Stopwatch Gardener Cottage Gardening Podcast Sheila Averbuch

There is no better month in the calendar than May. In my garden the lilacs, late parrot tulips, early alliums and herbaceous peonies cavort with the aquilegias I never got around to weeding out (and I’m glad I didn’t). If you'd like to come see for yourself, my garden in East Lothian is open this Saturday from 10am-1pm, raising funds for research into an ultra-rare disease that affects a family friend.

The abundance of May slightly takes me by surprise every year. So much of the greenery that strikes my eye, from the herbaceous peonies to the delphiniums, was invisible in January, but now it is all part of the greenscape that makes the May garden seethe with life.

In this week's podcast I'm talking a bit about my ruthless streak, chopping back strong perennials that are crowding out first-year plants, and looking at spring planting combinations, new peonies and an ailing camellia

In this episode of the gardening podcast, I'm looking at the delphiniums that are growing like wildfire and planning how to get bigger blooms this July.

For gardeners it is indescribably exciting when the bumblebees get moving, the pollen starts flying and the blossom on the fruit trees starts bursting in springtime. In this episode of the Stopwatch Gardener podcast, I'm looking at the mystery daffodil that baffled me for years before being identified by the friendly Duncan at Croft 16, and I'm indulging in early fantasies about the roses to come, the first of which will appear in May.

Welcome to another episode of the Stopwatch Gardener podcast, where this week I'm rushing about the garden like a mad thing, getting excited about every early-spring plant and the very first humming bumblebee of the season.