The Garden in May 2025- ‘The Darling Buds of May’
At first thought this phrase is often associated with the charming novel by H. E. Bates but as with many of our best-known sayings it is actually from William Shakespeare. It comes from his Sonnet 18- ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May’ which he uses as a metaphor for the beauty but also the fragility of spring.
I also read somewhere that when a naturalist (and I’m sure this applies to gardeners as well) dies and goes to heaven they must pray that the calendar is firmly stuck in the month of May with the wild flowers in bloom, the insects buzzing, the migrant birds all returned and all is right with the natural world!
The only drawback that I can see with May is that there are only 31 days to immerse ourselves in this burgeoning world of life and growth and not a minute of it is to be wasted.
Looking back through past blogs, as is my want, I see that back in 2021 I was enjoying all that our own garden here in West Wales could offer in terms of trees, shrubs, climbers and herbaceous perennials and it was a long and varied list even in our relatively small plot. Of course, there are jobs to do as always and we were concentrating on protecting tender plants at night, weeding, supporting rapidly growing plants, lawn care, sowing and planting in the vegetable bed, watering but not forgetting also to sit, relax and admire the beauty of the spring garden. In 2022 I was enjoying all the delights on offer at the Aberglasney gardens which are considerable at this time of year and I would highly recommend a visit to anyone. In 2023 I was writing about ‘Summer Pots and Baskets’ which included sections on the choice of containers, composts, watering and feeding and most importantly of all the choice of plants in terms of ‘centre pieces’, ‘fillers’ and ‘trailers’. In 2024 I was ‘Preparing for Summer’ and choosing five plants that I wouldn’t want to be without- from the bulbs Allium and Camassia, herbaceous perennials Geum and Thalictrum, shrubs Lilac (Syringa) and trees Crab Apples (Malus). It also included a section on tender perennials for containers, beds and borders but concentrated on herbaceous perennials to keep the ‘flower power’ going all the way through to September and in a few cases beyond into October- plants such as Dahlia, Penstemon, Salvia, Echinacea, Phlox, Helenium, Japanese Anemone, Rudbeckia, Aster (Symphiotrichon) and Sedum. This blog also contained sections on plants suitable for shady areas, propagating plants from leaf cuttings and creating standard Fuchsias.
For my ‘plant of the month’ for this May I have chosen a type of Clematis which may not be as up front and blousy as some Clematis but which at this time of year is a lovely addition to any garden. These were featured in the April 2025 edition of the RHS magazine ‘The Garden’ in an article by Christopher Grey-Wilson. This group of Clematis is known as the ‘Atragene Group’ and they have much to recommend them. They are delicate looking climbers and are relatively unfussy and simple to grow, partly because they don’t require regular pruning. This is because, unlike most Clematis, they flower on the previous year’s shoots so it is vital not to remove these as you would in late winter/early spring with other groups of Clematis. If you do feel the need to prune any unwanted growth this can be done immediately after flowering in the early summer, taking the shoots back to a strong pair of buds. They will tolerate most garden soils as long as they are not waterlogged in the winter and as with most Clematis they prefer to have their roots in shade or partial shade and their heads in the sun. A balanced, slow-release fertiliser in spring will help them to perform at their best. Due to their minimal pruning requirements and their height of up to 10 feet (3m) they are very good plants for growing through larger shrubs and small trees, but don’t mix very well with plants that need regular pruning such as Roses. The only drawback that I can see is that they are unlikely to be labelled as ‘Atragenes’ so they need to be identified in other ways. One way is to look out for particular species, such as C. alpina, especially C. alpina ‘Francis Rivis’ and ‘Stolwijk Gold’, and cultivars such as C. ‘Ruby’, ‘Broughton Bride’, ‘Markham Pink’, ‘Blue Bird’ and ‘White Moth’. Other clues that you have found the right plant are that at the centre of the flowers there are some modified, sterile stamen which form a central boss and that the leaves either have three or nine leaflets in each group (other Clematis have pinnate leaves with single leaflets arranged in two rows along the stems). ‘Atragene’ flowers also tend to come in ‘watercolour shades’ rather than the brighter colours of other Clematis and often appear to have more of the character of a dainty Pasque flower than a glitzy Clematis. They also resemble the Pasque flower in that they produce wonderfully fluffy seed heads, just like ‘Old Man’s Beard’ in our autumnal hedgerows. Finally, the plant labels on Clematis all say which pruning group the plant is in and Atragenes will always be labelled group 1 which means little or no pruning is required.
I have discussed the principles of garden design in several blogs and talks but I am well aware that for many gardeners it all seems a bit confusing. I was really pleased, therefore, when I recently came across an article in the Daily Telegraph (Sat. 8th March, 2025) in which a professional and highly successful garden designer, Pollyanna Wilkinson, pointed out six classic garden design mistakes which we all make but which should be avoided at all costs. They are all ‘down to earth’ ideas which can be relatively easily put right if necessary. Her first ‘mistake’ is ‘Don’t make it all about the shed’! I’m sure that many of us spend time at the kitchen sink looking out at the garden but in how many gardens is that view dominated by a shed to which the eye is automatically drawn at the far end of the view? There are several solutions to this such as tucking the shed into a space at the side of the house if possible. If there is no alternative space and the shed has to be at the bottom of the garden then turning it 90 degrees so that the door is not facing the house makes a big difference. The side which then faces the house can be obscured by a small hedge or group of evergreen shrubs. The same idea can be used to create a screen at the end of the garden for other useful but not necessarily attractive garden features such as compost bins. Planting up a border in front of such screens then provides a lovely focus point at the end of the garden to which the eye will be drawn. Her second piece of advice is ‘Don’t fall into the trap of big lawn, meagre borders’. Narrow borders along fences, hedges or walls are a cardinal sin in her eyes although she fully understands why people do it. It is usually to give the maximum amount of lawn space for children and/or dogs but, particularly in a small garden, this rarely works. From a garden design point of view allowing a more generous space for planting makes the whole garden work better together. The lawn is essentially a two-dimensional void whereas an area of planting brings mass and height as well as all the other benefits of colour, texture and interest. Pollyanna advocates for borders to be at least 5-6 feet (1.5-2m) wide so that they can contain multiple rows of plants of different heights and, of course, the border edge does not need to be straight like the fence, hedge or wall at its back.
Her third mistake that she feels people make is ‘painting sheds and fences the wrong colours’. Most people’s first thought is to keep such features light in colour but all this does is draw the eye to them. It is much better to go for a dark surface which tends to blend into the background more easily and then to plant in front of the structure so that it becomes even less noticeable like a mount around a picture. Also adding wires or trellis to fences allows climbers to be grown on them and very soon the fence will in essence almost disappear. The climbing Hydrangea, H. petiolaris, is an excellent fence cover for shadier spots and there are lots more possibilities for sunnier sites. Her favourite colour is ‘Railings’ by Farrow and Ball which is a very dark blue-black.
Her fourth thing to avoid is ‘having too much paving’ which is a similar problem to having too much lawn. It is very tempting to go for a large patio particularly if entertaining family and friends is a high priority. However, it can mean that the whole of the width of the back of the house is given over to paving and looks more like a furniture showroom than a part of the garden. It also cuts the rest of the garden off from the house and acts like a barrier. Pollyanna encourages clients to divide paving areas into different ‘rooms’ which can be wrapped around by planting to soften the whole effect and allows the rooms to feel separated. If you already have a large patio a similar effect can be created by possibly lifting some slabs to provide planting areas or placing reasonably large troughs on parts of the patio and not being afraid of bringing in some large shrubs and even small trees to give height. Her final piece of advice on paving is never to pave right up to a fence or wall as planting between the two will give a much more attractive outcome.
Before Pollyanna became a garden designer she did what most of us do, go to the garden centre and buy a plant which was in flower and looking good. Now she rarely plants just one of any plant in her gardens and advocates ‘clustering’ and ‘repeating’ to avoid the haphazard planting seen in many gardens. She accepts that for many of us gardening is about a love of plants but advises for the garden to look designed and thought through it is better to make sure that you have got plants for all seasons but not too many different ones!
Her final thing to avoid is ‘putting plants in the wrong places’. We’ve all done it, we have a new plant perhaps a present and we force it into a space where there just happens to be one even though we suspect it might not thrive there. This is a lot to do with light levels and choosing the right plants for shade, partial shade and sun although it may also be about soil qualities or an issue with too much or too little soil moisture. If we want our plants to perform at their best we need to plant them in the conditions which they favour. The characteristics of the plant itself gives us clues as to what it likes, as does where it originally grew and, of course, its label.
The above ideas have certainly made me look at my own garden in a different light and I hope they might help you see yours in a different way too.
Finally for this month I can offer you some ‘heavenly scented’ plants for spring and summer which I came across in the May 2025 edition of ‘The English Garden’. In the article, Tony Hall, from the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew recommends some plants for their fragrance. His first is the wonderful Mock Orange, Philadelphus, which is a group of more than 80 medium to large deciduous shrubs which produce a mass of mostly pure white, highly fragrant flowers in early summer. For a smaller garden there are several more compact forms such as P. ‘Manteau d’Hermine’.
His second plant is a real show-stopper, a perennial which can grow up to 6 feet (2m) tall with large, downward-facing, creamy-white, trumpet-shaped flowers with maroon markings in their throats, Cardiocrinum giganteum. A single plant can produce up to 20 individual vanilla-scented flowers. It is best grown in semi-shade as it is in the woodland area at Aberglasney where these plants produce a magnificent display in late spring/early summer.
His third plant is Hesperis matronalis, commonly known as dame’s violet or sweet rocket. Unfortunately, this is a short-lived perennial but to make up for this is quite happy to seed itself around the garden. Four-petalled flowers are borne in loose clusters on stems up to 3 feet (1m) tall. These can be white or purple, are wonderfully scented and great for attracting pollinators into the garden. They remind me a lot of Honesty (Lunaria annua) but just flower a little later.
Number four is one of the spring flowering Viburnums, V. carlesii, which is a small, bushy, shrub native to Korea and Japan. The flowers open from deep pink buds into domed clusters of white flowers with a scent that is outstanding, filling the air for some distance. They are followed first by black fruits and then by autumnal red leaves.
Tony’s next is the Regal Lily, Lilium regale, which as its name suggests is a magnificent plant in both appearance and scent. Its large, white, trumpet-like flowers have a golden throat, deep pink streaks on the backs of the petals and red-orange stamens. They grow well in pots and in beds and borders and make an excellent cut flower for the house.
Wisteria, the most stunning of climbers, adorn buildings and other structures with their showy, pendulous trusses of beautiful flowers which can be up to 12 inches (30cm) long. The fact that they are produced before the leaves makes them look even more spectacular and, of course, most varieties and cultivars are sweetly fragrant.
Lilacs, Syringa vulgaris, have been grown in British gardens since the 16th century although they have perhaps fallen out of fashion in more recent times. They are, however, a wonderful shrub, producing a mass of flowers in conical clusters that come in a range of colours from pure white to deepest purple which are sweetly scented from late spring to early summer.
Finally, we come to perhaps the most fragrant of all the climbers, the Star Jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminiodes. The pure white flowers with yellow centres are intensely fragrant, wrapping the whole plant in scent when in full flower. It is ideal for growing on a sunny trellis covering a wall or fence and its evergreen foliage will often turn bronze in the winter.
That’s all for this month apart from, of course, the monthly talk on Saturday 3rd May at 10am at the Old Railway Line garden centre. Unfortunately, I am not able to be with you this month but Matthew and Lucy from the garden centre will host the event in my absence. I will be back in June with another blog and hopefully return for the June talk on Saturday 7th.
Until then enjoy your spring gardens and all the joy they can bring.
Keith.