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May7th: Euphorbias for spring interest

Many Euphorbias are making their appearance now and their fresh, colourful leaves add interest to the garden in early May.

Euphorbia "Fireglow" is a great old cultivar with olive leaves striped with pinkish red and deep, smouldering orange flowers about now. 

This is one of the varieties of Griffith's Spurge (e.griffithii) and they will run underground during winter and pop up a short distance from the mother plant. This is fine if you want to cover an area but can be a nuisance when they push up in the middle of another plant. I tend to get a fork in around the plants in late winter and lever up any unwanted stems, potting these up if required.

If handing Euphorbias make sure you cover your skin as the sap can cause dramatic allergic reactions. 

May 10th: Flower of the Moment

Geranium Stephanie was new to us last year and this spring it has really taken off with masses of violet-blue, veined flowers held well above the soft, crinkly-leaved mounds of foliage.

Its a sun lover relishing dryish conditions and easy to propagate by pulling apart into clumps in early spring.

May 12th: Make the most of Spring sunshine

The clear bright sun after rain in spring can create dramatic effects in the garden if you plan your planting well. 

We have planted Purple Hazel strategically to catch the morning and evening sun when the light shines through the leaves creating multi-toned effects of light and shade. Dark red-purple leaves glow russet, orange and maroon with the light streaming though them. 

Our hazels are planted on the north side of our plnt, front and back to maximise the effect of light.

They are now about 10-12ft tall and next winter I shall take out about 1/5 of the old stems to thin the bushes, reduce height and allow fresh new stems to grow.

May 18th: More dramatic foliage

Although normally hardy, we were not really expecting Persicaria Red Dragon to come this last winter; but lo and behold, here it is already 2ft tall and sporting the most dramatically patterned foliage 

Growing from a hard root shock it doesn't run like a lot of Persicaria, but it is easy to strike cuttings and any time in the growing season (remember it has Plant Breeder's Rights so it is illegal to sell plants you've propagated yourself).

May 19th: New neighbours

Meet our new neighbours - three cute Gloucester Old Spot pigs. Our neighbour has introduced them to her overgrown orchard and they already making short work of the nettles, brambles and other weeds there. We are told they will clear the ground in 3 or 4 weeks!

May 20th: Flower of the Moment

Centaurea triumfettii "Hoar Frost" is a dainty plant (compared to its cousins. the Centaurea montanas. anyway) with 9in stems topped with feathery cornflowers in rose-white with amethyst centres. it loves dry, free draining soil and doesn't spread very rapidly

If deadheaded and cut back after flowering more blooms will come later in the season.

May 22nd: Early Flowering Grasses

I always used to think of grasses as late flowerers - Miscanthus, Molinia and Panicum come to mind, but several flower early giving much needed height to our perennial borders at this time of year. Stipa gigantea is a great example (more about this later in the week) but for a more delicate effect you can't beat Helictotrichon semervirens Pendulum with its airy, waving plumes of silver flowers above clumps of needle-like silver-blue leaves. 

Plant it to enjoy the flowers, like here it is against the contrasting dark background of the purple hazel.

It likes well drained, if not dry soil and an open aspect to allow good air circulation, so don't plant it amongst other tall plants, instead use it as a dot plant to add height and movement to a planting.

It is propagated by division in spring. 

Photo: Helictotrichon sempervirens Pendulum planted with Allium Purple Sensation to echo the airy, floating effect of the grass. Clumps of Centaurea montana Purpurea repeat the colour of the Allium. Purple Hazel provides a dramatic contracting background. © 2010 SpecialPerennials.com All Rights Reserved.

May 23rd: Plant Hunters' Fair

We are just back from the brand new Plant Hunters' Fair that we organise for The National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire. What an inspiring and beautiful place and what a successful and popular event. We were bowled over by the number of enthusiastic plant lovers from near and far who made the most of the beautiful weather to come along. The event featured other nurseries after our own hearts - expert growers who care for their plants and want gardeners to get the right plants for their garden even if it means missing a sale.

We will be running the event again next year so we hope to see many of you there. Watch out on www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk for further details.

May 24th: Flower of the Moment

The Oriental Poppies (Papaver orientale) are one of the glories of late spring and early summer with their crumpled silk petals opening to form large sumptuous cups with a prominent boss at the their centre. 

Here is Patty's Plum made all the more rich and inviting by the cool cream background of Centaurea cheiranthifolia. Remember that the leaves of the poppies will die back in mid summer leaving a "hole" in the planting, so plant something in front in a similar colour (like  Achillea Tissington Old Rose for example) that will hide the gap.

May 25th: A different angle

I couldn't resist taking this picture of the clump of Centaurea cheiranthifolia (see above) from a different angle. Here it teams up with Allium Purple Sensation, which floats above the Centaurea like rounded purple clouds - the stems just seem to disappear against the rest of the greenery. 

Purple Sensation of course grows from a bulb (it is after all a cousin of the kitchen onion). The flowering period is quite short and soon the heads turn green studded with green seed pods. You can let them seed and after 2 or 3 years they will flower but I have found that this can weaken the parents bulbs for next year. So I enjoy them for a while and cut them off after a couple of weeks.

I'm sure you've spotted the truth hidden in each of these photos but obvious when you see both: the colours of Patty's Plum and Purple Sensation really don't go together!