Garden notes: 10 May 2026
Peony peony peony
The first peony has opened. A furl of petals, ruffled and pink. I read somewhere that you can pick them still in bud if they feel like marshmallow when squeezed between your fingertips but I wait. And wait. And then suddenly, amongst the fuchsia tulips, the coral pink of this peony.
Because we haven’t had enough rain, some of the buds have turned to seed. I spend the weekend watering, apologising for neglect, and watering again. I also pot up some of the robust dahlias that my mother started off for me. I empty pots of bulbs (putting them into ordinary growing pots, covering them with soil, and shoving them under the hedge, as advocated by Sarah Raven), and then add in new compost before carefully repotting the dahlias. I am tender with them, like you are with a newborn baby, doing my best not to snap a stem or a leaf, lest I set it back a few weeks.
The raspberries - autumn fruiting - are finally showing signs of life. I bought them bareroot and am inherently sceptical of how many of them were actually alive by the time they made it into the ground. But, there are green leaves emerging! Some will grow. It feels like a miracle of patience and faith.
When I look closely between the raspberries, I can see the occasional sweet pea, delayed because of the persistent cold I think. I have no more sweet pea seeds, otherwise I would succession sow now, but I do have sunflowers so I drop them into the earth between the raspberry canes, and then I water.
My style of gardening is always an effort in hope. I put things into the soil and hope for the best. We shall see what emerges in the next few weeks.
On Sunday we visit Cogges Farm. It has the most amazing walled kitchen garden. The stuff dreams are made of. We are there with a plant friend so we wander along the paths, sighing at the planting and the beauty, the organisation and the progress. We remind ourselves that there are probably numerous full-time gardeners here, unlike us, who garden in the found moments. The hobbit is entertained by goats, lambs, sheep in the field, beautiful chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, rabbits, turkeys, and quail.
