I couldn’t let May depart without making some comments on what has been an unpredictable month. March was the coldest on record, April was the wettest and now May has been the coldest since 1968….despite some great sunny days, it has also been very wet. But May wasn’t leaving without making its mark and today the temperatures actual reached 23c. WOW
It has also been a month were at long last the trees came into leaf and the plants and vegetation burst upon us with a vengeance, but not in the usual order of things natural. Take this Azalea, it is one we have in a pot on the patio. It has until this year been the first to grace us with its small (2.5cm) Salmon Pink Flowers…usually late March early April. This year it has taken till the 31st May to reach full blossom…..
Over in the woods Wild Garlic is now starting to break cover bringing with it that special smell that says spring is here…
It is more usual to find it in the woods just as the canopy is forming rather than here in dark shadow….
The wet and recent warm days have ensured that Cow Parsley is to be the prolific plant of hedgerow and woodland glade reaching depths and heights I have not seen before…..
The young Oak leaves are also full of goodness and rich in colour but I also reckon that it is going to be a bumper year for the Hawthorn which is now in full flower……
Elsewhere in the woods wild Rhododendron add their colour whilst on the meadows on the edge of the woods a carpet of yellow is arriving…
Back in the garden everything is also full of life, the Clematis is currently at its best, doing its very best to hide the fence…..
It may be the end of May but it also marked a first and not one to be welcomed. It was the first day we had a Bee in the garden. We are told over the U.K. they are a rare specie this year, wet summers and cold winters adding to the loss of habitat and nectar plants for them. So this Bee taking a close look at the cornflower was indeed welcome…but is soon ‘buzzed off’, so apologies for this hasty shot….but a chance I didn’t want to miss…
Yes, a very welcome visitor who I do hope will return with some of its friends…..though I am none to sure that Buster our Head of Security would agree. He was stung last year and now keeps his distance….
So there we have it, May has been and gone. I wonder if June will break any more weather records.
Just think ONLY 21 days till mid-summer’s day….hard to believe isn’t it!
31st May
© David Oakes 2013
DAVID OAKES - IMAGES. 