May 2021 in the Northern Hemisphere

[shelagh]

And last but not least, why can I never make it a round 10.

Tulip batalanii Bright Gem.

[Rick R.]

Pachysandra procumbens

[Tristan_He]

That's nice Rick, I like the spikes coming directly from the ground and the mottled leaves. So much more interesting than its ubiquitous relative.

[Rick R.]

Unfortunately, as Gabriela has mentioned before, the foliage colors up in the fall.  What you see here is last year's foliage.  The new foliage which will be coming up in a week or so will be just green. 

[Tristan_He]

How unusual. It looks great with the pine needles.

[Gabriela]

Pachysandra procumbens

Very nice and very underutilized Rick. I've never seen it offered for sale here.

[Gabriela]

Cool weather excellent for gardening persisting, but more and more plants are flowering and the trees are leafing out.
Good weather for Primulas this year, they make nice combinations with everything, including the Sanguinaria leaves.






I am very happy to see that some Epimediums recovered after they have the flower stems destroyed a couple of weeks ago. E. stellulatum with V. sororia f. priceana.

[Andre Schuiteman]

Cytissus ardoinii Cottage. Now too big for the show bench.

I have to point out that it is not right to write the name like that, as this would suggest that it is a cultivar of Cytisus ardoinoi. Cytisus Cottage is in fact a hybrid, with C. ardoinoi as one of the parents. Pure C. ardoinoi is a much smaller plant and one of the few brooms for the rock garden that will hardly ever outgrow its position, either vertically or horizontally. Also note that the correct spelling of the species name is ardoinoi, not ardoinii.

The origin of C. Cottage is explained in this issue of the International Rock Gardener: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Feb241330043727IRG_26_Feb2012.pdf

Here is a picture of my, still small, C. ardoinoi.

This species, which flowers in April-May, drops its leaves in the summer. Here is what the same plant looked like in September (both photos are from last year):

[Hoy]

Very nice, everybody!  Seems the spring is more advanced all other places.  Here it has been cold nights all April and May so far.


Saxifraga sempervivum and an unknown one are in flower now.






Schizocodon soldanelloides coming soon.




Two of the many rhododendrons in flower now.

[Andre Schuiteman]

Two Himalayan beauties flowering far from home.


1. Iris kemaonensis.


2. Meconopsis grandis 'Great Glen'. You can see the Iris in the bottom right corner.

[David Nicholson]

.......Here it has been cold nights all April and May so far.

April here was dry, with the odd bit of morning frost, and provided I dressed for it being April and not July, it was quite pleasant. May has been, wet, wet and did I say....... wet so far!

[Leena]

Here it has been cold nights all April and May so far.

It's been the same here, but this week should warm up a lot. We'll see how long it lasts.
It has been a very good spring for many hardy early flowers, I have protected only Epimedium buds, and it seems they are all well now.
Gabriela, I'm glad your plant recovered and it is a very nice combination with Viola. I may copy you, I have Viola sororia var priceana just germinated:).

Iris kemaonensis is really beautiful!

Primula elatior is here in full flower now.

[Gabriela]

It's been the same here, but this week should warm up a lot. We'll see how long it lasts.
It has been a very good spring for many hardy early flowers, I have protected only Epimedium buds, and it seems they are all well now.
Gabriela, I'm glad your plant recovered and it is a very nice combination with Viola. I may copy you, I have Viola sororia var priceana just germinated:).

Iris kemaonensis is really beautiful!

Primula elatior is here in full flower now.

Indeed I. kemaonensis is very beautiful, and never heard  of it until now.

Thanks Leena, yes the stems that were just at ground level survived. Luckily the warm/cold/warm weather confused many plants which flowered in stages, even some Hepaticas. The combination with Viola was not done on purpose; the best ones are just happening.

[kris]

Like all the pictures posted here. The weather is very dry and no rain for the last whole month. I am watering my garden once in 8 days now. Too much work!!!
Here are some pictures from the garden.

[Maggi Young]

Great delivery from Innes & Nicola Hogg  of Craigiehall Nursery : https://craigiehallnursery.co.uk/ourshop/
 - shown on Twitter by Hardy Plant Society, Staffordshire, and described as " Beautiful plants beautifully packed"  .....



Innes and Nicola say " Our next day for accepting orders will be Thursday 13th May at 9.00am.

Orders received will be dispatched the following Monday/Tuesday. "   see more  here:
https://craigiehallnursery.co.uk/news.html

 P.S.  Innes is "Will Itsell" on the  SRGC Forum !