Wharf House Gardener

A bone dry and rather cold April has been followed by what has been, to say the least, a damp May. We’re now at least in a period of sunshine and showers here on the Shropshire/Worcestershire border and the garden is loving it. Just in the last few days we have seen the first iris’ open together with the beautifully delicate polemonium ‘Giant Lilac’. In a week’s time the borders are going to be filled with colour with lupins and alliums now on the brink of flowering. This really is a very lovely time of year and the plants are loving the rain-sun-rain weather pattern. Gardeners on the other hand might prefer to see just a little bit more sun!

We were strolling around the garden yesterday evening, cups of tea in hand, noting all that is still to come. When we reached the Long Borders, we commented that they don’t really ‘get going’ until late May, with lupins and alliums. Then we took a second look. Although nothing (other than the euphorbia) is in flower yet, the borders already look rather lovely. It’s not just that we know that all those fast-growing perennials represent so much promise, it’s that the variety of greens, is itself beautiful. Sometimes we forget that green is a garden colour too!

We’ve had some lousy weather the last few days: rain, hail, high winds and yet more rain. The rain is needed however, as we’ve had an exceptionally dry (if cold) Spring. The rain and wind has battered the garden somewhat of course, particularly the pots of tulips which, together with tree blossom, are the main interest in the garden at the moment.

As I have often mentioned, we garden on heavy clay soil. We’ve found it very difficult therefore to naturalise tulips (any tips very gratefully received!). We’re currently trying to naturalise Tuilpa ‘Springeri’, which is thriving in similar soil at Stocktonbury, a local garden which we love.

In the absence of naturalised tulips, we liberally place tulips in pots around the garden. Photographs of some of them are above. We love experimenting with new shape and colour combinations, although sometimes, it’s hard to beat the dazzle of a single tulip, en masse, in a large pot.