Nothing brings me greater pleasure in May and early June than all the beautiful shades of green in the garden. Those precious moments before the colours darken are normally fleeting, but this year’s cooler weather seems to have preserved them a little longer.
For me, translucent beech leaves emerging in the sunlight are the ultimate spring green. However, not being blessed with room for a beech hedge, let alone a towering tree, I am content with the tapestry that’s been woven outside the dining room window. Bowing down after heavy rain, and much loved by our resident collared doves, Daphne and Dudley, is our rampant Rosa banksiae “Lutea”. The flowers now over, growth has begun in earnest. Hopefully it won’t be blighted by mildew as in previous years – thankfully nature seems to have delivered conditions closer to those in its mountain home in China this month.
Elsewhere in the garden, Pittosporum tobira “Nanum” and Isoplexis sceptrum are covered in new leaves of the most luminous green. The latter, I hope, will finally flower this year, having come through 3 winters unscathed. It’s actually looking pretty good on it, so fingers crossed. Finally, in our shady passageway it is great to see the first new fronds appear on Cyrtomium falcatum (aka Japanese Holly Fern), and the dense wall of Trachelospermum jasminoides starting to produce the shoots which will shortly give way to its delicately scented flowers. Despite being told categorically that Star Jasmine, as it’s more commonly known, dislikes chalk, it continues to grow apace, taking every opportunity to get underneath the neighbouring garage’s roof.
So, whilst we have the plentiful rain to thank for all this luscious growth, I am hoping the forecast gales don’t do too much damage and spoil the last few days of this precious, short-lived moment in the garden calendar.
