The Garden in May

 I have already posted most of the interesting things in the garden in May. But above is the Lilac at the very far end that is never easy to photograph. But here it is in close up.

Alison was given this plant for helping at one of her events. It might be a Hydrangea so maybe not the best for our soil. But it's doing OK at the moment.

The Clematis Montana flowered at the beginning of the month.

The bedding border has been cleared and ready for planting with Dahlia Figaro Mixed.

And the foliage of most of the the bulbs has now been cut back.

My favourite plants

 

Of all my shrubs, the Weigela is the most dramatic. It was pruned hard in the Spring of last year as it become weak after all the previous years of flowering. The photo at the top shows light green leaves sprouting from the branches that were left. It obviously like being cut back as this year it has put on a wonderful show.

My favourite rose is the Blue for You. This is how it flowered last year and now has an abundance of flower buds like never before.

Unfortunately, the Delphinium Pacific Giant is no more, but these are a couple of cheap replacements that are about to flower. Of course I love the Alliums (see post of the 14th May) and some of the Geraniums. Will update later next month. 

How the main border has changed

This was the main border in January, looking very bare and sad. Then in March below a few bulbs were coming to life.

And now in the second half of May, all the shrubs and perennials have covered the border. It will be even better in June.

Campanula and Lobelia around the conservatory

 

As for many years, the Campanula around the conservatory grows across the path. This week I could hardly get past. So they were in for a trim and now have even more flowers thank goodness.

I also planted the bedding Lobelia around the other side.

Blue Iris in flower at last

 

It was a few years ago that I grew these Iris bulbs in pots and then after flowering  transferred them to the wildflower border. Every year they grew leaves but no flowers. So I did some research and found that they need feeding every two weeks from when leaves first appeared. And what do you know, they have flowered beautifully. 

There is also a yellow Iris in a pot that may also be better in a border. But it did flower a month ago.

Challengers, The Fall Guy and Love Lies Bleeding

 

When Challengers ended we never knew the outcome of that tennis match. Somewhere it said "it was never about who won". But that is exactly what tennis is all about. I enjoyed director Luca Guodagnino's Call Me By Your Name and A Bigger Splash, but this three hander was not my kind of film. Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor do their best with a good screenplay but awful story. Worst of all was the awful music, if you can call it that, because it overpowers the dialogue. Thank goodness there was not too much tennis, although the director's trick of filming the tennis balls coming right at you was, perhaps, the most memorable thing in the whole film. Beatrice Loaza in Sight and Sound says it is " a hot and heavy drama, but it's also full of breezy wit and bizarre, borderline uncanny touches that, if they don't always work, at least keep you on your toes, entertained".

Another movie where the sound dominates everything else was The Fall Guy. But what I liked best were all those scenes where we see all the people involved behind the camera. And there were lots of them. Of course there was the undoubted chemistry between the two stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. And the selection of songs was fine. It was just that the one over a sequence of clips showing the pairs early relationship was over far too quickly. However, I thought the main plot that only involves Gosling was pretty pathetic so there was not enough of the two stars together. And then the ending is pretty daft even though it just wants to show us what a stunt man can do. Reasonable fun. Jonathan Romney in Sight and Sound adds "They all bring characterful flesh-and-blood mischief to what could otherwise have been a calculated mirror game of reality and illusion".

Director Rose Glass is on a roll. I watched her creepy Saint Maud on TV even though I normally avoid these kinds of movies. And now her latest Love Lies Bleeding is the closest to a Coen Brothers film I have ever seen. Kristen Stewart brings that kind of unease we saw in Personal Shopper. Why she would fall in with bodybuilder Katy M. O'Brian is anyone's guess. Well we are in 1989 where Kristen's father (Ed Harris is streets ahead in acting terms) owns a gym. As expected, things turn nasty. Tom Shone in the Sunday Times said it was a "hard-knuckled, hard-boiled B-movie on steroids". As different as it could be to Glass's Saint Maud.

Another year of Alliums

 

I planted Alliums at least six years ago, maybe more. They appear every year with little fuss. I do nothing to encourage them and the foliage is just removed after the flowers fade. These photos were taken last week and they may even be better in a couple of weeks.