Barbara’s Back Yard in May
I had not anticipated growing many vegetables this year – because we planned to put our house on the market on 1st April. Maybe we should not have chosen April Fool’s Day! So, as Corona virus scuppered our plans, we decided to stay here another year, and I have replanted the vegetable patch – and, with all the extra time, the garden looks better than it ever has done!
I finally managed to replant the hanging baskets with petunias and fuchsias – bought this year – geranium cuttings overwintered in the conservatory – and Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) bought online as plug plants and planted out into pots when they arrived. Couldn’t get any lobelia so used Mexican Fleabane (Erigeron Karvinskianus) instead – it’s a mass of tiny white daisies and grows anywhere.
Last year I split up the Oriental Poppies and planted some on the rockery. They have been absolutely stunning in the recent sunshine – poppies always make me think of Enid Blyton’s story of Greencaps the Goblin who made caps for the poppies to protect their buds – and Cicely Mary Barker’s poem describing the seedheads ‘poppies with their pepperpots…’
A few years ago, an adjoining field was left wild. People complained because it was full of thistles and ragwort – but there were also some really lovely wild flowers – ox-eye daisies, pink campion, wild roses, white dead nettle – all of which relocated over the hedge and now grow in our field. They do of course go a bit wild so you have to cut a lot of them down before they seed but I love the variety of wild flowers.
Ox-eye daisies make excellent cut flowers – fresh, simple, and they last for ages.
A Broom bush (Cytisus) seeded itself in the big field and has been truly magnificent this year. I love Broom and my Dad bought me an orange version which grew by the hen house.
Unfortunately it got blown over and died but I found a seedling in the polytunnel – absolutely no idea how it got there – but I replanted it by the hedge and, to my amazement – it has turned out to be a coloured version. 
The foxgloves are just coming out. My aunt told me the story of how the fairies hide their dancing shoes in the foxgloves but – according to Enid Blyton – they hide them in the white dead-nettle flowers so the mice can’t steal them!
The fields have had a haircut – they look so different shaved of grass. Good job they don’t need to go to a hairdressers, we’ve all had home hair-cuts this summer – and all the men have grown beards! Farming is something that will not wait for anything – life goes on and haymaking is restricted only by the weather. The little wild field has not been cut – it’s left to its own devices most of the time and provides a wonderful habitat for voles and mice – and is full of butterflies in the summer – they love the bird’s foot trefoil and ragwort – as well as the not-so-wild buddleia. 
The herb garden has excelled this year – and the bees love it – all the purple flowers – chives, hyssop, rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme. And I keep finding different uses for them – lovage soup was not very successful – but adding some angelica when stewing rhubarb makes it sweeter – so you don’t need as much sugar.
Looking forward to June – sunshine, strawberries and elderflower champagne!