May for me is my favourite month, everything is looking lush and fresh, and all plants are still so vibrant at this time, before a lot of the foliage has deepened to the true colours of summer.
I’ve been away from Harlow Carr for one and a half weeks holidaying in Germany and then down at Chelsea on Monday and Tuesday, and I’m amazed at the changes to be seen all over the garden. Everything has burst in to growth; it’s truly amazing what a week of rain can do at this time of year. But May is also the time of year when it can easily run away with you, it’s been difficult to get the mowers out, until today due to the wet weather we’ve been having and the lack of staff due to the annual trips down to Chelsea. So it’s a race against the clock to get all the rather hairy grass back to its usual neat short back and sides, ready for the bank holiday weekend. I think we will just about make it.
With all that put aside though the garden is looking fantastic. Everything is doing really really well this year, it’s definitely the best spring that I have seen in my four years hear at Harlow, everything has been so floriferous and full, maybe its down to the wet summer we had last year or the harder winter we had up hear, whatever the reason its looking lovely, I just hope the weather continues to stay good this weekend so I can get out in my own garden and enjoy it.
Happy Gardening Russ Watkins – Gardens East, Harlow Carr.