May 31st – This is, we hope, the last of the Lockdown Galleries as garden visiting returns in June. Many thanks to all who contributed this year and last!
Weather: Summer is here!Warm sunny days and no rain
Ruth Baumberg received identifications for the plants she asked about last week – the Narcissus was Pipitand the Geranium was G. tuberosum. She also has a fine Peony grown from seed to show us this week
Narcissus ‘Pipit’
Geranium tubersoum
Single Paeonia from grown from HPS seed
Glenda Wray has some interesting plant combinations
White Dodecatheon meadia against Euphorbia dulcis ‘Chameleon’
Weird cowslips with Asphodeline lutea
Geranium phaeum ‘Lily Lovell’ (hiding the rhubarb!)
Darmera peltata – decided to flower at last!
Dwarf Deutzia gracilis ‘Nikko’ plus Trifolium repens ‘William’ (in pots)
Primula pulverulenta
Rhododendron loderi ‘King George’
Ann Fritchley says that everything in her garden has been watered and battered. Looks like it’s thriving though!
Thermopsis rhombifolia – not a Lupin!
Iris ‘Gingerbread Man’
Iris ‘Cute or What?’
Foliage colour – Acer palmatum ‘Garnet’, Abies pinsapo ‘Glauca’, and a conifer
Erysimum ‘Fragrant Star’
A bit of colour at the front door!
Aquilegia ‘Spring magic’
Tiarella ‘Sugar and Spice’
Liz Hall’s submission of beautiful Aquilegias is tinged with sadness. She has discovered that downy mildew is affecting some of her plants, so it may be the beginning of the end for her collection
Judith Ladley has a mystery for you to solve
Unknown blue plant – it’s a lovely gentian blue growing in a straggly manner – I do not know its name and would welcome your suggestions!
Tellima grandiflora and my new Hellebore ‘Anna’s Red’ still going fairly strongly
Geranium phaeum ‘Margaret Wilson’. A rather pretty specimen
Geranium orientali tibeticum. Attractive foliage but a bit of a thug
Clematis alpina growing through Corokia Cotoneaster
A rather nice Iberis growing alongside Ballota pseudodictamnus
Sue Gray asserts that Ladies of the Night do better in the rain…
Astrantia ‘Ladies of the Night’ doing far better than ever before, probably due to all the rain
Cenolophium denudatum and Polemonium ‘Heaven Scent’ – although I can’t detect any scent
Foliage of Epimedium rubrum, Astilbe and Actaea
Polemonium ‘Sonia’s Bluebell’
Rodgersia – rain appears to have the same effect as steroids!
Tulipa sprengeri – just flowered in time for the last gallery!
Carine Carson joins the party very late – but not too late!
Geum ‘Bell Bank’ from Jackie Gyles with Sambucus ‘Black Lace’
Same two plants with an unknown Veronica -WYHPS bargain!
Astrantia major ‘Dove Cottage Hybrid’ with Stipa tenuissima
Polystichum ‘Herrenhausen’ with Geranium ‘Bill Wallis’ and I think Heuchera ‘Lime Marmalade’ – brightening up a shady side of the house
Polemonium ‘Heaven Scent’ – The stems are really dark and just beautiful with the lilac-purple flowers
Geranium sanguineum – just starting to flower
And finally,the Hackett garden is still looking decidedly scruffy after that iffy spring, but there are still a few blooms here and there
Tree Peony ‘Very Double Cherry’. That’s what it was called when we bought it in the 80s. I can’t find a Japanese name for it.
Flowers the size of dinner plates this year, so at least one plant has enjoyed this spring weather.
Melittis melissophyllum ‘Royal Velvet Distinction’ – or Bastard Balm if you think its proper name is just too posh
Geum ‘Lemon Drops’ – so much more refined that the Geum avens which is rampant this spring
Choisya x dewitteana ‘White Dazzler’ – it has taken years for this to flower properly – here it is at last
To Woodroyd, 148 Barnsley Road, Denby Dale, Huddersfield, HD8 8QW:
From Leeds. Take the M1 South to junction 39. Take 3rd exit onto A636 to Denby Dale.
Stay on this road through Denby Dale, after passing under a viaduct travel 1/3 mile and turn sharp left almost back on yourself onto the A635 Barnsley Road, this approx. 8.5 miles from the motorway.
You are now looking for No.148 on the right after about half a mile.
From Woodroyd to Old Scotgate:
Hassocks Lane, Honley, HD9 6RF
Take Barnsley Road A635 back towards Upper Cumberworth after approx. 3.8 miles turn right, A616 to Huddersfield at New Mill crossroads (a complicated junction in the middle of New Mill).
After approx. 2.5 miles turn left at Jewson builders. Follow this through Honley to a roundabout where you turn right, 3rd exit onto Thirstin Road.
After 150 yards at Y junction keep left onto Scotgate Road. After half a mile fork left onto Hassocks Lane. Old Scotgate is the first property on the right.
From Leeds. Take the A6120 Selby Road out of Leeds, cross the M1, continuing on Selby Road A63.
Cross under the A1(M) keeping on A63 using several roundabouts.
Pass through Monk Fryston, as you leave the village there is a car wash on the right, take the right turn after this sign posted to Kellington and Birkin.
Turn left at the T junction onto Hillam Common Lane. Follow this road for a mile and a half. Parking is just before the garden.
From the M62 towards Hull, take junction 32A onto the A1(M) North. Leave A1(M) at next junction (42). Turn right on A63 to Selby. Join instructions above.
At Junction 34 take the A19 to Selby. At the first roundabout, turn right towards Snaith on the A645.
After the level crossing turn right at the traffic lights onto Church Lane, go over the M62, left at the T junction onto Main Street, past the Church to the T junction, virtually straight across to car park.
Weather: The cool showery spell continues, but more settled weather begins to appear in the second half of the week
Ruth Baumberg has a late Narcissus for you to identify
Can anyone name this Narcissus?
Variegated lily of the valley
Rosa ‘Canary Bird’
Polemonium
Late Tulip
Geranium
Candelabra primula
Now we all know that hardy plants should not be jet-washed – they are not quite that hardy. Unfortunately Denise Dyson was visited by someone whose aim was not all it might have been – here are some of her survivors!
Tulips – ‘Chinatown’ and ‘Apricot Beauty’
Unknown iris
Omphalodes – not sure whih one
Dodecatheon with Viola ‘Martin’
Dicentra – maybe ‘Bacchanale’
Conservatory geraniums – somewhere to play when it’s raining
Maggie Sugden is back again, still finding flowers in this substandard spring!
Narcissus ‘Sun Disc’
I think this is Deutzia ‘Strawberry Fields’
Geum ‘Cosmopolitan’
Dark syringa. No name.
Camassia from Stella Otley who has the national collection
Akebia quinata peeping under a rose
And in the Hackett garden, there are some soggy blooms too
Tulip lasagne -the second course begins with T. ‘World Expression’ joining the early T. ‘Burgundy’ and T. ‘Lasting Love’ showing below
An Early Osteospermum starts to open
Epimedium x rubrum, looking a little soggy
Dodecatheon meadia, now fully open
Dicentra formosa ‘Bacchanal’ at least I think so. I could be D. ‘Luxuriant’, but that may be a shade lighter
Maianthemum racemosum
Lunaria rediviva – the perennial Honesty, but not the fancy variegated one we saw last week
Japanese Tree Peony ‘Very Double Cherry’ growing through the cordon apple trees. Beautiful, but gone in a flash
Exochorda x macrantha ‘The Bride’
A nice dark Centranthus ruber, growing against the house wall, ready to feed the bees and butterflies
Amanda Fincham says she had to go back and take all these again, because there were too many raindrops on them the first time!
Clematis ‘Ashva’
Erysimum ‘Lemon Drop’
Magnolia ‘Susan’
Perennial stock (scented) but not as strong as white one
Seed grown tree peony, rain battered
Unknown clematis (1inch flowers)
Judith Ladley surveys the queue of plants awaiting a space – and wants to see a favourite restored to York Gate
The ‘waiting room’ at Victoria Close
Known to me as Meconopsis cambrica but I think it has changed its name. Also sorbaria sorbifolia and a golden Hypericum. I think I’ve said before that my original Meconopsis came from York Gate – I would like to see it growing there again!
I am very fond of multi-coloured erysimums and this is one of my favourites
A beautiful iris bought from a lecturer who came to Friday Forum – sadly I have lost its name
Judith Edmonds says that the cool damp weather has made her tulips last for at least three weeks – she leads off with two Sarah Raven tulip mixtures
‘Dark Paeony Flowered’ including Antraciet, Black Hero, Orange Princess and Royal Acres
‘Byzantine’ including Black Parrot, Queen of the Night, Ridgedale and Caviar
Anemone nemorosa ‘Robinsoniana’ – this has taken 4 years to settle down and flower
Aquilegia– no name, came from a market stall!
Clematis alpina ‘Frances Rivis’
Tiarella with pretty leaves
Rhododendron ‘Temple Bells’
Maianthemum racemosum
Geum ‘Farmer John Cross’
Epimedium x warleyense
Sue Gray was burning the midnight oil on Sunday to get these beauties through to the Gallery in time!
The first of just 3 buds to open on the tree peony
Paeonia ‘Claire de Lune’
Primula seiboldii – mauve form, but no sign of the white form, which I have lost more times than I care to remember
Geum ‘Bell Bank’ – nothing special but a ‘good doer’
Corydalis ochroleucha
Seedheads of Pulsatilla vulgaris shimmering in the sun after rain
Weather: At last, the frosts have ended and the air has warmed up, even if there are plenty of showers about
Judith Ladley kicks off this week, with some of her favourite regulars
Symphytum uplandicum variegatum – original plant bought from York Gate a long time ago
Rhodiola – don’t know which one but I like it
Lunaria annua variegata – a plant I have always wanted and this has turned up as a chance seedling.
Hebe hulkeana bought many years ago from Mrs Rakusen’s garden
Euphorbia polychroma with Hebe ‘James Stirling’ – a nice combination I think
Acer bought as a sapling from Morrisons plus butterfly daffodil ‘Edinburgh’
For Sue Gray, the mood is blue
The overriding colour in the garden at the moment is blue, in this case Camassia leichtlinii & Centaurea montana
Clematis koreana ‘Blue Eclipse’ – I think
Strong, self-sown primula, judging by the colour combination, possibly a cross between P. vulgaris & P. denticulata
Pulmonaria ‘Diana Clare’
Lathyrus vernus
Hylomecon japonica – yes, a yellow flower in my garden
Glaucidium palmatum ‘Album’ – at least it has come back, but a little more flower would be very welcome
Bergenia ‘Overture’
Anemone pavonina
And here’s Maggie Sugden – one of the most regular contributors to Gallery ’21
Unnamed Clematis
Primula ‘Francisca’
Primula auricula ‘Blairside Yellow’
Ompahalodes cappadocica
Lewisia cotyledon ‘Elise’
Lathyrus vernus
Ruth Baumberg offers the first Peony of the season and another Dodecatheon. If you are wondering about that name, by the way, it means ’12 gods’ and refers to the 12 principal Greek Gods who lived together on Mt Olympus. Pliny the Elder was the first to use the name for a plant, but he applied it to a Primula.
Paeonia ludlowii
Dodecatheon pulchellum
Geranium phaeum
Omphalodes cappadocica ‘Cherry Ingram’
Smrynium perfoliatum
Some old tulips
Spring Yellow – Lamium, Bowles’ ‘Golden Grass’, & Anemone ranunculoides
No submissions this week so far, so I’ve taken the camera outside.
There’s still time to add to this week’s gallery if you are brave enough to battle the weather
Weather: The week begins with heavy rain – much needed, but it remains cool with a few frosts, which isn’t so welcome
So what could I find in the Hackett garden this week? A few tough guys out there, which have thrived despite the frostiest April in 60 years
Tulipa ‘Ollioules’, We bought this beauty from Gill Evans. It comes back every year and so far none have reverted. The only drawback is pronouncing it, so I’ve just looked it up. Ollioules is apparently a French town, pronounced as Ollie-oola. Now we know that we can order more without fear of being shamed…
Allium paradoxum var. normale growing through Maianthemum racemosum
Aponogeton distachyos or Water Hawthorn. Flowers much earlier than water lilies and has a pleasant smell of May blossom. You can see bits of the old leaves, which turn brown and fall off at this time of year
Caltha palustris, Mary Buds, King Cups or Marsh Marigolds – a plant that isn’t short on names
Our spring lasagne. The Iris ‘Frozen Planet’ has now all but disappeared, but the first of the tulips, Tulipa ‘Lasting Love’, has taken its place
Buds of Dodecatheon meadia coming through the Forget-me-nots
Centaurea montana. Just spotted this growing in a crack against the house wall. It looks darker that the standard ones, which have installed themselves around the garden. Anyone know the variety?
Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii – very cheery in these chilly days
Lathyrus vernus and Allium paradoxum var. normale
Narcissus ‘Thalia’. This has lasted for weeks, possibly because of the cold, but it looks like it’s on the way out now
Ruth Baumberg has answered the call, with these choice beauties
What to choose among all the exciting, newly opening, plants for May this year?
Should it be that reliable old friend, Omphalodes cappadocica ‘Cherry Ingram’, with its brilliant blue flowers for semi-shade? But this year some of it seems to be sadly burnt with more brown leaves (and you have to remove them to get the plant looking decent) than usual, particularly in this drought.
There are the Paeonies, but I have spoken about those before, and I am not an expert on the various smart varieties the specialist nurseries (like Kelways) sell. Pulmonarias are beginning to go over and are generally quite dull, though a reliable filler, as are the Erythroniums where the standard varieties hang on’ but the fancies die out within a year or two.
Iris sibirica varieties are a favourite of mine but they are really June flowerers, apart from Perry’s Blue, Silver Edge and Shirley Pope. And Dodecatheons (in the primula family) from the western USA are very beautiful but do not really thrive in my garden. They hang on just in the shade, though a passing rabbit dug them up last year, but I replanted them and they are in bud now. It could be defined as an alpine really, rather than one of ours.
So I will choose a wildling that clothes a north facing border under a beech hedge. Herb Paris or under its proper name Paris quadrifolia, with its four leaves and mostly green flowers (though the narrow petals are yellow and the fruit is black) can be found blooming among Bluebells and Primroses in May and June.
It is known as a Herb of Equality among medieval herbalists, seemingly because of its symmetry and was used both in marriage rituals – and to guard against witches. What connection do you think that denotes?
I have photographed it in the Picos mountains of Spain (2012) :
P. quadrifolia in Picos, taken 1st June 2012
Swedish Lapland (early July 2019) :
P. quadrifolia Swedish Lapland, taken 30th June 2019
and the Alpes Maritimes of France (2017) :
P. quadrifolia in the Alpes Maritimes, taken 18th May 2017
as well as my garden yesterday (April 24th 2021) where the drought makes the leaf edges curl slightly :
P. quadrifolia with 5 leaves, taken 24rd April 2021
And of course Paris in my garden has mostly 5 leaves instead of 4 while the one I photographed in the Picos mountains of Spain has 6 leaves.
They are akin to Trilliums which have three leaves consistently, but despite the quadrifolia part of the name, this plant can have 4-12 leaves! At any rate it is a good grower and runs gently but is not a nuisance and I love its interesting flowers.
It is difficult to give flowering dates these days as our weather is so changeable and, if a plant flowered last year in May, this year with a late spring, it can flower any time from May to July. Of course, flowering times vary with altitude and weather, but you can see from the dates on the photographs, how our climate is changing before our eyes.