Hooray, It’s May!

Let’s all be upbeat about the passing of another month and the comfortable expectation of better days ahead. Who knows, we may even get to plant something.

The last month has been very testing with the accessing of the ground through early April, so difficult. Amazingly and in spite of the high winds and heavy rain some things have performed. My tulips have been great, and the flowering cherries have been all that I had hoped for. Defiantly the blossom in my own garden held up against all adversity for about four weeks. Thankfully as April moved on there were some improvements, I have a few potatoes and onion sets still to plant out, but they will catch up and I am going to spill out a bit of grass seed on a few bald patches in the lawn.

With every day that passes now we can become more confident with our planting but be watchful late frost in May can be treacherous. Consider all of your planting and then grade it across the month. So, whilst in the early days tough bedding and vegetables can go straight out, tomatoes and begonias, marrows and busy Lizzies may need to be held back until the middle of the month. I have seen some very flimsy plants about.

You can still be sowing seed, subjects like marigolds, calendula and tagetes will pop up in no time as of course will most of the vegetables. Salad stuff is best worked in constant succession, and it can be hugely productive. If you want to try your luck with cucumbers outside, then seek out Crystal Lemon, it turns out round cucumbers (best picked when the size of a tennis ball) it’s very hardy and very prolific and if that’s not enough seed is cheap and it’s easy to grow.

The big business this year is in mature plants, nobody it seems, wants to wait, so if you have a space that needs immediate colour there are some great pots of bedding and herbaceous plants that will lift the spirit and the space. Shop around most garden centres have moved into this market.

And finally, shop for summer bulbs, the wet spring has left most centres with bulbs and they do need planting out if they are not to be wasted. There are bargains to be had.

Happy Gardening

Chris Evans
www.dundrynurseries.co.uk
www.thebutterflygarden.org