A few snapshots of the month of May...

The month of May always holds so much promise. It offers a taste of things to come yet it still hangs on to things that were. For instance, in the rockery here at Duck pools, we still have narcissus in flower and the Iberis sempervirens which started flowering back in March, just as spring was thinking of rearing its beautiful head, is still with us and boasting its brilliant white frothiness.
As we approach the middle of May i thought it would be nice to take a few snaps of various plants and features which are looking especially good at the moment...

Lady in the Japanese Garden, welcoming people to the garden

The sleeping lady in the green man garden

One of our collection auriculas

Solomons seal which we have in the japanese garden and in the green man garden. Looks wonderful at the moment. No saw fly yet!

An old favourite of many; Euphorbia polychroma

We have possibly 50 or more alliums waiting to burst their buds at the moment. Another fortnight and they should all be at their best.

Euphorbia grifithii 'Fireglow'

Smilacena racemosa growing on the edge of the stumpery. This has an intoxicating scent.

The mouse plant growing in the stumpery. A wonderful curiosity.

Centaura montana. This is the first one of the year- the bees will be happy.

Thalictrum 'Black Stockings' With a name like that who can resist!

Narissu 'Sundisc' in the rockery.

The alpine geraniums in the rockery have just started flowering.



The painted fern growing in the rockery. I would like to add this to the stumpery

Nemo, rather fittingly situated next to our pond.

This beautiful baby-pink rhododendron belongs in the japanese garden.

As regular readers may realise; there are no photos of the Jewel garden purely because it does not come into its own well into summer. At this time of the year the Jewel garden is building up steam with perennials such as penstemons, verbena, monarda and heleniums surging throughg the ground and building up momentum. These are to be joined by half hardy annuals such as cosmos, rudbeckias and zinnias. And then it shall all come to a magnificent crescendo when bulbs such as gladioli, dahlia, lillies and crocosmia join the floral chorus. So you will have to wait for photos of that...