Yes. I know. It’s not the 1st of the month. It’s not even the 2nd or 3rd. In fact, it’s a month since I last blogged. Mmmm. Well, you see… Actually, you don’t want to read about me being very busy with work and… Let’s get onto how the front garden is doing.
I did actually take the photos on the 1st of the month. Score!
The word that sums up April and the garden on 1st May, wet. Yes, I’m late to the table about the wetness of April, every other garden blogger has already done that one. So how were the plants?
As you can see, the flowering Cherry was, well, flowering. Unlike previous years, where I got flowers first and then the leave, this year the flower and leaves came out at the same time. After the silly warmth of March and then the sudden wet and cold of April, the tree obviously didn’t know if it was coming or going.
Going as it turned out. What the photos don’t show is the lovely ‘petal snow’ as I call it. Flower petals all over the front garden like pretty pink snow. However you can see how lush and green everything is. The warmth of March and the rain of April has really got things growing. To a point.
As you can see from the not yet flowering sage (above) and the not yet flowering Iris (below), the cold return to freezing temperatures by mid-April suddenly slowed everything down again. This time last year both were flowering profusely. Though of course April last year was unusually hot!
Alternatively, the self-seeded Cerinthe was flowering.
As was the first of my strawberries…
And the Tiarella ‘Spring Symphony’ was beginning to sound its trumpet.
The broad beans were flowering with vigour, but looking a little wind-worn.
My beautiful and sturdy sculptural obelisk has began to fill up with the Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’, and the teasels are taking off.
And the new kid of the block is….
A very young perennial Kale ‘Daubenton’ seedling. Not very exciting to look at yet, I grant you. But I’ve had promises of great things to come…
Nice post, with some cheery pictures instead of the "rain stuff". I've just done another "rain stuff" post, but it's a May one!! arrgh!!
Your flowering cherry does look remarkable, even in such a small corner of that top photo. Ours still looks bedraggled and sparse; and after I nearly killed it by cutting it back sharply three winters ago, I'm loath to do anything meaner than frown at it.
I'm glad to see some of your broad beans doing the right-angle bend that ours always used to do, though; even if they're nowhere near as crazy…!
I see you are a fan of Straysparks – so am I. Bought two of their creations at last year's Chelsea flower show and could have bought more – if I could have afforded it 🙂
This cool wet spring has benefited lots of plants but those that prefer the warmer weather are lagging behind. I hope it gets warmer soon.