THE WEATHER -

A cool and showery start to the month, with continuous rain all day on the 3rd. Still cool, with sunshine and light showers until the 13th, when we had heavy and thundery showers for most of the day, with the odd hailstorm thrown in for good measure. Quite cold for the time of year, and continuing mostly cloudy with sunny periods and showers until the 29th, when the weather turned very warm and sunny (at last!), and showed us what May should be like! Maximum temperature up until the 28th was only 17°C (66°F) but rose to 29°C (86°F) on the 31st. Minimum temperature 1°C (34°F).

I like to grow a few British natives in the garden, when I think they are good enough to deserve a space! This is one of them - Allium ursinum, otherwise known as Wild Garlic or ramsons. I have a large clump of this growing down in the deep shade on level five of the garden, and its white flowers really show up well. I'm hoping it will seed itself madly all along this level, as it's quite a dark area and could do with a bit of brightening up!

Another British native which I grow is Arum italicum, commonly known as Cuckoo Pint or Jack in the Pulpit. It has deep green arrow-shaped leaves, sometimes spotted with maroon, and these incredible flowers, which are followed in autumn by spikes of orange berries, after the foliage has died down. It likes a shady position, and this particular group is growing under the canopy of a rather large Rheum palmatum, but seems to do well!

Whilst I enjoy mooching round nurseries and garden centres in search of unusual plants, sometimes it's possible to find a little treasure of a plant in your local DIY store! Here's one I found whilst browsing in B & Q last autumn, and had never heard of at the time, but just had to buy! It's called Loropetalum 'Pipa's Red', an evergreen (or should I say ever-purple!) shrub which I think resembles a rather upper-class purple Privet! The flowers are anything but Privet-like though, being pink and rather like shredded silk! A real beauty of a shrub, although not reliably hardy. I have mine growing in a pot on the south-facing patio, where it came through last winter pretty much unscathed!

I love Aquilegias, and have a lot of them in the garden, although they are mostly double blue or purple. However, this one is a named variety, called Nora Barlow, with lovely evenly-ruffled pink and white flowers. It is quite a dainty grower, and never forms a very big clump, but flowers reliably year after year. Although I grew it from seed originally, it has never set any seed in my garden, unfortunately!

Primula viallii is a beautiful little plant for a damp spot. It will stand full sun if it has plenty of water, but prefers a semi-shady position. It has very unusual flowers for a Primula, and I think it is a stunner! I have this growing down by the pond on level four of the garden, where it looks wonderful!

I feel very privileged to have so much wildlife which enjoys the garden as much as I do, in the water, on land, or in the air! I couldn't resist photographing this lovely grey squirrel, which called in to sample some bread which I had just put out on the bird table! Here he is sitting on the edge of some pots which were waiting to be planted up, and enjoying every mouthful. Although squirrels can be a pest, I still love to see their antics, as they are so resourceful! We have a large population of grey squirrels in the locality, and I have long since ceased to be annoyed at them for plundering the bird food - life's too short!!

That's all for this month...... Happy Gardening!!

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Crow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Robin, Rook, Seagull, Starling, Swallow, Thrush, Wood Pigeon, Wren.

MAYTIME
Ursula Prout

Cool waters murmur as they flow
Beneath the flowering chestnut trees,
While butterflies flit to and fro,
Like petals wafted on the breeze.

Bright sunbeams gild the earth with gold,
The Maytime scene is bathed in light;
Bird-songs resound from glen and glade,
From early dawn to dusk of night.

The quietness of the countryside;
Its beauty and tranquillity,
Acts like a balm upon the heart
In search of true serenity.

So deep a peace pervades the mind;
So many anxious cares take flight,
As through the Maytime days we tread
A world of wonder and delight!