I say this every month, but here we are nearly at the end of yet another month. They just fly by, don't they? And I am getting my garden reading in just under the gun it would seem. The Curious Gardener by Anna Pavord is always such easy and entertaining reading. She seems to follow a pattern--short essays on similar topics--something specific about the garden for the month, a little travel piece, something on plants or flowers particular for the season, something on fruits or veggies and then something cultural--maybe a great country house either in Britain or abroad, or in the case of this month's reading a little something about the Chelsea Flower Show (which I seem to have missed by only a week!).
"From the beginning, the nurserymen used Chelsea as a showcase. The nobs came to London with their head gardeners, made a leisurely tour of the show, and placed orders with the nurserymen for delphiniums, lupins and roses to decorate the herbaceous borders."
She notes, though, that Chelsea is all about flower arranging. You can see a list of the winners here, but it looks as though only the gardens have been photographed but not the flower arrangement.
*I've* got pictures to share this month, however. I had my own little field trip to the Lauritzen Gardens last week. My intention was to see the peonies in full bloom, but more about that in a moment. It was a lovely spring day--early, and not yet too warm but not too cool either. I had a very leisurely walk through some of the gardens (the photo at the top is the Victorian Garden) and was able to explore a few areas I had never visited before, including this marsh habitat.
There are trails you can follow with lots of benches scattered about and areas that are covered where you can sit and rest, and this area was so peaceful I sat here for a long time. I had a book in hand and just enjoyed listening to the birds singing and chirping and watching the grasses gently move with the wind. I had been reading when I felt something or someone nearby and scanned the pond and look who I discovered. He was just peeking out of the water at me, but when I shifted to try and take a better photo of him he decided to play shy and disappeared. As toads go he is probably a pretty handsome fella but you won't find me trying to kiss him!
This was the garden I was really hoping to spend time in. But where are all the peonies? I think I came just a week too early (and I thought I had timed my visit pretty well). As you can see there were a few in bloom, but most were still pretty tightly closed waiting for the right moment to open and show their stuff. The gardeners must have been trying to nurture them along as there were lots of hoses with gentle sprays of water trained on them all so I couldn't even walk through let alone sit and just enjoy the solitude. It's one of my favorite areas at the Botanical Gardens.
Now that I have seen them in spring, I'll visit the gardens in high summer and see what has changed and what is new (there were no roses in bloom yet).
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As for Anna Pavord's May garden? Let's see . . . She talked about the "joined-up garden", about the variety of shrubs and plants that can serve as ground cover and help keep the soil moist and over time join together creating a nice lush area. I'm coming to learn the most important lesson, to start out with at least, is to know your soil and take time to make it rich and moist. If you have good soil, it will make your life in the garden so much easier.
She wrote about her travels to the Tongariro Crossing in New Zealand. "Wherever you look in New Zealand there are mountains. That's why I like it so much."
There is lots of interesting information about ferns and squash. "For a gardener ferns are not demanding creatures." You just have to remember to suit the plant to the place and to cut off the old fronds before the new ones start to uncurl. Oh, and as nice as they sound, May is almost too late now plant them (save them for next year). And squash. I didn't realize there were so many varieties. And I thought there weren't really pumpkins in England but they sound quite common (just have to fatten them up and let the skin dry out and toughen up).
And there is always some good advice--this time around on water conservation (squash are good to grow as they also provide lots of soil cover since they branch out so much) or using rain barrels to catch rainwater for use later. And did you know raised flower/plant beds dry out much quicker than plants found in the ground?
Almost all of what she has to say is new to me, so this monthly reading is always a little bit of an education. I still don't have my herbs planted yet in containers and no flowers yet either. Maybe next time around. A little teaser for June? Slow gardening. I wonder if she means that in the 'slow living' sense? I'll be finding out soon since June is just days away.
And a little side note--I will be starting Andrea Wulf's Founding Gardeners in the next few days. I've read the introduction and she seems to have a very engaging way of writing and the topic is fascinating for me, so I am looking forward to reading the book along with Stefanie at So Many Books.