May is one of the most beautiful months in the gardening calendar, every day there are new delights in the garden, but this time they passed me by as my mind was somewhere else. I still came into the garden and photographed the flowers but somehow didn’t get the same pleasure from them that I usually do. It is only now that I can look back at the photos and appreciate all the beauty that has been around me for the last few weeks.
I am still waking up very early, so am out in the garden in my pjs and wellies from about 5.30am or 6am, attacking all the weeds that have been growing over the last few weeks. The bog garden has had a lot of work done on it and is now ready for all the candelabra primulas to flower, just in time.
I have weeded the right hand side of the bog.
The left hand side has now been weeded, so much grass and buttercups.
Left hand side now weeded.
Weeding finished just in time as the candelabra primulas are starting to flower.
The most beautiful flower this month has been the Meconopsis, such a beautiful kingfisher blue, an unbelievable blue, it is so stunning. I bought a few special hybrid meconopsis last year and only one flowered this year. All the others have split into 2, 3 or 4 plants, so hopefully they will flower next year. The one that flowered has split into 2 so hopefully this means that it has decided to be perennial.
Such a wonderful colour.
All over now for this year, hopefully more plants will flower next year.
Meconopsis betonicifolia has also flowered in the sunset border, much smaller than the hybrid flowers but just as pretty. It seems that some of the stamens have changed into petals, it looks rather strange to see blue coming from the centre of the flower.
Very strange.
I will save the seed and see if the offspring are the same.
Another plant that has captured my interest is this year is Primula sieboldii. Such lovely little flowers, enjoying woodland type conditions, with the prettiest flowers looking just like snowflakes. The backs of the petals come in different colours which contrast with the whiter fronts, they look delicate but I believe they are quite robust.
Lovely little snowflakes
Such pretty flowers.
I have just been away for a few days, our daughter came and “kidnapped” me and took me back to Bristol where she looked after me and took me garden visiting to Bristol Botanic Garden, post will hopefully follow soon. I have returned home re-energised and ready to tackle any problems the garden can throw at me, well, most of them anyway.
As soon as I step into the garden, I have company, no matter how early it is. With a whirring of wings, my garden robin thinks I am there just to provide his/her breakfast of worms, larvae and anything that wriggles. He comes so close, sometimes sitting on my boots, but I think there are babies somewhere as he flies off in the same direction each time, with a beakful of wrigglies.
Lovely food.
I’m waiting.
Once again, many thanks to everyone who left a message on my previous post, you all left such lovely messages and I appreciated every single hug. Hopefully I will soon be back blogging as usual.
Hi Pauline, I only have daughters so I’m not leaving sons out……they just aren’t my experience but, daughters are such a blessing! I’m so glad to hear that your lovely daughter is near by and hands-on. Looking forward to your garden tour photos.
There’s something cathartic about the hard work of weeding. I think we were meant to dig in the dirt…..and, as usual, your beautiful garden prompts me to want to do better. The Meconopsis is beautiful. The color reminds me of taffeta material that reflects different colors in the light.
Our June is like your May. Almost magically filled with new growth and color everywhere……
I agree, daughters are a blessing Sally, I don’t know where I’d be without mine at the moment.
I have enjoyed the hard weeding of the bog garden, the weeds came out fairly easily as it is always damp due to an underground stream, it’s good to see that border weed free once more.
So glad to hear that your daughter came and kidnapped you to take you garden visiting. It’s so great to have the support of your child right now. I have one bed that is challenged with creeping buttercups, they are hard to get rid of. How cool that your friendly robin sits on your boots sometimes!
The garden visit was my first for this year and I really enjoyed it Alison. We also got through a lot of my husbands paperwork which was hard but necessary, I would have hated to do that by myself.
The buttercups slid out of the damp soil of the bog garden, thank goodness, as did the other weeds, they grow so huge with the extra moisture. Little robin runs the risk of being stabbed by the weeding fork, he darts about so close to me.
Good to hear that you are able to get out in your garden and are enjoying it – even the weeding! May is indeed a wonderful month in the garden, but then again so are all the other months in their own individual ways 😉 Hope you enjoyed your visit to Bristol Bot Gdns – we were there in December so it will look very different now! Hope you do something equally pleasant on your birthday this next week…
Yes Cathy, I’m beginning to enjoy it once more, especially the borders that have just been weeded, what a difference it makes. The Botanic Garden in Bristol was very interesting with so many unusual plants, my next post will be about it..
At the moment I’m trying to forget about my birthday.
It’s good that the weeds could be cathartic!! So there is a good reason they grow so readily. May is such a wonderful month in the garden, I’m glad your habit of taking photographs has at least shown you how beautiful your garden is. Peace will come quietly when you least expect it until then a daughter who ‘kidnaps’ you is a blessing.
She certainly is Christina. The garden is starting to work its magic on me, tempting me out at all hours of the day.
Glad to see you tackling that patch and bringing it back just in time to enjoy the candelabra primroses. They do look promising and it’s a welcome renewal to see them set off so nicely again. Your meconopsis are always a treat as are the primula sieboldii. I have several pots of seedlings of the primula and I hope a few are as pretty as yours.
It’s nice to have your robin’s company in the garden. I have a rabbit and he’s not nearly as helpful, most of our conversations involve him being scolded for pruning the kale again.
Hopefully your daughter can find the time for another kidnapping, a birthday might be the perfect occasion!
I will be saving seed of my Primula sieboldii, I wonder if any new ones will emerge Frank.
Unfortunately today is my birthday, it will be very different from ones in the past and too soon for another kidnapping I’m afraid.
What lovely Meconopsis you have, especially the blue colour of the first one. The garden can be such a helfpul place to be in such difficult times, especially with such a pretty little friend. We’ve got blackbirds nesting in the hedge, I always feel very privileged when somebody decides to use our garden as their home.Lovely to hear that your daughter is taking such good care of you, I hope you’ll have more interesting trips together.
I too feel honoured when something sets up home in the garden Helle, we must both be doing something right.
I’m sure that my daughter and I will have lots of outings together, we will just have to arrange them when she isn’t working.
Awww, your cute little robin. It is the blackbirds which are keeping their beady eyes on me at the moment. Working in the woodland is rapidly turning into my favourite place to be, with the constant birdsong above my head.
The bog garden looks terrific. Weeding is such a rewarding task. And your meconopsis look as wonderful as ever.
Take care.
He is cute isn’t he Jessica, he’s now bringing 3 babies to the feeders. The woodland here is my favourite place to be but the rest of the garden is demanding my attention unfortunately.
So glad to hear you are back in your garden Pauline, I find there’s nothing like weeding to help work through the trials and tribulations that life sends us. Your bog garden is looking just beautiful. I love the Meconopsis and the candelabra primulas. Also the little pink snowflakes of the Primula sieboldii. How lovely to have the company of such a handsome little robin!
The robin is certainly bossy Denise, he has me well trained to produce food just when he wants it. The primula family is so diverse, it is lovely to discover a new variety, to me anyway.
Your garden is clearly the best therapy and I hope it will continue to help you in the coming weeks and months Pauline. Lovely shots of your robin, and the Mecanopsis is beauitful. All the best.
Thank you Cathy. The garden is certainly helping me at the moment, I’m out there as often as I can.
Your meconopsis are fabulous Pauline – such exquisite colours that take my breath away looking at your photos. It’s amazing how robins turn up in the garden whenever they see you set foot in the garden sometimes even before – they must have a sixth sense. So glad to read that your daughter is taking good care of you and that your garden is keeping you occupied.
The Meconopsis are such an amazing colour Anna, so different from anything else in the garden. The robin has even been known to jump up and down on the kitchen windowsill when I’m late putting his breakfast out, he has me well trained.
Glad you were kidnapped, and glad that you and daughter are so close. I’m glad your garden is proving to be such a comfort for you, hopefully it will help you to gentle heal.
Oh….meconopsis is a beauty indeed, I bought one this year, but no flowers yet. I wait with bated breath! How strange to see those stamen/petals, most fetching though. Your robin is far too cute, sitting on your wellies indeed, how bold!!! xxx
It was a good few days Dina, we also got a lot of paperwork done at the same time. The weather has stopped me gardening for a few days now, but hopefully tomorrow will be better and I can get out once more.
another flower has opened on M. betonicifolia and the centre of the flower is as it should be, a beautiful yellow.
We have so many baby birds in the garden now, they have all been fledging over the past few days, Robin has 3 babies!
Glad to hear you were out in the garden. That Meconopsis is such a stunner, I wish I had the right conditions for it.
I just have to get out in the early morning, Jason, weather permitting. I love the Meconopsis, I just hope there will be viable seed for me to increase the numbers.
Your garden is so lovely; surely it must be a comfort, a place of refreshment and peace, as well as a place to work out strong emotions. Weeding is good for that! Your little friend is adorable! I also love the Meconopsis. I don’t grow it here; I wish I could!
The garden certainly is a comfort Deb, I can forget all that has happened while I’m out there tackling the weeds. My lovely robin now has 3 equally lovely babies who also are coming to be fed.