Mid May madness has arrived. The combination of sun and rain has led to lush growth and the stronger plants are crowding out their neighbours. The slugs continue their onslaught, nothing is safe this year. A white form of the hardy geranium phaeum has been been munched. The potatoes need earthing up and the roses need deadheading. I’ve bought plants for the summer pots on the terrace. The weeds are thriving. I don’t know which way to turn first. The garden is calling out to me but other events are on the cards for this weekend. Here’s my six for this week.
One
Libertia grandiflora. A few years back I added four of these to the garden, confidently planting them in entirely the wrong place. Realising the error – not enough sun – I moved them two years ago, not really having the space elsewhere in the garden for four of them. They were squeezed in and fingers were crossed. They all settled into their new spots but this group is by far the most effective. I think there are two of them here. I realise now that I need to balance these up on the other side of the border and so, after flowering, one of the others is very likely to be on the move again.
Two
This is the rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’. One of the first roses to be planted in the garden. It is a favourite but to honest until this year it wasn’t really packing a punch. This year it seems so much more floriferous, benefiting from the rain perhaps.
Three
Elsewhere the climbing rose ‘Blush Noisette’ has truly gotten away from me. My pruning has not been severe enough and it is falling away from the wall over into the border. It will look wonderful when all the buds open but I know it needs taking in hand. Here it is along side the rose Madame Isaac Péreire’, which has a fabulous scent.
Four
Here’s one of those plants that is crowding out its neighbours. Phlomis russeliana. I have already moved a hylotelephium and a dianthus carthusianorum. I think the geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ can hold its own.
Five
This is the third year of my asparagus planting and so it is time to start picking them. If only I can get to them before the slugs! There is a blurry half eaten stem just alongside this one which has miraculously escaped. It’s not a bountiful crop and I seem to be only able to pick one spear at a time. Two of the plants are barely productive. Let’s hope for more next year.
Six
I have a very large and very old rhododendron in the garden and way back at the beginning of Six On Saturday it was identified for me as a Ponticum, a common variety. This year it is having a wonderful time. But it still suffers from a poorer performing top half. I share with you the best bit of course!
I’m rushing off to the garden now to try to make an impact in the two hours I have available today. Earthing up I think is top of the list. I hope you find time to spend in your garden and to enjoy everything there (except the slugs). Happy gardening.
For more SOS links pop over to Jim’s Garden Ruminations. All the links are there.
n20gardener 
Lovely roses and to have a scented one too is a blessing.
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They draw me into the garden in the evening to enjoy them
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There are so many things to do in the garden… when an area is finished being weeded, and we do the 2nd we can start the first again… it’s demoralizing , but it’s spring! It’s good to have succeeded in the Libertia. I had failed and I should have given it more sun and light. Gorgeous roses in your Six !
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So true Fred. We keep going … and enjoy the roses
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I am jealous of the roses, but I will never have them with all the Japanese beetles around here. Mt mother grew amazing roses and seemed to always have large vases of them in the house. Here Japanese beetles are what slugs are to you, except that they can fly, so they go straight for the buds and chew them up before defoliating the plant. I wonder if you made the soil around the asparagus more sandy if it would deter slugs. Asparagus grows wild around here, usually in the worst soil, or sandy lakeshore soil. I wonder if a layer of sand would deter the slimy molluscs…
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Sand is very interesting. The coffee grounds seem to be working but nothing so far in the beer traps! Lovely to hear of your mother’s roses.
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Blush Noisette is a looker! This time of year is busy, isn’t it. Dang slugs!
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So busy. But the rewards are coming!
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Beautiful rhododendron! And it is a long lived beauty. Spring is such a busy time in the garden.
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How easily we forget how busy gardening is!
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Goodness your roses are doing well. My GJ is still in bud form. And I think I have killed Graham Thomas. I do like Libertia but they are too big for my borders.
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I was just looking at the libertia today and wondering if actually there was already enough of it! The roses are having a great year
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Yes, things do seem to have gone mad in the garden – I found myself pulling stuff up (forget-me-nots, Red Campion and lots of grasses) to find smothered plants beneath. Your garden is looking lovely and Gerty is a show.
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Forget me nots can hide so much!
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Libertia grandiflora did not look familiar. I had to look it up. It looks more delicate than I remember it to be. It has not been available here for very long. I remember when it seemed as if it were becoming a fad (which is why I did not get too interested in it), but then immediately became rare again. It really should be more popular for the climate here. Several of the rhododendrons that we grew are cultivars or breeds of Rhododendron ponticum, but we grew only a few of the simple species.
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I imagine the libertia would do well with you. I spotted in some planting for rheumatoid arthritis 2016 London olympics where it had the space to make an impact!
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