Dear Gardening Friends,
If you have been following my travels on Instagram or Facebook you will know that I have been busy recently. With trips to England, Holland, and California, I am trying to decide which time zone I like best. Along the way I have taken thousands of photos in preparation for my next book—more about that in a later email. I have also had the opportunity to spend time with family and friends—the perfect combination of the three F’s: flowers, friends, and family. You can pick your own ordering of these.
The merry month of May brings so many things to do and enjoy in the garden that it can make your head spin. I would like to echo Gertrude Jekyll’s advice from her book Wood and Garden and start the day with a moment or two of gratitude for the beauties and joys that your garden or outdoor spaces can bring. Even if you are not actively gardening, take a walk and smell the unique smell of May flowers that freshen the air.
After that bit of head cleansing, you can tackle whatever the day can bring with a positive attitude. I know that many people came to the conclusion that being outdoors helped them during the pandemic. There is no need to stop just because we are out and about more now. The pleasures of the garden are nothing new. Generations of gardeners have expressed similar feelings.
I will be doing more traveling during May, so look for photos of the Chelsea Flower Show on my Instagram (@jennyrosecarey). There will be a few images of my own garden in between journeys @northviewgarden. If you like my feed, please share with other garden-loving friends. Thank you.
As a preview, in the blog below I share some of my favorite displays from previous shows. Enjoy!
Travel Updates
I was delighted to see a good display of my book, The Ultimate Flower Gardener’s Guide, at RHS Wisley garden bookshop. It is so exciting to see my book going off into the world to help people learn how to make their flower gardens more floriferous.
I had a lovely walk around the gardens at RHS Wisley when I was there. Spring was springing despite the chill in the air. Highlights were the bulbs, especially the tulip displays and the mini bulbocodium (hoop petticoat) daffodils in the wet meadow. So magical.
I also visited Wakehurst Place, Kew’s country garden. The woody plant collection is fantastic. Camellias were in bloom and there were some great specimens of Trochodendron. I grow this in my garden (zone 6–7) as a shrub, but these were gorgeous trees. The trees were underplanted with lawn and naturalized daffodils. It was very lovely.
The sun came out for a while and I was congratulating myself on choosing a great day for a garden tour when a big black cloud appeared in the sky.
Rain started so we sheltered under a tree. Suddenly the rain turned to gravel-sized hail. The tree, rain hat, and umbrella combined where no match for the hailstorm. I felt sorry for the little children on the other side of the tree who were saying “ouch, ouch.” Then the storm blew over and the sun came out, making for some dramatic pictures of the walled garden with hail on the ground in bright shiny light. Visiting gardens is not for the faint of heart but a hot cup of tea and gluten-free chocolate cake revived the spirits.
Highlights From Flower Shows
This month’s blog is a photo journal of some of my favorite exhibits at the Chelsea Flower Show over the last eight years. Each year my eye gets caught by one or two gardens that I find outstanding. These may or may not be ones that have won a gold medal or best in show but just ones that I found different, delightful, or educational.
I always enjoy the plant displays inside the great pavilion. Specialist growers bring out their best for the Chelsea Flower Show. Flowers, vegetables, and plants are shown to perfection in the quest for gold medals. I have included a few photos of some of my favorites.
In The Garden: Love-in-a-Mist
The merry month of May has a plethora of gorgeous flowers. Enjoy what is in bloom now but continue to plant seeds for future flowers.
I want to highlight a cool-season hardy annual that is a favorite of mine that can still be planted now. Love-in-a-mist has to be one of the best flower names. Its Latin name is Nigella. I love it in the garden as a mixer and mingler amongst other annuals and perennials. Love-in-a-mist also makes a great cut flower for small May posies.
Love-in-a-mist is grown from seed each year. The seeds are tough so you don’t have to wait until the soil has warmed up, but they can be succession sown straight into the garden soil if you haven’t planted them yet. In temperate climates the seed can be sown in the autumn to flower the following spring. If you have harsh winters, you can sow the seeds in spring as soon as the snow melts.
The flowers are fantastic and fluffy. The classic flower color is a clear blue but there are other species and cultivars available in pink, white, and light blue. What they share is a green Elizabethan style collar around the flower that enhances the flower’s appearance.
In continental climates with hot summers your Nigella patch flowers will decline when the heat of summer kicks in. In summers where temperatures are moderate, the plants will bloom for a few months. In any climate, deadhead spent blooms to encourage more flower buds to form.
Once you stop deadheading you will see that the seedhead is decorative in its own right. When the flower is pollinated, the ovary expands to produce a barrel-shaped seed capsule. The fluffy ruff turns from green to brown. Once the seeds are dry, they rattle inside the seedhead. The seeds can be sown fresh by sprinkling them back into your garden right away. The seeds will stay in the soil and germinate either in the autumn or the following spring. A useful tip is to sow the seeds onto a layer of gravel over your soil.
Once the seedheads start turning brown you can pick the whole plant. Use a rubber band to tie a few stems together and place the heads into a paper bag or large envelope. Hang the stems upside down in a dry, shaded area for a few weeks to dry. You will know that the capsule is dry when the heads no longer rattle. Some shiny black seeds will have fallen out into the bottom of your bag or envelope and you can shake the rest out.
The seeds can be left in the bag until they are fully dry and then stored in a screw- top glass jar until you want to sow the seed. Keep your jar in a cool and dark place and remember that the seeds are alive, so treat them nicely!
Book Club: Wood and Garden
At this time of year there is little time for serious long-form reading so I am carrying on where I left off last month with Gertrude Jekyll. Dip into this old Gertrude Jekyll book that is available online here for free here.
Gertrude has so many quotable quotes but one that I am loving at the moment is this: “I have learned much, and am always learning, from other people’s gardens.” It reminds me that no matter how much you know—in the case of Gertrude, that would be a lot—there is always more to learn, and visiting other gardens is one of the best ways to do that.
If you can spare the time this month, get out and see a public garden. Take your camera or phone and maybe a notebook. As Gertrude says: “It is important to train oneself to have a good flower-eye; to be able to see at a glance what flowers are good and which are unworthy, and why.” Identify what looks good in that garden that you could add to your own garden to improve it. Unless your temperatures have soared up, you probably still have time to plant something as long as you look after it properly.
Gertrude was a big fan of small cottage gardens that were a repository of long forgotten plants. She said, “I have learned much from the little cottage gardens that help to make our English waysides the prettiest in the temperate world.” At the time the prevailing gardening style concentrated on grand displays, so this was a departure from the gardening norm.
The equivalent for us today would be going to visit private gardens and chatting with the owners about their favorite plants. They are often happy to share a piece of a plant or some seeds. In this way your garden grows through shared interest and knowledge. Be sure to return the favor through your garden group or club and help the next generation of gardeners to get their gardens started.
Note: I am not sponsored to promote books found in these newsletters. They are featured because I truly love them.
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If you would like to see photos of my garden at Northview and images of my garden travels, please follow me on Instagram @NorthviewGarden and @JennyRoseCarey
Bye for now,
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