix of washing-up liquid and water is used by many. Though I don’t like the idea of putting a lot of washing up liquid in the garden. There is however, another mix. It uses four drops of essential oil such as peppermint, thyme or rosemary in a hand spray. This is then topped up with water. This will not only kill the aphids but their eggs as well. I may try that if the flour doesn’t work.
Congested Astrantias in my May Garden
My sunny border is coming along nicely at the moment, but there are certain things that are bothering me. I have a lovely red Astrantia Roma in the bed and this year it is looking really quite congested. This doesn’t surprise me really as it was planted some years ago and perennial plants like this one will routinely need dividing to give them more room.
Last year I did this with one large patch of Sedum and they definitely this year look happier for being given more room to breathe.
The best time to divide summer flowering things like Sedum and Astrantia is Spring time. But I may actually lift a clump of the Astrantia now to enable some air to circulate around the remaining plants. I’ll simply plant the lifted clump in a container. This will be a double win for me as I lost so many plant in pots during the frosts, and so want an economical way of refilling my containers.
Messing about with my Astrantia now is not an orthodox thing to do, but I’m not lifting and dividing the whole plant, I’m only disturbing the chunk I’m lifting. I don’t think I’ll do much harm. So I’m giving it a go.
Geums – Ready for Pots
I have a host of Geums called Totally Tangerine in a bed I call ‘the sick bed. ‘ It’s a sunny spot near one of our ugly sheds where I pop plants which I’ve rescued from the sale tables at garden centres. I also put in this bed plants may have been in one of my containers for some time, and start to look a bit tired. Although I’ve diligently fed them, I feel they need to be planted out in a border to ‘stretch their roots’ so to speak, and get pepped up in a nice roomy bed.
Anyway, the Geums in this bed are now looking far from sick. They’re romping away and actually taking over. So I’m going to lift a clump of them (again not a textbook moment to do this) and put them in one of my big containers that desperately needs filling.
It’s a pot from the front of our cottage that had a lovely rose in it last year, but the rose has very sadly died. While I’m working out what to do with it next, I’m going to ram it full of some Totally Tangerine Geums and enjoy their lovely fluttery brilliance.
Cuttings
Lastly, I’ll start taking cuttings of my favourite perennials now and keep taking them right through until the end of summer. That way, I’ve got plenty of chances for the cuttings to take and my stock of plants to increase.
The cuttings I’ll take are of my Salvia Royal Bumble. It’s a bright red salvia and has been a feature of my garden for some time. But I’m very conscious that salvias can suddenly die on you, especially during a harsh winter. So I also take cuttings as an insurance policy. That way if my original plant survives and the cuttings take, I’ll either simply have more of the beauties or give the new plants to friends. Fancy having a go? See how to take salvia cuttings
In addition to the salvia, I’m also taking cuttings of my wonderful Nepeta Walkers Low. This is because next year we open our gardens once again, and there’s always a plant stall at the event. Nepeta cuttings, in my experience, are one of the most popular plants on that stall. So I’ll hopefully have a lovely selection of plants grown from my cuttings to offer the stall. Talk about forward planning!
What about the Grass in my May Garden
I know that as you’ve been looking at these pictures you’ve been thinking, heavens…that looks a bit scruffy. Well, that’s because I’m giving over my whole lawn to No Mow May.
This means I haven’t cut the grass throughout May and to be honest didn’t cut it for the last week or so of April. So it’s really really long, wild and full of things you probably wouldn’t ordinarily want in your lawn.
But, while it’s undeniably scruffy, I’m so pleased I’ve done it. The insect population in my garden is noticeably noisier. My garden is awash with life, and that can only be a good thing for the planet.
So I’m keeping my instinct to cut the grass firmly locked up along with the lawnmower for the rest of May. But I will definitely be reaching for the mower once June 1st arrives. That will be my first gardening job in June.
Until then, happy insecty gardening – x