A Slice of May

We need rain.  We have not had a decent drop for four or five weeks.  Yes, we have had sun and blue skies but all this high pressure has given us north wind - oh, and volcanic ash.  So the garden is stuck in early Spring and some plants have remained in flower for ages instead of being over in a trice.  Polar Ice daffs out with all the rhodos.  The garden will be open for the Friends of Treborth on the 29th.  Will the primroses still be stunning and will the Viburnum plicatum be blooming with the tree paeony? And what about the bluebells in the woods - will they hold on long enough?

The rhododendrons are going full blast and are nicely framed by that thug, Euphorbia robbiae.  The old clump of scented Narcissus 'Polar Ice', Jean Shaw's favourite and transplanted from Lesmahagow make a great foreground.

The rhodos are tightly packed but their struggle to survive ensures they adjust their spread and always look good.  All we do is pull out brambles and water a bit if things get too dry.                                     The shady border along the top of the garden is beginning to gel.  The sweet woodruff took off a few years ago and suppresses most weeds.  It makes a calm green carpet with tiny wee accents of white flowers.  But will it prove to be a liability?  The ferns are erupting from the carpet in a most pleasing way, ditto solomon seal and Blethin's giant chrysosplenium.