"Ne'er cast a clout till May be out" is an English proverb that I, and I suspect many others, should pay closer attention to. Last night produced another frost, and had it not been for the protection of the garden walls and mature planting, the bedding plants would now be black and wrinkled. Anything exposed, left to fend for themselves would have perished.
I'm not sure if the May to which the proverb alludes to is referring to the the hawthorn, or indeed the month. If it is the May blossom, we will be waiting ages, and I am clearly not patient enough.
That said, May is the most exciting month in gardening, not least for the RHS flower shows and the anticipation of billowing summer borders. It is also the penultimate month to the Cottesbrooke Hall Plant Finders Fair, held in association with Gardens Illustrated, and for the first time this year, The Daily Telegraph.
By June the summer staples should be performing, but for now there are buds bursting left right and centre. A brief list that are currently looking great are;
Tulip Ballerina - Philosophers Garden, planted beneath Rosa Penelope, Allium Purple Sensation and edged with Alchimilla Mollis.
Malus Hupensis - West Wild Garden, under planted with Stipa Arundinacea Syn Anemanthele Lessoniana.
Aisia Aurea - inter-planted in the terrace borders with Geranium Ann Folkard, dark cornflowers and Iris Jane Phillips.
The terrace borders are bristling with purple alliums, and the grass in front of the Wendy House in the Wild Garden is a blanket of Cammassia buds. There is a sprinkling of Blue Bells which run through both sides of the Wild Garden - something we need to extend. The trees are slowly casting their shade, but the Dicentras, Comfrey, Euphorbias and Soloman's Seal are still in full throttle.
The newly planted Statue Walk is beginning to settle, and the Cercis trees are pushing out their bright pink flowers from their naked stems. The Wisteria, which flanks the entrace into the pool garden is still tight in bud, but surely it can only be a matter of time....
