May is a glorious month in the garden. The sudden onset of hot weather followed by a winter with heavy rains and cold temperatures, has led to the garden abruptly awakening.  It is filled with the sweet scent of orange blossoms and the riotous color of many of the perennials.  The nepeta mussini, lilac bush, and wisteria are all doing their part. The low growing verbenas and Felicias are all clamoring for attention.   The red climbing roses are coming into bloom  with the periwinkles at their feet.

It is a very active month for the gardener in Greece. Spring has progressed far enough to require the removal of the dried up leaves of daffodils and tulips.  The weeds have go be kept in check, the greenhouse needs to be emptied with the tomatoes, zucchini, and decorative squash seedlings planted out. 

The  Ivy-Leaved geraniums, Pelagonium peltatum 'Summer Showers", which are in a window box are protected by the house from the drying winds .  They are in all their glory now after having been cut back in February and fertilized in March.  I expect them to keep up this display until August.  I will have to look out for  Cottony Cushion Scale which attacks these plants during a hot dry spell.

   My sweet-smelling white Dianthus alba  is looking great--especially the one which is planted next to the Blue/purple spiked Salvia farinaceous "Victoria".  The dianthus needs to be deadheaded once a week to keep up its appearance. 

Verbena rigida with its heads of vibrant purple flowers has popped up everywhere.  This is an invasive plant and has to be controlled by having stray plants, along with their roots, pulled out every so often.   Right now I enjoy seeing its new flowers and leaves appear in all the  garden's nooks and crannies. Later on in the season the leaves turn hard and prickly and the plant will need to be cut back to encourage another period of new growth.  

Lantana montevidensis is a trailing ground cover with a spread of one meter.  It is planted in raised beds and trails over the stone walls.  Two varieties are present sporting purple or white flowers.  This Lantana has been cut back severely in December and now that it has begun flowering  will continue to do so until it will be cut back  again next December. Here it can be seen next to Trachelospermum jasminoides or "Star Jasmine" which is the first vine to flower in the garden. This evergreen twining climber grows over an arch.  The vine is presently covered in fragrant white flower clusters.  Its glossy leaves turn vivid bronze in the winter.  It will need to be pruned after the flowering period which will last well into June. 

Sisyrinchium striatum an easy to grow member of the Iridacae family with Iris-like foliage and slender stems bearing tall spikes of creamy-yellow flowers  which reach a height of 1-2 feet (30-60cm). It is drought resistant, requiring no additional water in the summer.  In the winter the leaves turn black and can be left or cut down.

The last two perennials that are are at their prime now are Stachys byzantina and Alyssum argenteum.  A description of both these plants can be found if you follow the link taking you to Evergray plants.

 Many of the bushes in the garden are beginning  to bloom.  The flowering maple, Abutilon. x hyridum is a fast growing evergreen open shrub. I have planted it in a raised bed where its graceful red bells can be seen from below.  It can grow to 2 meters if left unchecked but then the stems have a habit of splitting.  I keep it trimmed to one meter, cutting it back after the flowering season.

Philadelphus coronarius "the Mock Orange" is a deciduous  shrub  which blooms this month. It  reaches a height of 2-3 meters, is native to Southern Europe, and sports white fragrant flowers. After flowering, several of the older stems will be cut out down to the ground to promote fresh growth with abundant flowers for next year.  

Ceratostigma willmottianum  or "Blue Leadwort" is a deciduous subshrub with  gentian blue flowers and growing to 1 meter.  The plant needs to be cut back almost to the ground every February and then comes back to life in March/April.

When I look through past photographs, I realize that many plants which I thought would do well in the garden have in fact disappeared.  All of the plants mentioned above have been in the garden for at least three years and have stood the test of time.

New Annuals

As mentioned in the 'Garden in February' web page, a variety of annuals had been sowed.  These are to be planted among the shrub borders to add color during the summer months and include:

Silene Caroliniana 'Hot Pink',  Ageratum 'Purple Fields',  a dwarf Dahlia 'Collarette Dandy Mixed' and a dwarf Sunflower 'The Bees Knees, 'Lagurus Ovatus.  The Silene which have formed a basal rosette of leaves, seems already to be suffering from the hear.  The next three plants are just beginning to flower and seemed to be holding there own, although the some of the Dahlia plants are infested with aphids.   

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