What'a looking good in May

Ain't that just the story of my life - I get left out of everything

 

Whoops looks like my big mouth may have caused friction. Vive la difference! @Anthony Rogers, if your "unknown" has a lovely scent then I would put money on it being Pheasant Eye Narcissus. As you can see I have quite a few. I love them because they smell so gorgeous and are very late, extending the "Daffodil season". I find they do flower better if split quite regularly but I ain't splitting all mine again, getting far too old for that labour of love. The photo was taken a couple of years ago I think. Afraid the ridiculous fall of snow we had at the end of April flattened many of mine this year, altho some have managed to sit up again.

 

Hi Silu,

That's what I thought at first as well.
But, the flower is a lot smaller, and the petals fold in on themselves and then go all the way back almost till they're touching the stem.

There is one called " recurvus " which is about the closest I've seen.

 

Hmm. Must be related to Pheasant Eye as very similar, perhaps crossed with a mini of some description, maybe @Silver surfer will come up trumps, it's rare as hen's teeth that she doesn't identify something. Does it have the glorious perfume? I often wonder why more people don't grow Pheasant Eye. They are so easy/pretty and gorgeously "smelly" perhaps it is because they are late and you need to wait a while for the foliage to die down (as with other Daffodils)by which time you are into summer season that they aren't grown more extensively. I dug some up a few weeks ago as want the space for something else. I offered them to a couple of people and they said they had enough "Daffodils". Oh well I've got them languishing in a huge trough. Maybe I'll replant somewhere or if someone would like them I'd be happy to send them if they pay the postage.

 

Common as muck but I love Centaurea montana................

 

Totally agree. Maybe because certain plants are easy and gorgeous they become "common as muck". Many of my plants fall into this category but personally I'd rather have these type putting on a great show and looking healthy rather than something extremely exotic just hanging on in there! You @longk appear to be successful with lots of unusual plants I on the other hand.......

 

Hi Silu,

Yeah it is scented but not as strong as some I've had a sniff of.

I think Pheasants Eyes are gorgeous but I think the reason a lot of people don't grow them is because they're quite rare ( well, hard to get hold of anyway) and quite expensive.

If you've got any you don't want around August/September I'd happily take some off your hands.

 

Many easy plants are overlooked making them unusual. Others are easy if you know how (eg; Lobelia tupa is easy and hardy if you don't cut them back till the spring and remember that they're a prairie plant) - not knowing results in failure which gives them an undeserved reputation. And what grows well in a moist cooler part of the UK may well struggle on the south coast.
Anyway, too easy is boring

 

I've got three perennial Centauria that I'm waiting on to flower ( Dealbata, Montana and Macrocephala ).
I've grown the Montana and Dealbata before but can't wait to see the bright yellow Macrocephala.

 

C.macrocephala looks interesting @Anthony Rogers

 

C. 'Cragside'

 

JWK kindly sent me seed for Lobelia Tupa. I've sowed it about 10 days ago but nothing yet. Thanks for the tip about not cutting them back till Spring. After trying to garden in a horrendous frost bowl for 15 years I am now reasonably happy with "too easy is boring" for the bulk of my plants, I do however have a few much more challenging things which keep me "occupied"! That garden was a complete nightmare with silty soil which heated up fast and then horror frosts would destroy just about everything which had started into growth. Even things like Beech hedge were devastated some years and the death rate of many of my shrubs/trees was high and EXPENSIVE! You're absolutely right about the lack of knowledge about certain plants being the cause of failure. Wish I knew then what I know now! It really annoys me that garden centres stock plants which are completely unsuitable for the area they are in. But then failure =s back to the garden centre for more plants =s bigger profits for them.

 

Greenhouse for the first winter. When in the ground if you want to mulch use conifer needles and branches to avoid crown rot. Worked really well over 2012/13 which was it's first year in the ground and I ended up with this monster................

 

I planted a magnolia tree last year, so was quite surprised to see it flower this year.