Spring update

After a spectacular display in late April this year, the bluebells are beginning to fade as the canopy closes and creates shade, with new leaves developing in the trees. If you go to the ancient woodland in May and June you will be greeted with lush new growth. If hot summer days, the dense canopy will offer respite to all life.

What to look out for in late May/June

In flower: Roses, peonies, alliums, bearded/dutch/siberian irises, geum

Look out for Stag Beetles flying, normally at dawn or dusk.

Growth burst

This time of year it feels like the plants wake up quite suddenly and start growing really quickly. Some of our ornamental grasses appear to put on an inch of growth each day. The seasonal bedding has been working hard to lift the spirits with stunning early spring colour, while the rest of the garden has been mostly green, but as the weather warms and flowers open we begin to have a lot more colour all over the garden.

Roses

We have many roses in the formal garden. Those trained onto walls come into flower first as the brick walls store warmth from the sun, meaning they think they are a few weeks ahead of the season.

Tilly’s favourite is an English rambling rose called Lady of the Lake. We have four, trained along ropes behind the benches in the middle lawn. It produces masses of fragrant flowers several times, from early summer all the way to early winter. The flower smell seems to change with the age of the flower, and also the weather. On hot sunny days the fresh flowers often smell of pink grapefruit, black pepper, and clove.

Often we get a late spring/ early summer aphid infestation on our roses, but it’s always brief even though we don’t treat them with anything.

Ladybirds must be eating them, but I think our blue tits are probably having a go too.  We have been enjoying watching blue tits flit in and out of a tiny crack in one of our walls where they are nesting. Very smart! Not only warm, but with tasty aphid snacks right on their doorstep.

Tilly, horticultural specialist , BPP’s grounds team

We love deadheading our roses, but you have to be alert. Sometimes they have creatures in them that you don’t want to squash, as you can see in the photo above.

Peonies

The peonies have nice swollen buds, but they can take a while to open. Normally we expect to see them in full flower in early June.

Fruit trees

As the blossom on our fruit trees begins to fade, we begin to see the little fruits developing. Our peach trees have set so much fruit we will have to thin them out, otherwise the branches will break under their weight! You will likely see me up a ladder on dry sunny days in the months to come as our fanned forms need a lot of careful looking after.