Making plans. Worcestershire.

I love this time of the year. My garden looks a little scruffy in places as things start to die back. Tidying up in the garden is so satisfying as you know it will stay looking great for months.

On top of that the spring bulbs and winter bedding are in the shops. Lidl is particularly brilliant for bulbs this week. A very satisfactory morning spent planting bargain bulbs means I am looking forward to more hyacinths, tulips, crocus, and allium next spring. Deep joy.

May's garden treasures. Malvern, Worcestershire.

Tulip tarda

Tulips

Tulip and daffodil display

 May is the month when the garden really starts to come into its own. Colour appears everywhere, blossom on trees, clematis climbing, flowers in the tubs and flowers beds. The sights and smells are a treat for the senses.

Cherry blossom

Not only is the overall effect magnificent, but each individual bloom is a work of art in itself.  The detail is particularly easy to see in the detail of the aqualigias structure and contrasting coloured petals.

Clematis

Aqualigia purple

Aqualigia pink

Hosta

Purple tulip and allium flower bed

London blue

Yellow poppy

Spider Trap

Gardening today I spotted a spider camouflaged in a tulip. These spiders sit  and wait for another unwary insects, and then spring out and devour them. Native to many countries, until now I had never seen them in my garden before. Incredibly beautiful this one was a nervous model, and after I took the first picture it came out of the flower bell, and stood upon the edge of the bloom waving its long front legs aggressively.

Tulips, spring colour.

Daffodil and tulip display

Tulip Tarda

 Tulips are a fantastically reliable bulbous perennial. Native in southern Europe/ Israel/ Palestine, Northern Africa and Northern China. Huge variety of heights ranging from 4-28 inches tall, but always with only one flower per stem.

Pink and purple tulip

Forever linked to the Netherlands, ( which they don't come from) due to its commercial cultivation there since the times of the Ottoman Empire. The country now sells over three million bulbs annually.

Red and yellows

Personally I like how bright and reliable they are. Reds, yellows, pinks and purples. Whatever the weather a dry or wet year previously, there they are still every spring.

Display in the Rose gardens

Rose garden, Rhododendrons, Malvern, Worcestershire.

Formal Bed

White rhodedendron detail

 The daffodil have faded and the roses in the rose garden are a long way away from flowering.

Red Rhodedendron

There is still a lot to see though. The formal spring bed full of primrose varieities and tulips is a delight. The rhodedendrons though are what I came to see. Only a few of the bushes are in flower, the rest will follow over the next few weeks. Already though there is white, lilac, cream, cerise and scarlet examples to see. 

Cerise rhodedendron

Lilac rhodedendron

Priory Park, Lovely in spring sunshine, Malvern, Worcestershire.

Elephant ears flowers

Forsythia and ducks

General view

Heron fishing in the main pond

Formal beds with pond and bridge behind

Red quince

The Spring sunshine is delightful and the park is looking magnificent at this time of year. The flower beds are full of colour, yellow daffodils and forsythia, blue hyacinth, bluebells, purple fritallaria and elephant ear flowers, (sadly only know the common name and I am a little worried actually it may just be a nickname), red tulips and quince. Ornamental cherries and exotic magnolia fill the skies with blossom.

The park is well designed, with both large expansive areas and smaller secluded garden room sections. 

The large ponds are looking great as well and the ducks are very friendly. The pond used to have about twenty really huge fish in it as well as many much smaller ones. The last few times I have visited though, a heron has been in residence, and although the heron was still there I didn't manage to spot any of the larger fish. I expect they have eaten.  The park is well worth a visit at the moment as it is looking great.

Narnian Lamp and Magnolia in flower

Brilliant bulbs, Great Malvern, Worcestershire.

Daffodils in Rose Bank Garden, Great Malvern

Crocus

 Bulbs are brilliant. No matter what you throw at them bulbs seem to flower regardless. The snow and record cold temperatures this country has suffered have not dimmed them. As the first brilliance in the year they are more valued than ever this year. A stroll around my garden this morning I found daffodils and crocus looking like fallen solid sunshine. The hyacinths are not quite there yet but soon they will not only be adding their bright sparkle, but perfuming the air around them with the sweetest of floral scents.

Hyacinth, almost open

In Great Malvern the early daffodil bed are also in standing in perfect brilliance. The later flowering examples are not quite there yet, but as they stand in front of a wide rhododendron bed I am rather hoping the two will flower together.

There are bulbs not just for spring, but for summer and autumn too. In my garden there are many tulips, allium and lilies. Although I have many brighter colour tulips, I find the deep purple of the variety Queen of the Night, the most long last flower and robust of the tulips. It combines in late spring and early summer, with my allium to look fantastic. I also love the sheer spectacular variety and deep intense perfume from the lillies that are datted around my garden. 

Purple Allium, (2012)

Never, however hot or cold and/or wet or dry a year has been, have any of these wonderful bulbs failed to put on a most beautiful display. 

Tulip Q of N (2012)

White Allium (2012)

Yellow Lily (2012)

Daffodils, not quite open, with rhododendrons behind.