Memories of May

A funny year so far in the garden, Some plants were very late coming in to flower and then raced through the month. Lots of blossom on the fruit trees were successfully pollinated and are now developing fruitlets, but others did not get pollinated so no fruit this year on the apricot and some cherries. The weather must have been too wet on those days so the pollinators stayed away.

Stand out flowers this months were the Bearded Iris. They obviously enjoyed the wet winter and have been flowering throughout the month. A wonderful display but now time to cut down the flower stalks.

It is several years since I last divided the plants, time to do so again .They tend to grow round in a circle and the middle bit dies out. In a few weeks I will dig some up, transplant some around the garden and others can go on my charity plant stall.

Then a little patch in the garden  came into flower making a lovely White garden.

White foxgloves and Orlaya Grandiflora make a lovely combination.

last stored veg

The vegetables and fruit have stored very well this year, probably because we have not had the early warm weather that usually comes around March.

I used the last of the apples tonight for some apple flapjacks and an apple pie. Amazing as it is May.

We also had the last winter squash roasted for tea.

We grow a lot of winter squash, many eaten before the winter, they ae delicious roasted, but they also keep well if kept cool and dry. The shed is often too damp if the temperature gets very cold. So the place to store them now is in the unheated pantry/utility room.

The one for tea tonight was the last Delicata. A lovely medium sized squash, so called because in the summer the skin is quite delicate, but store into the winter and the skin gets so hard. The only way to cut it open is to use a pruning saw, none of the knives would go through.