MAY IN THE GARDEN

At last it’s May and the garden is looking great. The Alpine area is full of flowers. Standard Dwarf Bearded irises are the first of the bearded irises to bloom and they are gorgeous. These little plants multiply very quickly and form nice clumps, which you can look down on from above and admire their shape and colours. The small saxifrages and thrift have also formed lovely solid mats of colour. Dwarf phlox, pale blue Veronica gentoides and campions complete the picture.

The designated iris beds are not up to standard this year as we suffered flooding from the heavy rainfall twice last year. The Intermediate irises are starting to flower now following on from the dwarfs. These irises are really good for us as we are somewhat exposed and subject to the wind blowing across the garden. Most have formed nice clumps but there have been losses always a tragedy to me as I have split them up and passed on so many as well as selling a lot for charity only to find I have lost a favourite one. 

The Tall Bearded irises are next to bloom and quite a few have thrown up big spikes ready to come into flower towards the end of the month. I’m just hoping these don’t get blown over. These big flamboyant beauties do not like wind or too much moisture and like to bask in hot sun in well drained soil. Needless to say they struggle in our heavy clay and with all the wet weather we have had over the last year.

Following on from late May into June the beardless iris sibirica will do well for sure as they love the moisture and rich soil. We have some fine clumps of these in the borders. Some of which I have grown from seed. Not too difficult as they come into flower eighteen months after germination. At the Malvern Show this year there were a lot of irises of various types on the stands and in the show gardens. The Show was lovely and blessed with fine weather.  We went on the first day, always worth the extra money to get near to the stands and see the flowers. With four days of fine weather I hope the stand holders did well.

Tall bearded iris Susan Bliss.
Siberica	Tall bearded iris Patina

Judy Pollitt has a passion for Irises and grows the most wonderful blooms.She has put together a few photos of a number of irises.