Weather-wise we have had a couple of light frosts at the beginning of the month and haven’t had any appreciable rainfall for weeks. We have had no rain in May, only 18mm in the whole of April, and the dry weather is set to continue for at least another week. It has been fascinating watching the weather radar, any rain clouds that did appear always veered away from our location! At least, now I have a small garden, it does make watering less of a task.
Inherited paeony of unknown origins. For some reason it thrives in a shaded dry spot but produces many flowers every year. Technically the photo’ is not good but I like the “silvering” and shade contrast.
I am very appreciative of viburnums, I know they can have a problem with viburnum beetle which can badly affect the evergreen species, but, in my opinion, if this one was evergreen it would be perfect.
Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) can be a rampant spreader but having been offered a clump from a friend, and having several “difficult” areas in the garden I thought “why not”! It is relatively well contained although it has manged to appear in the joints of the adjacent flags. I do tend to go for many native and tough plants as much of my garden is on an old railway yard which I originally planted out with a pick and trenching tool which in fact I have used today!
The candelabra primulas are coming into flower at my favourite time of the year. My first specialisation as an amateur gardener was alpines, but after visits to Ness Botanical Gardens, Fletcher Moss University Gardens and Harlow Carr I graduated to the larger end of the alpine spectrum. I first started to grow primulas rapidly joined by meconopsis and, luckily, I have a small area in the current garden where they will grow and I can still enjoy them.
This seedling appears to be true to its adjacent parent Geranium var. pratense. f. albiflorum. ‘Galactic’. It is so nice to have a white one pop-up as most self seedlings are usually from the blue plants.
A couple of aquilegias to finish off. A.fragrans is from seed and seems to be wilting a bit unfortunately. It looks as if my policy of removing the seed heads from all standard deep blue A.vulgaris and leaving anything that was more interesting has paid off as I think that’s a rather nice seedling.
This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.
A Plantsman's World 
What a lovely peony to inherit and it sounds like it is tough as well. I love viburnum too, this is a beauty. Looks like everything is doing well in your garden, with or without the rain that we could really do with. Have a good week.
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Thank you, viburnums are one of my favourites. Trying to find an effective rain dance at the moment!
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You’ve turned the old railway yard into a plant haven. The Peony is a beauty and I’d be inclined to keep the wild garlic too, unless it started to seed around. I’d be more than happy too, to have that lovely Primula japonica ‘Miller’s Crimson’ in my garden – I love its rich colour.
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Primulas are one of my favourite genera and I have managed to find a spot in my new garden where I can still grow a few. Many people near me seem to grow a patch of wild garlic, I hope it has nothing to do with the drifts of it in the woodland nearby!
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I also love viburnum plicatum, and I must say that mine here is not attacked by beetles either: so much the better! What a beautiful peony….
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Thanks. I have always found the beetle tends to attack the evergreen viburnums which, of course, makes the damage more devastating. A specimen of V.tinus in the local park was damaged so badly they had to remove it.
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A wonderful six, the Aquilegia have been flowering well this year.
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Thank you. I currently have a some seedlings of a long-spurred, yellow aquilegia cultivar coming on that I am looking forward to see flowering.
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Lots to enjoy this week, especially the white-flowered plants and the geranium in particular.
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Thank you. Geraniums are so versatile and tough they are a natural choice for difficult conditions.
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I like the Peony photo, too. I love those primulas and wish I could grow them.
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Primulas are a big favourite of mine and I am lucky enough to have found a spot in the garden that suits them.
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I did not know how beautiful primulas could be.
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If you are interested in primulas, please have a look at my primula post. https://ricksplantworld.blog/2025/03/05/primulas-updated/
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Lovely candelabra primulas. I think I’ve lost all mine. I have one wild garlic plant though. I planted a pot of it years ago, panicked after people said it would take over & dug the clump up the following year. I’m sort of glad it has reappeared – the flowers are pretty & it tastes good.
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Sorry to hear about your candelabras, keeping them damp is really the key. I have my fingers crossed that the garlic doesn’t intrude any further, but I agree with you, pretty flowers and a nice taste!
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That’s a beautiful grouping for your “six.” That Peony is a wonderful way to start out the post, and all the others are lovely, too. I’ve never tried to grow Primulas, but they are very attractive. 🙂
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Thank you for your kind words. Primulas are a big favourite of mine and I will hopefully have a few more to show.
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Hi Rick. Love your blog! I am the only one of my gardening friends here on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State who grows meconopsis — so great to meet another fan. I am highly envious of your candelabra primula and tried to start them unsuccessfully a few years back with seed from Plant World Seed there In the UK. I know they would thrive here, yet I had poor germination (zero) even with handling them correctly. I’ll try again!
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Thank you. Sorry to hear about your primulas not germinating, I have used society seed for many years now after more than my fair share of disappointments. I have found that The Scottish Rock Garden Club is the best source of seed for both meconopsis and primulas. Hope you have better luck in the future.
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Peony, Viburnum and Primulas, three of my favourite plants here! Your peony is ahead of mine which are almost flowering but not quite. My problem with candelabra primulas is too much rain in the winter, I’m finding out which ones don’t mind sitting in water all winter!
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I find all the big candelabras such as japonica, bulleyana and beesiana and their cultivars are more than happy to have wet feet. Lack of water is usually the reason for their demise. Good luck with them in the future.
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