May 2016 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Tristan_He]

The rockery in the front garden is settling in nicely and looking good at the moment.

[Tristan_He]

A few close-ups now.



Viola 'Ivan'. Picked this up at Ashwood. Hopefully it will be reasonably perennial.



Leucogenes leontopodium. Not quite open yet, but it still makes a lovely image. I rate this a lot higher than most of the actual Leontopodiums, and it's also soundly perennial and easy to grow.



Asperula odorata (sweet woodruff). I really love this plant, even though it's a bit of a spreader. It's also great for jazzing up some apple juice - leave a sprig to infuse in the juice overnight and it gives it a lovely sweet aroma / flavour of hay (trust me, this is a good thing).



The apple trees are fully in flower now. This is 'Egremont Russet'.



..and this is 'Bardsey'. 

[David Nicholson]

Rockery looking good Tristan

[meanie]

The humble Laburnum is one of my favourites................

[johnw]

The incredible new foliage of the dwarf Acer palmatum 'Japanese Princess' from Old Reo Nursery in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, here growing at a friends.

johnw

[johnw]

A few willows today:

Salix uva-ursi perhaps.

Salix fargesii

Salix vestita, the last three. Is this one sold in the UK?

johnw

[David Nicholson]

Salix vestita, the last three. Is this one sold in the UK?

I can't see it in The Plant Finder John, but having said that TPF isn't much good for finding plants these days

[johnralphcarpenter]

Lathyrus transilvanicus.

[David Nicholson]

From the garden today Veronica austriaca 'Ionian Skies'

[David Nicholson]

Also from the garden today Penstemon davidsonii var. menziesii

[shelagh]

Nice pictures David.

April and May are probably the most colourful in our garden but because of the funny start to the year May has seen a bumper crop.  Here are some of them.

The Anemone is a small plant but shows great promise. The Azalea (I know it's spelled incorrectly I always have trouble with this word) was a gift for our silver wedding 20 years ago and now stretches 4 feet across.

The Berberis featured in our article on dwarf shrubs and is simply superb this year. So is the Campanula, in a pot for the show bench.

[shelagh]

Epimediums make for good ground cover in a shady border.
This Erysimum has extended as it has opened and is now about 8 inches tall.
We had a pot of Gladiolus trystis that was doing very little and I think Brian must have scattered the compost on the front bed.  This year we have had 7 or 8 stems, a nice surprise.
I was struggling to find a Hakenchloa. Cecelia Collar used to show a lovely one. I phoned Aberconwy, the lady who answered the phone said the nursery didn't have it but she did in her garden and she sent me a piece.
Gardeners are so generous.  This lovely little Iris came from Clare and John Dowers front garden and seems to have settled in nicely.

[shelagh]

We saw some Leucocorynes at the Glasgow Show a few years ago sow I got Brian some. This one Andes has a lovely full flower, we also had L. spotlight on the bench this year.
This is the last of our big Lewisia cotyledon hybrids, the pots are getting too big and heavy.
Two Omphalodes, cappodocia and the rather special Starry Eyes. Also a small Phlox growing just outside the greenhouse.

[shelagh]

You don't realise quite how many Rhodo's you've got until they all burst into flower. But Percy Wiseman is always the star.

[shelagh]

Phylliopsis caerulea is pretty but not prolific.  Can't say that about the Rhodanthemum Casablanca though, Brian mentioned it in his late colour article and here it is performing early in the season too.

I said gardeners were generous, this XRamberlea Inchgarth was given us as a small plant a few years ago by Dave Mountfort luckily it seems to like our cool frame.