The Fortnight Garden at the end of May – it is hard to believe we are nearly at the end of the fifth month of the year. In another four weeks we will be half way through 2020, a year which I don’t think anyone will ever forget. The wind has swirled around the garden this week, preventing me from doing very much and so I have been slowly finding my feet again after a diagnosis of IBS and a week of constant pain.
I am looking out of the window this morning, past the piles of sewing, and it is pretty, a real cottage garden.
1.The Paeony buds are still swelling and one or two are going to open this week. I think these are the white ones. Nearby is ‘Bowl of Beauty’ but that is far behind and in another part of the garden ‘Karl Rosenfield’ is being swamped by the geraniums. I will have to move the plants, but that will have to wait until the autumn.
2.An anonymous white rose is draping gracefully over the side gate. It is cut back hard every year because of limited space, but it forgives me and here it is again!
3.My roses are not looking good. ‘William Shakespeare’, a David Austin rose, has only got one flower and there are very few buds. The bushes are not putting out new growth – what am I doing wrong? In The Fortnight Garden at the end of May it should be looking bushy and green, with lots of buds…
4.’Graham Thomas’ is another David Austin rose which is not looking ‘right’. On the company website this is listed as a climbing rose, but I planted it as a bush. Is that my problem? Am I pruning incorrectly?
5.I love scented petunias! And so I have replaced the bulbs with petunias, bright geraniums, and white lobelias, thanks to the local nursery which has opened again. The scent in the evenings is wonderful!
6.And finally, a wild flower. This beautiful gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus – what a mouthful! – appeared about three years ago as a single flower spike. This year there are four beautiful flower heads. They aren’t in an ideal spot but I am grateful they are visiting, and lingering, and leave well alone.
And that is The Fortnight Garden at the end of May. It is better organised than this time a year ago, and I am enjoying the variety and profusion. I am grateful that it gives me the chance to relax, relate to something beautiful, and communicate with myself on a different level. That sounds a bit odd, but how do you describe the good feeling of looking after plants? Thank you Mr Propagator and I apologise for posting on Sunday!