Love your
garden
by Greenfingers
I
t’s the ‘Merry Month of May’ thus said the poets and writers of bygone times. To quote the writer Robert F. Murray T’is May, the elfish maiden, the daughter of Spring, upon whose birthday morning the birds delight to sing. This month, appropriately named after the Greek goddess of fertility, Maia, even has as its birthstone, the emerald. The name and the jewel ideal for the time. This is a beautiful period in the garden, Spring is in all its glory, the many different shades of green that surround us bring a calmness to our mood, but spur us on to make the most of every moment outside. We can expect mornings to be cool and perhaps misty, with the mist being burned away by the spring sunshine, followed by breezy afternoons and maybe a slight chill in the air by evening. Every morning the garden is full of birdsong and birds busy feeding and building nests. The birdfeeders are quickly emptied and need replenishing often. We have lots of different species of birds that visit regularly, but on the weekend a pair of red-legged grouse appeared! They were large and rather rotund birds and I think they were looking for a suitable nesting site. They sat so still for quite some time and we were able to get a good, close up view with the binoculars. Fabulous! Each day new flowers are opening and because I planted some of the bulbs a bit late, their flowering has only just started and seems to be going on for longer. For the first time I planted some ornithogalum bulbs and they have produced flowers of a brilliant tangerine which contrasts well with the blues of the grape hyacinths and the pale yellow of the narcissus. There is a lot of white flowered, wild ornithogalum growing in our hedgerows locally, and we should be able to see this in bloom within the next few weeks. It’s a good idea to carry out a soil test before planting new trees and shrubs in the garden. Plants are like us, they have their likes and dislikes. If the soil is neutral, many differing types will grow happily. If you find you have a low pH, an indicator of ‘acid’ soil, then other varieties of
20 | The Deux-Sèvres Monthly, May 2019
plants will grow well. For example, hydrangeas, magnolias and heathers are happiest in an acidic soil and fuchsias and delphiniums prefer a neutral soil. If you are growing everything in pots, it’s easy, just plant ‘acid lovers’ into ericaceous planting compost. If you have neutral soil and you still want to grow hydrangeas, then fill the planting hole with ericaceous compost and feed with an ericaceous feed every time. That will help to keep the plants and you happy! The peonies are showing off their dark crimson, deeply indented first leaves, and even the newly planted varieties have settled in well and are coming into growth. I must remember to put supports in for them now. My favourites, the hostas have their perfect, tightly rolled foliage emerging - so many shades of green, white and cream. I shall be keeping a keen eye out for snails and disposing of them kindly if I can! I will be dividing many of the hosta plants this year as some have outgrown their spaces and pots - and it’s more plants for free!
Dates for the diary: Les jardins de Demain Bretignolles-sur-Mer 85470 5 May Fête des Plantes Vouvant 85120
19 May
Marché aux Plantes Ardilleux 79110
19 May
Fête des Plantes Sainte-Christine Benet 85490
29 May
Bourse aux Plantes Pompaire 79
2 June
Now is the time to: • • • • • • •
•
Make sure that newly planted trees and shrubs are kept watered. As a general rule they need a full bucket of water every four days or so, unless there has been heavy rain. Plant out cannas and dahlias after the danger of frost has passed. Continue deadheading spring flowering bulbs, still leaving foliage to die back naturally. If the daffodil flowering was poor, lift the bulbs and divide them. Finish planting summer flowering bulbs such as gladioli and galtonia. The spotted foliage of pulmonaria can look a bit withered and brown now. Cut back damaged leaves to encourage new growth. Prune spring flowering clematis armandii, clematis montana and clematis alpina after flowering. Tall perennials such as delphiniums, phlox, and phlomis will need staking by now and plants with heavy blooms, such as peonies will need support from underneath to stop rain from damaging the flower petals. The viburnum beetle larvae will be emerging and vine weevils will be munching on leaf edges and laying eggs in the soil. The viburnum larvae are easy enough to pick off leaves and notches on leaf edges are a sign that the vine weevil is present. It mostly affects plants in pots, so tip the plant out and look for the white,