My Top Ten May Blooms.

‘ For May wol have no slogardie a - night . The season priketh every gentil herte and maketh him out of his sleepe to sterte . ‘ ‘ The Knight ’s Tale ’ . Geoffrey Chaucer .

Indeed Chaucer had it correct , there ’s been noslogardie * in this theater because how could one bear to lose one second base of this mythologic month of May , the crest of the whole class ? The beauty certainlyprikethmy heart ; is May always this beautiful , or is this year especially light-green and flowery ? The colours seem extra sparkly and the birds talk louder and more joyfully than usual . The Pianist and I have motorbike for naut mi and the countryside has never looked so lovely with meadow full of crowfoot and every lane frothing with cow parsley . And in the garden the flowers are all scream for attention . My self - imposed task of featuring just ten salad days is really unmanageable this month . But here move .

When I can puff myself away from muse these luxurious beauty I am enjoy the masses of pure blanched blooms of a late flowering magnolia calledMagnolia laevifolia‘Gail ’s Favourite ’ . This was formerly listed asMichelia yunnanensisand it needs a sheltered daub . Michelias broadly are not entirely hardy . Having said this , it came through a terrible winter unharmed . The bloom undecided from brown buds which wait like suede . The flower have a primal honcho of icteric stamens and they are sweetly scented .

Magnolia laevigata‘Gail’s Favourite’

Magnolia laevigata‘Gail ’s Favourite ’

I do n’t love who Gail was but she had salutary preference . Nearby is another plant which is not suppose to be reliably hardy but again it is dead hunky-dory . It descend from New Zealand and is calledSophora microphylla‘Sun King ’ . It has clump of claw - like bright chickenhearted blossom .

Sophora microphylla‘Sun King ’

Magnolia laevigata‘Gail’s Favourite’

I have another genus Sophora which is a shrub rather than a tree . It come from China and it is calledSophora davidii . The prime are pea - like and white with blue - empurpled calyxes . It is not sporty , but nevertheless rather pretty with its ferny foliage .

Sophora davidii

May is the calendar month of the the various pattern ofClematis montana . It always stick me with the extent which it will move around if it is felicitous . My fastest growing one which is really a mile- a -minute vine is ‘ Warwickshire Rose ’ . It is very pretty but only establish it if you have lots of space .

Clematis montana‘Warwickshire Rose ’

Two other favourites are both double ones . Clematis montana‘Marjorie and even betterClematis montana‘Broughton Star ’ .

Clematis montana‘Marjorie ’

Clematis montana‘Broughton Star ’

I would n’t be without two fragrant ones , Clematis montana‘Elizabeth ’ which is a adorable wan pink and the last to flower isClematis montana‘Wilsonii ’ which has white star like flower . This last one travels a long way too . In fact mine has travelled so far up into the trees that I can hardly see it .

Clematis montana‘Wilsonii ’ reach a play for freedom .

A Modern clematis I buy last yr is the very unusual double chicken one calledClematiskoreana‘Amber ’ . I am delighted with it .

Clematis koreana‘Amber ’

The backs of the prime are middling too .

Magnolia laevigata‘Gail’s Favourite’

Of the large flower 1 the earliest to flower in my garden is ‘ Miss Bateman ’ . It has been around for years and is clearly popular with lily-white flush and a lovely maroon centre .

Clematis ‘ Miss Bateman ’

The buds have just opened on the bush , Calycanthus x raulstonii ‘ Hartlage Wine ’ which is a beautiful crown of thorns between aCalycanthusand aSinocalycanthus . It has glossy foliage and delicious wine - red flower . They are suppose to smell of cinnamon bark but I ca n’t detect it .

Calycanthus x raulstonii‘Hartlage Wine ’

If you have damp land then the round flowers of trollius are delicious . Many class ago Beth Chatto told me about a very limited one shout out ‘ Mexican onyx ’ and I have produce it ever since , it really is the aristocrat of trolliuses , or should that be trollii ? Beth Chatto died recently and she will be greatly omit in the horticultural world . Her garden has been an inspiration for gardeners everywhere . She was always glad to share her knowledge and over the age I have learn about many fine plants from her . I call up the pale gamboge of this flower goes beautifully with the dark leaves of the genus Acer .

Trollius x cultorum‘Alabaster ’

Sophora microphylla‘Sun King’

Another flora I watch about from Beth Chatto , is a beautiful and very elegant gladiolus which I used to keep in the nursery as I believe it was only borderline hardy . I planted it in the garden and blank out to bring it in for the winter but it has come through unscathed and is blooming prettily . The flowers are the palest yellow-bellied and it is fragrant in the eventide . It is nice in a sess but it needs a number of support because the leaves are rush - like and develop throughout the winter .

Gladiolus tristis

In winter , carpet of littleCorydalis solidaorC. cavaseed around and are very welcome when there is not much else about . By now they have vanish . But there is a May- flower tall corydalis which is my downright favorite . If you have ever endeavor to grow the sky - blueCorydalis flexuosayou have believably loved it and lost it ; it does n’t give ear about . If you require a blue corydalis ( and why would n’t you ? ) tryCorydalis‘Spinners ’ ; it is a cross betweenCorydalis elataandCorydalis flexuosa . It does n’t seed around but the clumps get bigger every twelvemonth , the flowers are electric blue . And scented too .

Corydalis elata x flexuosa‘Spinners ’

The handsome corydalis of all pop out out with beautiful bronze farewell in winter . It is calledCorydalis temulifolia‘Chocolate Stars ’ . The leaves go green in summertime but it still looks unspoilt with its lilac flowers next toEpimedium‘Amber Queen ’ which I featured last month and it is still going strong . Behind isEuphorbia griffithii‘Fireglow ’ .

Corydalis temulifoliaChocolate Stars ’ withEpimedium‘Amber Queen ’ andEuphorbia‘Fireglow ’

Sophora davidii

Red Campion , Silene dioicais looking wonderful at the present moment in all the lanes around here . The damp- lovingSilene flos cuculi , ordinarily called ‘ Ragged Robin ’ is one of my favourite silenes . I rise some by my pond alongside the ‘ Sticky Catchfly’,Lychnisviscaria‘Splendens ’ .

Silene flos cuculiwithLychnis viscaria‘Splendens ’

Well I had better finish with some Geum as they seem to be all the rage this year . The bright red ‘ Mrs. Bradshaw ’ has been around for class but for a tenacious prison term was eschewed by many gardeners as being too bright and trashy . But now primary colour are fashionable we can adopt ‘ Mrs. Bradshaw , and indeed she is a okay geum .

Clematis montana‘Warwickshire Rose’

Geum‘Mrs . Bradshaw ’

Some of the modern hybrids do in some gorgeous shade . I have been wanting ‘ Totally Tangerine ’ for ages after seeing her on other web log . And now I have it .

Geum‘Totally Tangerine ’

Clematis montana‘Marjorie’

Geum‘Mai Ta ’ is a semi - bivalent frilly apricot one which is very pretty .

Geum‘Mai Tai ’

And who can jib ‘ fire of Passion ’ ? peculiarly with a name like that .

Clematis montana‘Broughton Star’

Geum‘Flames of Passsion ’

I know I have leave out some quintessentially May flowers , how could I leave out lupins , columbine and alliums ? And the first rose wine and irises are already in prime . Never bear in mind they will have to wait until June . And now it ’s back to work , May is the most beautiful calendar month but it is also the busiest , specially for gardeners whose eyes are openhanded than their stomachs when it comes to regularise ejaculate and dahlias . And the green goddess are all on steroids . And of course of action , there is the latest task to function on . Which prompt me I never got round to post about last year ’s labor which is looking very pretty mightily now so I will pen about it in my next post . In the interim , it would be endearing if you could find metre to portion out your favourite May blooms and link with me .

‘ Slogardie ‘ means slothfulness or indolence and it ’s my current favourite Word of God .

Clematis montana‘Wilsonii’ making a bid for freedom.

53 Responses toMy Top Ten May Blooms.

There are too many plant on this list I love to count . You may remember my bass - seat peony enviousness but I also count Clematis , Corydalis , and Epimediums on the longsighted list of plants I covet yet ca n’t successfully maturate . I often think I was born in the unseasonable part of the Earth but it may be that I ’m just very greedy when it comes to plants . It ’s a busy week and I ’ve got a back - logarithm of posts relate to the Garden Bloggers ’ Fling to cover but I ’ll tuck in a favorite post if I can get to it . Despite our abysmally depleted rainfall this class , May is still a pretty fabulous month here too .

give thanks you for sharing the bloom in your garden at this marvelous time of the year . I fuck the old front-runner , but it ’s good to see some strange variety too . It make me require to seek out some of them now that we ’re back from Italy and bring some variety into our garden .

Oh May is certainly sparkling this year Chloris after “ Aprille with his shoures soote ” . My favourite month of the year and this one seems particularly sugared . As always your C. W. Post is informative , inspirational and downright black when it issue forth to my indirect request list . I will return when the sun comes down with pen and paper but meanwhile the tearing can is calling my name . Enjoy the last few days of this fabulous calendar month .

Clematis koreana‘Amber’

Not sure how you’re able to piece just ten — your whole garden looks like it ’s covered in rosiness . Thanks so much for sharing your pet ! Best , -Beth

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My Top Ten May Blooms.