April in May

Dreaming spires of foxgloves

Don't be fooled by the deceptive tranquillity of this photo.  We took the precaution of staking our taller plants last week when the forecast showed that strong winds were on their way, accompanied by several thunderstorms and a scattering of hailstones...  

Snail damage to stem

Since then we've had buckets of rain, along with gale-force winds, and our fairly pest-free garden is now full of snails and aphids which don't bode well for newly planted seedlings. 

Interestingly, one such snail almost chewed through the stem of this foxglove, but it survived anyway and continued flowering. 

Fresh growth

When I eventually cut off the main stem, the other side-shoots quickly took over and have now produced about ten healthy flowering stems.  

We already do an early 'chop' on our hollyhocks to prevent them getting too tall but it seems to work spectacularly well with foxgloves too and is probably worth repeating in areas where they get very wind-blown.  

As it's usually a strong healthy plant, I have to take a deep breath before wielding the secateurs so cruelly!!

Plants for shade

Osmunda regalis with Digitalis

Having just watched the Chelsea Flower Show on TV, I make no apology for featuring white foxgloves at every turn! 

In fact we have pink and apricot varieties too, mostly self-seeded and usually in cool dry areas, although they also seem to do quite well in damp shade - as seen on the right, where a majestic fern clothes the wall behind it, revelling in rainwater which cascades down due to lack of guttering on the old barn.

This 'royal fern' - Osmunda regalis - is quite at home in sodden, chalky soil and now reaches a height of two meters.  It produces substantial 'flowers' or heads of brown spores, which I cut off so that the fronds can move more freely.

Lychnis coronaria

Another plant that seeds itself liberally is Lychnis coronaria, which can have magenta flowers (as shown here) or white ones which are even more effective in dark corners. This one is flowering under the canopy of a large ash tree but would be just as happy in a dry, sunny spot.

Similarly, there are many types of geranium - or cranesbill - which are able to prosper in sun or shade. They are often good for underplanting around shrubs

Cranesbill

and those with pale flowers look quite luminous in dark areas. If the soil is very dry then add a mulch of leafmould or some homemade compost after ensuring that the plant is well-watered.

Our ash trees provide a huge haul of leaves in the autumn and these are well worth sweeping up and keeping separate from the main compost bin.  This winter's heavy rain has ensured that our heap has been keep moist, with only the topmost layer drying out in the wind - lift that and you find dark layers of sticky leafmould underneath, damp and rich in worms.

Hedera helix

Weed of the Week

Something else which finds itself right at home in shady corners is our old friend Ivy... much beloved by us English expats who associate it with decorated terracotta pots and crumbling brickwork.  Banish all such romantic ideas when entering a southerly climate!

I have zero tolerance for this ultimate thug which runs far too quickly under hedges, up trees and over walls, soon reaching heights where its flowers can't be controlled so the seeds rain down far and wide.  You can see from the tiny seedling above how efficiently it puts down roots even though its leaves are no bigger than my smallest fingernail.  Learn to recognise these two little leaves lurking in shade and uproot them immediately!

Oenothera odorata

Returning to plants which have impact on gloomy days, I think it's hard to beat the evening primrose - the flowers of which open when sunlight fades or when the sky is overcast.

The lemon-yellow blooms last a day and then turn orange as they droop  Its erect stems are also tinged with red and stand out well against a green background.

As a member of the gaura family, it can develop a woody root after a couple of years and will probably need digging up, but it seeds readily and will doubtless pop up elsewhere.

Pittosporum tobira

Shrub of the Month

My nomination for a shrub which looks great and flowers well in late Spring would be Japanese Pittosporum tobira or 'mock orange'.  We don't have one in our garden but it's tolerant of sea winds as we just encountered it at La Rochelle, where it was blooming profusely along dense hedges in the shoreside park.

The tough, glossy leaves are suited to full sun or part-shade and its creamy white flowers have a similar scent to orange blossom. We first noticed it whilst on holiday in Greece where it was planted around a swimming pool and kept very neatly trimmed... well worth noting for poolside planting!  This evergreen shrub is also recommended by the RHS, who say it needs just light pruning and a mulch with compost.

We're almost into the month of June now, hoping that our weather will finally settle down to those long hot days of Summer!

Lavender border starting to fill out,
 with Campanula lactiflora flowering in background

A Merrie Month

The long-awaited season of plant fairs!

However much we try to anticipate our planting needs by growing new things from seed, there is always the irresistible lure of a good plant fair, even if it means driving south of Bordeaux to an area notable for 'Graves' wine.  Luckily it was a fine and sunny day, so we packed a picnic and primed the Satnav accordingly.

Here in France it's usual to have at least three bank holidays in May and this year they all happen to be on Thursdays, which means many people escape for a long weekend and descend on the countryside.  So, no surprise to find the fair at Saucats was jam-packed with browsers when we turned up at about 11am, and it was difficult to move around the stands, let alone attract the attention of a vendor when we wanted to make a purchase.

Viburnum sargentii 'Onondaga'

Shrub of the Month

Nevertheless, it didn't take us long to pick out a few hardy geraniums - based on the principle that you can never have too many - and we also fell for a rather handsome shrub which hadn't been on our wish-list but will probably find itself a space in our back border.

As soon as I saw its lacecap blooms, I remembered admiring this viburnum in a Bressingham's catalogue some 25 years ago when I was planting up a garden in Hampshire and knew next to nothing about shrubs.  I had so many plants on my list that I simply couldn't afford an extra specimen piece, but its name has stayed with me all this time and, luckily, Christina was similarly entranced.

In addition to the attractive florets, its leaves are an unusual shape and can be maroon when they emerge, turning green as they mature and then going red once again in autumn.

As it's in a pot, we've temporarily placed it next to our newly-painted wall which seems to complement the colouring.  (For any decorators out there, this shade is known as "Terre d'Egypte" on Farrow & Ball's colour card!)

 Paint it Black

Lavender border

Judicious use of colour can have a dramatic effect in the garden, lengthening perspectives and helping plants to stand out.  Christina's just finished adding a mulch of oyster shells to our new lavender border which is, in effect, a raised bed on the gravel driveway.  The existing border was a bit too narrow but it had already been designed using concrete edging stones which are difficult to remove, so we just added a new strip of planting and offset it with a black-painted wooden edge which contrasts nicely with the white shells.  

It remains to be seen whether Couscous the cat will try digging his way through this oyster mulch...!!

Daisy grubber and wicked weed

Weed of the Week

Mulching is a good way to keep some weeds from seeding into bare soil, but there will always be those which creep up from below - like our little friend on the left which must be part of the strawberry family, although I've failed to find it in my wildflower book.

It can be very invasive and difficult to remove, so it's worth investing in a good 'daisy grubber' of stainless steel which can easily slip under the rooted runners, causing minimum disturbance to other plants.

Foxgloves under a deutzia

The shadier, woodland part of our garden is gradually coming to the fore now that it gets early morning and evening light.  The over-arching stems of a deutzia bush are starting to bloom and create a kind of bower over the romantic foxgloves.

Now here's a plant which, to me, looks wonderful in all stages of development... as long as snails and wind don't attack it. Most of ours, in various shades of pink and white, have seeded themselves in suitable spots and seem to be pretty self-reliant.  

Occasionally, I'll move a plant to a more open position while it's still small, so that we can observe its stately beauty from all angles - and sometimes this means that a tall specimen will need staking against the wind.  They do so well in our chalky soil that they often grow to more than two meters.

Orlaya grandiflora

Another flower which is equally suited to woodland or prairie-style planting is the gentle Orlaya grandiflora, also known as White Laceflower or French cow parsley. Like foxgloves, this is also quite slow to develop and can be admired en route to its final flush.

Here it is just starting to open up next to an evening primrose which is still in bud. These little umbellifers are easy to grow from seed and mingle happily with bolder plants such as blue geraniums, yellow oenothera, scabious and viper's bugloss, eventually giving the effect of a glorious Mediterranean meadow.

Aquilegias with Knautia macedonia

Other flowers which mix well and are worth picking to admire at close quarters are the nodding heads of aquilegia and the pincushion blooms of knautia, which is a form of scabious.  Whilst dead-heading the latter, I realised their furry  seedheads would look just as attractive as the flowers themselves and were worth adding to the vase.

We've already been cutting roses to bring indoors and in places the hedgerows are festooned with delicate dog roses.  This is the flower known as eglantine in French - a word which somehow conveys its effortless elegance!

Rosa canina

A recent walk along the shore whilst collecting oyster shells, revealed that clumps of yellow horned poppy have seeded themselves along the recently re-made coastal path that often gets washed away in violent storms.

Glaucium flavum

We first saw this poppy growing wild in Crete and you have to admire its resilience in braving cold winds and salt spray.  I'm delighted to have found a local colony and its glaucous foliage looks very much at home amongst a natural garden composed of sea holly, kale and oyster shells.

The shores of the Gironde estuary have been well-managed on the whole and care is taken to preserve much of its natural flora which is constantly at risk from tidal erosion and inevitable tourist incursions. 

A good deal has been spent on providing proper paths for walkers and cyclists so that there's less incentive to stray off the beaten track.

A carefully-managed honeysuckle climbs up the Egyptian wall...!

Planting Architecture

Billowing cow parsley down our back lane

How we moaned about the seemingly endless rain we endured in early Spring... and how magnificently we've been rewarded with flowers and blossom ever since!  The eager-beavers who normally strim our roadside verges, practically to extinction, have kindly left a good swathe of cow parsley for us to enjoy and this year our lanes might even rival those of Devon.

Hogweed
(Heracleum sphondylium)

But nature also loves a contrast and has counteracted all this delicate froth with some seriously structural plants such as hogweed and angelica, which are also burgeoning thanks to the extra rainfall. 
I would say there are ten times as many of these giants as we usually get around here and doubtless they'll lead to an explosion in the insect population as well.

So, what occurs naturally in the landscape gives us ideas for our gardens... growing a sculpted form amongst softer, less defined flowers; choosing plants which contrast in colour as well as in shape.

Sometimes a plant will be more defined in the early stages, before it actually flowers.  I noticed this recently with the Campanulas which are just beginning to open their mauve bells.

Campanula lactiflora

In early-morning light, their ribbed flowers are almost more attractive in bud than when they are fully mature and forming a lilac drift with their companions.  (Would it be blasphemous to suggest that some plants are better in anticipation than at the height of their flowering??)

Take a packet of seeds ... 

Another interesting perennial, in terms of both leaf-shape and flower, is the Aquilegia - which comes in many sizes and colours.  A few years ago we scattered a pack of seeds and enjoyed an amazing display of McKana Giant Hybrids, growing well over a meter high, with blooms in bright mixtures of yellow, red, blue and white.  

Aquilegia McKana Hybrid

They were truly eye-catching and did come back quite well the following year; but then, alas, their foliage started to be eaten up by caterpillars and the plants never looked quite as robust or stately as before.

Determined not to be beaten by pests, I grew some Aquilegia alpina from seed and these have now matured nicely.

Aquilegia alpina

My Chiltern Seeds catalogue says it's "the true wild Columbine of the Alps" and so far its attractive blue-green leaves haven't been attacked by caterpillars, which just goes to show how a slight change in species can deflect an insect-invasion!

But, exquisite though it is, a part of me still longs for the outrageous flamboyance of those McKana's...

A packet of seeds is probably the price of one plant sold at a garden centre, so why not experiment with different varieties and give some away to your friends?  We don't have a greenhouse but find that a cool window-sill and/or a small cold-frame is enough for growing dozens of plants.  You just need to be on hand to keep them watered and potted-up... a bit like having pets really!

Papaver rhoeas

Of course some plants are easier to grow than others and you might think that poppies would be the easiest of the lot.  The Californian type aren't difficult, provided they have free-draining soil and sunshine; and you'll never be without opium poppies once they've set seed in your garden.  (Christina makes me pull them up because their leaves get too big and untidy!)

But the exquisite Papaver rhoeas or Shirley Poppy, which is so delicate in form and colour, can sometimes be tricky and needs to be sown at just the right time.  This year the mild winter prompted me to start seed trays in February, but normally it's better to wait until early April when sunnier days lead to faster germination and sturdier plants. 

Things inevitably flower earlier in our south-facing cottage garden which is now strewn with the white petals of Cistus and Geranium kashmir which come out at the same time.   This is probably our favourite Geranium as it's shade-tolerant and happy in dry spots, making it ideal underplanting for shrubs such as cistus and hibiscus.

Cistus lusitanica and
Geranium clarkei 'Kashmir'

I hasten to add that this wasn't a geranium I grew myself.  It's a family which produces very tiny seeds which are difficult to collect and handle generally.  Once you've established a container-grown specimen in your garden, it's easy to dig up rooted pieces whenever the weather is mild and damp enough for transplanting.  This is a free-flowering variety which makes excellent non-invasive ground-cover.

Foliage shapes

Although we have an abundance of flowers to look forward to, it's equally important to fill your borders with interesting foliage - bearing in mind that this is what you'll be looking at for much of the year.  

This picture demonstrates the effect of low light shining through young plumes of fennel and the newly-formed seedheads of honesty, at the same time reflecting off the bronze foliage of a Carex grass which provides colour contrast.

Whilst I would definitely nominate Cistus as Shrub of the Month (in our garden, for early May at least) I think that many of the wisterias around here would qualify for that accolade.   We'd undoubtedly grow one ourselves if we had more space and, vitally, if we had a solid structure to support it.  Pruning can also present a challenge if they grow higher than two meters!

Wisteria sinensis alba

Last week we passed this lovely white version clothing the corner of a traditional Charentais cottage in one of our nearby villages.  The racemes weren't fully out yet but looked extremely graceful against the mellow stonework and blue shutters.  

We've often thought it would be perfect to have a "ruin" in the garden over which you could drape such a magnificent specimen!

Meanwhile, we have to make-do with a frequently pollarded mulberry tree... 

...and a cat who likes to drape himself!

Our Shrub of the Month actually comprises two types of Cistus, flowering in the front walled garden where they are protected from frost and get a good baking in summer.  I think the one with magenta blooms is Cistus x pulverulentus 'Sunset' - it has downy grey leaves which are strongly aromatic in the sunshine; while its white-flowered cousin is Cistus lusitanica 'Decumbens' which also has appealingly crumpled petals but doesn't have such scented leaves.

Cistus lusitanica has borrowed a 'stripe' from
its neighbour Cistus x pulverulentus!

Mid April

Early morning watering

A prolonged dry spell coupled with new plantings means we have to start using our watering system again.  Christina had the fun job of checking each small spray and sprinkler to remove any miniature snails that had taken up residence and blocked the outlets!

I've already planted out some Geum and Verbena rigida which I grew from seed last autumn and they seem to have established themselves in the warm soil.  We also have a few tomatoes in containers, soon to be joined by some Italian bell peppers which came up recently.  Other than that we have no plans - or space - for veg this year.

Other seeds which are hardening off now include Rudbeckia hirta, Cosmos sulphureus, Phlomis tuberosa, Nicotiana alata and a Penstemon with dark foliage... looking at all the greenery, I realise we're in need of much more foliage contrast.

Cotinus coggygria coming into leaf

One of the best shrubs for this purpose is the smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria) which can grow to about 3m if left to its own devices.  Ours is part of a border along the neighbouring driveway so we keep it firmly in check otherwise it would turn into a tree in no time.

It's currently producing wonderful wine-coloured foliage, which complements our neighbour's roses in his potager. It benefits from being sited in an open position so you can enjoy sunlight coming through its leaves at the start or the end of the day.

For colour that vibrates in the sun you can't beat a combination of purple iris and the giant Euphorbia characias with its sulphur yellow flowers.  (I photographed these in our friend Ruth's garden earlier this week.)

Whilst on a bike ride locally, we passed another 'purple patch' of dark iris outside a distillery which produces our local spirit known as "Pineau".  It comes in white or red - the drink that is - and is rather on the sweet side but delicious when drunk as a chilled aperitif.

A Charentais alambic

Much as we love those ubiquitous French iris, it's a plant which really needs to have its own dedicated bed in full sun, preferably with poor soil, otherwise it calls for much labour-intensive weeding and regular division to ensure that the rhizomes flower well.  (In our experience, the richer and damper your soil, the more snails will come and visit!)

This advice refers to the classic "bearded" type of iris and not necessarily to other varieties which may flower earlier or later in the year.

Shrub of the Month

Viburnum opulus

I think this accolade must go to our old friend Viburnum opulus or 'Boule de neige' - the snowball tree - whose blooms are so perfectly white and spherical that one can overlook their lack of scent.  

The fresh shoots are, however, a magnet for blackfly and I was hoping our resident great tits would clean them off whilst collecting food for hatchlings.  But I so dislike the look of these black shoots, crawling with equally voracious ants, that I eventually reached for the secateurs and gave them a snip.

Aphids generally infest only part of a shrub - particularly roses - and I sometimes just rub them out with my fingers, but it does no great damage to cut off the offending tips and give them an early prune.

Eleagnus ebbingei

Back in October I nominated our newly-planted Eleagnus hedge as Shrub of the Month because it provided such wonderful scent late in the year.  I couldn't get a decent photo at the time but it has since provided us with a profusion of egg-shaped orange fruits, as well as clusters of young silvery leaves - which make for a very attractive hedge, ideal for our windy seaside location.

Whilst thinking of popular shrubs to recommend each month, I've also become aware that some people manage to live in blissful ignorance of which plants are to be considered 'weeds', to be be pulled up at the first opportunity... so here begins a new section for Weed of the Week.

Cleavers (Galium aparine) 

Called Goosegrass or 'Cleavers' because of its habit of sticking to everything, this is often found growing through hedges and poking out untidily at the top.  You can easily pull a piece off in passing but of course it will just carry on growing unless you can wrench out its horrible yellow root - and dispose of it carefully, not in your compost bin where it might just re-grow!

Pulmonaria officinalis

There's sometimes a fine line between weeds and wild flowers, a few of which might be worth having in your garden if you are looking for a more naturalistic planting.  Pulmonaria or 'lungwort' is definitely one of these and this is a photo taken on our woodland walk recently.  You can get more interesting cultivars like 'Sissinghurst', with white flowers, if you want it as a front-of-border plant.

Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum

Another member of the borage family which we found in the wild is the clunky-sounding Purple Gromwell, which has flourished in a shady woodland area along with a silver-striped deadnettle.  Its blue-pink flowers are not dissimilar to those of the Pulmonaria and it spreads itself slowly by means of creeping shoots, without becoming invasive.

Herb container

Sunnier days mean we can start picking fresh herbs again and chives are growing particularly well after being chopped down six weeks ago when they were looking very pallid.  Tarragon is also coming back to life and we keep cutting off large plumes of fennel which is romping away in a flower bed, threatening to take over an entire corner.

Lastly, a swallowtail is the latest butterfly to visit, attracted by the bright flowers of Knautia macedonia - a type of scabious.  

It's a great pleasure just to sit and observe the interaction between plants and wildlife at this busy time of year... as well as trying to photograph it of course!

The former potager re-designed for plants and herbs

April's Promise

Our valley and the Gironde Estuary

In spite of a mild winter, many birds were slow to arrive in March and we had to wait until April to hear the first cuckoo and admire the first swallows swooping over our valley.  Since then, it's been a constant procession of new arrivals: the exotic hoopoes with their three-note calls; the rather irritating wryneck (a small woodpecker) and most recently the incomparable nightingales, who fill the air with their liquid song but are almost impossible to see now that trees are in leaf.

La rainette (Hyla arborea)

Meanwhile in our garden the tree frogs are in full voice, croaking loudly to one another when not basking in the sunshine.

They seem to enjoy gardens and human company... several times I've found one gently sleeping inside a rose or an iris, looking rather jewel-like with their strange golden eyes.

It's noticeable how many of the flowers in bloom right now are either white or blue/mauve, with aubretia and honesty being particularly attractive to butterflies.

Large White

We allow the honesty to seed itself quite freely where it fills in some of those awkward shady areas under trees and hedges. 

They produce mauve flowers which are particularly intense in colour and eventually you get disc-shaped seedheads which help to scatter the plant in winter.

Lunaria annua

Orange Tip butterfly on aubretia

Another early visitor which flutters around the garden regularly is the Orange Tip butterfly, which is prettily marked in white and orange with a totally different camouflage pattern on its underwing.

Other butterflies visible now are the Wall and Speckled Wood - both brown with spots and fond of sunbathing.  (Who can blame them??)

Early morning light

Although it's still a bit cool to eat breakfast outside, we like to be up in time to enjoy that wonderful golden light which floods our back garden as the sun comes up over the hill.  

Flowers are illuminated against dark shadows, adding drama to photos and saturating colours to a point where they almost look unreal.  A magical moment.

Wallflowers are especially bright and I'd recommend growing a Persian Carpet mix from seed in late summer, so you can plant them out whilst it's still warm and let them bulk up over winter.

Cheiranthus 'Persian Carpet'

We also left a few in containers so that we can move them around our seating areas to provide some instant colour.  Their velvety flowers are complemented by a rich scent and although the colours are vivid they never seem to clash.

A Walk on the Wild Side

As soon as our weather started warming up about a week ago we took an evening stroll through nearby woodland and were surprised by the variety of wildflowers scattered across the sandy soil and leaf-litter.

Stichwort (Stellaria holostea)

Starry flowers of Greater Stichwort are reminscent of British woods and verges, as are clumps of Solomon's Seal, Bugle, Herb Robert, Speedwell, Sweet Violet and Celandine.

Apart from firs, these woods are home to broadleaved trees such as hornbeam, oak and cherry, providing a rich humus for small perennials.

An English carpet of Scilla non-scripta

We even came across a clearing of bluebells which is quite unusual this far south.  They were akin to the delicate English variety rather than those butch Spaniards, Scilla campanulata, which can be found in gardens around here.
Alas there weren't enough to produce that intense blue haze associated with British woods!

On the other side of the road from this attractive woodland is an even sandier area full of mysterious and eye-catching asphodels.

According to Greek mythology, this was a meadow lily of the underworld and people used to plant them beside graves so that the aromatic roots would nourish the dead as their souls departed.  No wonder it looks rather ghostly and other-worldly at dusk... 

Asphodelus albus in a forest clearing