I love May! I love May for all its lushness and freshness, for all its promise. So much foliage and so many buds just waiting to burst open. So much anticipation for what’s about to happen. It’s all there, waiting to explode into a wonderful floral display. Or that’s what we all hope and pray for. After all, we’ve worked hard enough for it! The spring overture is fading now, (and hasn’t it been wonderful!) and it’s time for the main number. There have been some flowers, but only a few to start with. Let’s say, they’re the intro!
It’s the carpet of forget-me-not that provides the floral link between spring and summer, in our “Cottage Border”. Let me show you some of its amazing buds.
Buds of Oriental poppies with Nectaroscordum
Iris “Jane Phillips” in bud
In the Black and White Beds, it is the foliage that holds sway just now.
The Black Bed
From this angle, and without its flowers, this bed doesn’t live up to its title, but I can assure you, its time will come.
Foliage pots
The Black Bed backs onto the patio with its array of blue pots, this collection being for foliage effects.
The White Bed
And for contrast, the adjacent white bed looks so fresh now and is the first of the two to start flowering, with The Solomon’s Seal looking so cool!
Angelica archangelica
This may be the piece de resistance! Angelica about to flower, in the Herb Garden. Shame that’s the last we’ll see of it, though. Let’s hope for lots of babies to take its place!
All this, AND two Bank Holidays!! 🙂
The Long Garden Path 
Your Irises are at the same stage as mine, just about to pop. I get so excited at Iris time.
I love your sun dial and the white bed set off with the lovely fern.
Watch out for those Angelica babies, they can prove to be too much of a good thing.!
I’m sure I can be ruthless! “Jane Phillips” is my best performing iris, at the moment – the rest have a lot of catching up to do. I, too, love that sundial planting and the beautiful lime green foliage of the Shuttlecock fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris – what a mouthful!). It’s all so cool and fresh!
Yup- amazing buds are…well… amazing, aren’t they?! Your foliage pots look lovely – and heuchera look so pretty in pots, don’t they? Such an exciting time, as you say 🙂
Thank you! The heucheras are actually in a small square raised bed – a remnant from a previous plan. They do well there – in pots, the vine weevils had them for breakfast!
How promising they look all these buds! Can’t wait to see them open up. Lovely foliage too. My Angelica is towering over me and I can’t stop admiring its beauty.
Thank you! Already, they’ve started to flower. The iris has now opened, the poppy has burst forth and the Angelica keeps on swelling! Flower spikes are now appearing from the heucheras. All this in a matter of a few days!
I like your foliage in pots, you’ve given me an idea for on the terrace which is now shaded by the wisteria so Heuchera would look wonderful planted in pots there. thank you.
Thank you! Heuchera does do well in shade, and can really brighten darker areas. Hope you’re not bothered with vine weevils, though. I lost a couple of my heucheras to them. Those in the photo are actually in a raised bed, topped with slate, and touch wood! Maybe pots topped with gravel or such like, may be o.k. and you can get specially treated composts. If you like pots, and I know you like grasses, wait till I show you my “Rainbow pots”!