Last month we were celebrating the arrival of our full Spring display here at Leonardslee, and now here we are in June, the month where Spring morphs in Summer. My, how time flies! In fact, it already feels like Summer into some ways – as I write this the temperature outside is reading 24C! Spring has been very early this year here in the garden, perhaps up to two weeks early by our reckoning. That means that the display this year was slightly ahead of the game but it also seemed to be more co-ordinated than last year, with all of the Spring explosion in the garden happening together – simply stunning! Either way, as we move from one spectacular season into another, there will be plenty to enjoy in the garden and plenty for me and the garden team to be getting on with…

In a good year there will be many Rhododendrons that flower well into June, and in some cases beyond, but there are some specific types that are more reliable than others at this time of year. Dotted throughout the many paths that zig-zag their way from the top western side of the garden down to the lakes you’ll find the likes of Rhododendron hemsleyanum with its fragrant white blooms, the viscosum Azalea, or Swamp Honeysuckle as it is commonly known due to the unusual start-shaped flowers, and Rhododendron griersonianum with its gorgeous scarlet inflorescence. These are all well worth seeking out as you meander your way down to the lakes during June.

As part of our recently finished Garden Management Plan, we’ll be working hard to further improve and increase our Summer interest across the garden. Up around the mansion for example, I chose a range of summer flowering bulbs to be planted last Autumn and we should see the fruits of that labour during June this year. You’ll be able to enjoy the likes of Allium christophii with their giant football-sized heads covered in metallic star-shaped florets, the brilliantly difficult to pronounce Allium sphaerocephalon and their two-tone green and purple egg-shaped heads, as well as two types of Fox Tail Lilly: the pink-hued Eremurus robustus and the pale orange Eremurus ‘Cleopatra’. Both can grow up to 3m in height in a good year in ideal conditions so fingers crossed!

We’ve also been busy in May planting hundreds of new plants in a number of locations such as the Rock Garden and the Mansion Borders, many of which will have fantastic Summer interest, but I’ll go into more detail about those projects in a future newsletter.

As Spring finishes for the year, a new list of jobs for the garden team can be started. For instance, once the Camellias have finished flowering in Camellia Grove we’ll be carrying on with our phased restoration pruning there. During the ‘lost years’ when Leonardslee was shut down in between the Loder family’s ownership and Penny Streeter purchasing the property, nothing was pruned for over a decade in some cases. This has resulted in some shrubs becoming leggy with their blooms far above visitor eye height. As we hard-prune pockets of these Camellias we will lose the flowers for a year or two but in the long run the plants will be stronger and more attractive. We’ll only selct a few plants each year so as not to reduce the floral impact too much. Quick tip - always make sure you feed and mulch beneath a plant when you prune it in this way, as it can be a stressful process for them.

Another job we can start again is the heavy pruning of some of our Rhododendron luteum shrubs across the garden. Although their huge swathes of golden yellow blooms look and smell fantastic during May (and into early June with any luck) they are very vigorous and can get out of hand quickly. In some cases, they’ll be blocking views or pathways or perhaps muscling other important plants out of the way. By pruning to a lower bud or node from late June, the plant (actually an Azalea) will recover quickly and be flowering happily away again next year.

So as you can see, lots to see and lots to do here at Leonardslee again during June. Don’t forget the extended Jubilee weekend will also give us all even more time to spend here and enjoy everything the garden has to offer! We look forward to seeing you here again soon…

Jamie Harris, Head Gardener