April showers? I don't think so! It's done nothing but rain since the beginning of April, causing damage to blossoms and new foliage. Some new Hosta leaves are suffering from all this rain which has caused their leaves to be blotched and some are beginning to rot away. We need rain at this time of the year, but this is ridiculous! On April 23rd we had a hailstorm with what may well be the biggest hailstones I have ever seen. These managed to punch holes in my Hosta leaves (they are suffering aren't they?!) It also bruised some Echevarrias and Crassulas which are outside. April is a beautiful time of year though, bad weather apart, and there are so many things coming up and coming out in the garden. One of my favourites is Photinia fraseri "Red Robin", with its shiny red new leaves which are so colourful.

I'm busy thinking of all the new projects I want to undertake in the garden this year. I'm fed up with the patio, and I want to re-design it. Of course what I would really like is for Diarmuid Gavin to come along and design it for me! Diarmuid? Hallo - Diarmuid? Are you out there? Here's a good little project for you! Halloooo Diarrrmuiddd! I don't think he's there! Ah - what about Alan Titchmarsh then? Alan - are you there? Hallo - Alan? Bah! nobody is listening! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to design it myself. The trouble is, I have so many different ideas, I don't know where to start. My patio at the moment tends towards the exotic, as I grow lots of plants which are tropical-looking, some of which are really hardy but just look tropical. I want to retain the exotic look, and this year I want another couple of Tree Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) and maybe a few Colocasia and Alocasia species. I also want a water feature of some sort on the patio with perhaps a waterfall to the next level (the patio is on two levels). This would be good as I can see the patio from the kitchen door. Decking might be nice, although everybody and his dog has it at the moment. Still...... The other project I have in mind is to have an arbour seat overlooking the pond. I know just the place, so hubby had better start sorting out his tools! I'll keep you posted on the progress (or lack of it!) of these projects.

In flower in the garden this month is Fritillaria imperialis (Crown Imperial) - such a lovely plant. It is reputed to smell of foxes, but I don't think I will be bending low enough to stick my nose into their pendent flowers to find out if it's true! I have put some of my conservatory plants outside now - Phoenix (Date Palm of unknown variety, bought for a song from a supermarket!), Eupatorium sordidum, Crassula arborea (four varieties), Washingtonia robusta, and Asparagus "Meyerii". I shall keep my eye on the weather and rush out with fleece if frost threatens. Later on I will put out my Banana plants, Musa basjoo, Ensete ventricosum and Musa hookeri. My Cannas are all sprouting now - I have loads of these (see Plant List),as they are so tropical looking even though they are quite hardy if given protection in the winter.

Butterflies seen this month - Comma, Peacock, Gatekeeper, small Tortoiseshell, Brimstone and Orange Tip.

How I love May! It's the month when everything is in full growth and all the bare spaces of winter are filling out with new foliage. I love to just walk round the garden taking it all in and enjoying seeing everything looking so lush. May is also the month of the Chelsea Flower Show. I promise myself every year that "next year, I will go." The trouble is, my bank balance wouldn't stand it! All those wonderful new introductions, and rare plants to see and buy. One day......

The weather this month began warm and dry, but the second and third week gave us rain, and varying temperatures, with the last week throwing rain, rain and more rain together with high winds at us! One thing about the British weather - it's never boring and predictable, and it always gives us something to talk about!

If I could have only one tree in my garden, it would be a hard decision to make - but I would go for Acer pseudoplatanus 'Brilliantissimum'. It's a tree which is interesting all the year round, and never outgrows its space. In May, the new leaves are a stunning salmon pink, then they gradually fade to pale yellow, then palest green with deeper green veins, then mottled cream and green, and finally in the autumn, they turn deeper yellow just before falling. The picture to the left shows my tree which is situated on level 4 in the garden. The picture was taken in early May, just as the leaves were beginning to appear. To the right of the tree is the bench overlooking the pond.

It's clear that a couple of my Phormiums ("Sundowner" and "Purpureum") have taken a battering over the cold winter months, and I feared I had lost them. However, when checking them over and cutting off all the damaged leaves, I was delighted to see that both of them are putting on new growth, so I haven't lost them after all.

I love to see the fresh fronds of the shuttlecock fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, and you can see how it gets its common name when you look down into the centre of the fern. I have these ferns growing mainly on level 5 (the lowest level) of the garden, where I can look into them from level 4. I began with one fern which my father gave me, and this has now reproduced itself by runners, and has grown into a large clump, even spreading under some steps to pop out on the other side! The picture on the right shows a view looking down into a Shuttlecock fern.

I'm mad about Hostas! Their leaves are so beautiful, and their flowers aren't bad either! They are so useful in the garden for making a bold statement, and in floral art for their form and colour. The Hosta on the left is one of my favourites, Hosta 'Fortunei Aurea', as its new leaves in May are a beautiful soft yellow, fading to pale green as the year progresses. I have lots of Hostas in the garden (see Plant List). Of course, I'm not the only one who is mad about Hostas - the slugs and snails are too!

I wonder why it is that flower arrangers love green flowers? I just love the look of these Clematis flowers. This is Duchess of Edinburgh, a very double flowered Clematis with green tinged flowers which change to cream as they age.

Gardening is such a voyage of discovery! I found some Gladioli coming up from corms which I planted last year, and forgot to lift. I never expected them to survive over winter with no protection, but they have. I also discovered some Dahlias coming up as well - again these had no protection over winter. Checking out some tubs on the patio, I found that some Chlorophytum comosum (the common "Spider Plant" house plant) are coming up again for the second year running. I thought it might have just been because we'd had such a mild winter that they came up again, but, in spite of -7°C last winter, here they are again! Also coming up again is a single trailing double white Petunia plant. It began sprouting from the base of the seemingly dead stems, and by the third week in the month, it had flower buds appearing. Why this one out of all the Petunias I planted last year should have survived, I don't know!

Butterflies seen this month - Comma, Peacock, Gatekeeper, small Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Cabbage White and Speckled Wood.

I never got to Chelsea in May, but I did go to the Gardener's World Live exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham (UK). So much to see and do and buy. I was very good and only bought a few plants (only because you have to carry everything (no trolleys!), and it is such a long walk to the car park or you have to lug everything onto the free bus to get to the car park!). I bought Hostas 'Big Daddy', 'Whirlwind', 'Kabitan' and 'Carnival', Elegia grandis, Thamnocortus rigidus, Carex pseudocyperus and Isoplexis canariensis. I'm looking for some space to plant them all in now!

I look forward each year to seeing my Dactylorhiza foliosa plant come into flower. I bought this plant about three years ago as a single stem in flower, which was quite expensive at £12.99! Since then it has multiplied each year so that now I have about five or six flowers on the one plant. It obviously likes it where it is, which is down on level four of the garden, in a shady position.

Another plant which is stunning at this time of year is Cornus kousa 'Chinensis'. The flowers appear to be large and white, but the white "petals" are really only bracts (modified leaves), and the true flowers are in the centre of the bracts, and are small and green. The plant grows into a large shrub or small tree, and looks fabulous covered in these "flowers". The plant is very long lasting in flower arrangements if you first take off the leaves from the stem and just leave the bracts. (This holds true for most flowering shrubs when used in arrangements - always take off the leaves and just leave the flowers. This will make the flowers stand out better and make them last much longer.)

I have now put the rest of my tender plants out into the garden - mostly on the patio. They make a very tropical looking group! The plants on display in the picture above, (which shows a section of my patio) are Alocasia sanderiana, Aspidistra elatior, Codiaeum variegatum, Solenostemon (this was known as Coleus until the little men in white coats decided that was too easy...), Asparagus meyerii, Hosta 'Gold Standard', Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' (grown for its beautiful serrated deep red-brown leaves as well as its lovely red flowers), Ctenanthe species (unknown), Billbergia species (unknown), Cycas rumphii and Hedera helix 'Perkeo'. Also in this section, but not seen in the picture, are Cyperus papyrus and Dicksonia antarctica. The trunk of the Dicksonia can be seen as a dark brown section just to the right of the blue wooden mask.

My Gunnera manicata is growing apace now. This is planted beside the pond, and gives a really jungly feel! One thing which is fascinating about this plant is its flowers. They are really strange and exotic looking, and the flowers this year are even bigger than last year! I watched a little mouse busily eating the seeds on one of the flower spikes last year. He was so intent on his work that I was able to get quite close to him. I wanted to take a photo of him, but by the time I had been to get my camera - he had disappeared!

One of the most spectacular plants to grow in the garden is the biennial, Heracleum mantegazzianum. It grows to around 3½ metres high, with thick, ribbed stems, topped with huge umbels of white lacy flowers. It can be extremely invasive, so I usually cut off the flower heads once they have set seed, and only plant a few seeds where I want them. Another drawback to this plant is that its sap can be extremely irritant, in some cases causing skin lesions. I treat it with respect and always wear rubber gloves when cutting it down. The dried stems make impressive material in large-scale flower arrangements, and can be sprayed different colours for effect. I wouldn't want to be without this one!

There is a fine line between a lush and verdant garden, and an overgrown one. I think I have reached this line now! With all the rain we have had this year so far, followed by warm spells, everything has grown at an incredible pace. Plants have covered pathways, and walking along the path on level four towards level five, I need a machete! Drastic action will have to be taken in the autumn, with much lifting, dividing and cutting back to be done. Where's Ground Force or Charlie's Garden Army when you need them?

One of my Flower Arranging class students brought me some seeds of Geranium maderense and Puya chilensis from Tresco Gardens in the Scilly Isles. I have planted these, and can't wait to see them coming up. Both plants are spectacular, though half-hardy in this area. Still, if enough germinate, I can try some in pots and plant some in the garden. That way, I have the best of both worlds!

Butterflies seen this month - Cabbage White and Speckled Wood. This seems to be a worrying trend, as I have only seen two species of butterfly in the garden this month, although there is a large variety of flowers blooming in the garden. The same thing happened last year, but in previous years, butterflies were plentiful. In spite of vast stands of nettles in the surrounding areas of the garden, no Small Tortoiseshells or Peacocks have been seen this month.