Climbing high

May is the month for clematis montana, that white or pink flowered climber seen everywhere at this time of year.

This rampant grower will cover a wall or fence very quickly once it is established and give a fantastic display of blooms for three or four weeks once the first flowers have begun to open.

Originating in the Himalayas, clematis montana is a deciduous plant with stems that age from light green to brown and foliage that tends to be mid green on white flowered varieties and greenish purple to deep purple on the pink flowering ones.

Flowers range from pure white through cream to pale and deep pink and can be up to 10cm/4ins across depending on the variety. Some are scented.

There are two of these clematis growing in our back garden despite its compact size, since the beauty of any clematis is its ability to grow upwards and take very little space widthways.

One grows against the house wall and is a deep pink variety with the expected rich coloured leaves. It is in full sun for most of the day, when we have any that is, and by this time of the month has more or less finished flowering.

The pink of the blooms looks beautiful against the old brick of the walls and the leaves and new stems will continue to look attractive for the rest of the summer.

The other clematis is later flowering and is at its best right now with large white blooms. It is about five years old and has been trained to grow through a holly tree.

The tree is several years old it was already here when we moved in seventeen years ago but despite its height the clematis has managed to almost completely cover the east facing side of the tree with long stems full of snowy flowers.

The blooms bask in the morning sun and look lovely against the dark glossy leaves of the holly.

Clematis montana can be allowed to ramble at will where there is space, and pruning is not normally recommended until five years after planting.

My white variety has reached this point, many of the lower stems on the tree are bare this year and the best display of flowers is beginning to move to the top of the plant. So after flowering it will be heavily cut back to encourage new stems lower down the plant.

I can't say I am looking forward to this job, it will be a two person task since the clematis is so large and the holly so prickly.

Flowering may be affected next spring, but the following year we should have a really good display once again.

Weekend Catch-up

Cut back violas planted for spring colour earlier in the year. Trim the leggy stems back to a couple of centimetres above soil level and in a few weeks a new clump of leaves will have formed followed by a fresh crop of flowers.

Open Gardens

In aid of British Red Cross.

Hargill House, Finghall, between Bedale and Leyburn off the A684, the garden will be signposted. One acre garden with rockeries, lawns, ponds, herbaceous borders and views over Wensleydale.

Open 11am-5pm. Admission £2.50 adult.

In aid of St John Ambulance.

Settrington Gardens, off the B1248 Malton-Norton road. Two gardens open: Lowfield Farm with a vegetable garden, pond, wild flower meadow and herbaceous borders and Westfield Farm with shrub and ericaceous beds, rose, herb and mixed borders in a formal area that leads to a wild flower meadow with a pond. More than 30 varieties of wild flowers can usually be found in the meadow at any one time.

Open 2-5pm. Combined admission £5.

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme.

High Farm, Bilton, off the A165 Hull-Bridlington road. Large garden with mature trees supporting clematis and roses, shrubs, ornamental grasses, succulents and rare herbaceous plants.

Open 1-5pm. Admission £3.

Holmfield, Fridaythorpe, off the A166 York-Driffield road. Informal two-acre country garden on a south-facing slope with large mixed borders, vegetable and fruit areas, octagonal gazebo and a collection of phlomis. Adjacent nursery open.

Open 10-6pm. Admission £2.50.

Londesborough Cross, Shiptonthorpe, off the A1079 York-Hull road. Former railway goods yard transformed into a garden with borders, bog area, ponds, clematis, hostas and woodland area planted with a large collection of ferns.

Open 1-5pm. Admission £3. Also open Wednesday.

Nawton Tower Garden, Nawton, five miles north-east of Helmsley, off the A170. Large garden with lawns and grassy paths leading through mature shrubs, heathers and a unique collection of rhododendrons and azaleas collected by the late Douglas Ward, some of which are propagated for sale.

Open 2-6pm. Admission £1.50. Also open tomorrow.

Springfield House, Tockwith, off the B1224 York-Wetherby road. One and half acre well established walled garden with new herbaceous borders, stream, water and rock gardens, roses, conifers and shaded shrub walk.

Open 2-5pm. Admission £2.

26, West End, Walkington, two miles south-west of Beverley. One acre cottage garden with many rare plants collected over 20 years that opens into an old wooded gravel pit being developed by the owner.

Open 1.30-5pm. Admission £3.

Wytherstone Gardens, Pockley, two miles north-east of Helmsley, signed from the A170. Eight acre garden with a large variety of lavenders and salvias, choice and hard to find shrubs, Mediterranean garden, peat terracing, rock garden, arboretum with pond and woodland walk, conservatory garden with climbing roses and borders and new railway sleeper border.

Open 1-5pm. Admission £3 adult, £1 child 6-16 years. Garden also open every Wednesday from May 31 August 30 and Sundays June 11/25, July 16, August13.

In aid of British Red Cross.

Dacre Banks Gardens, near Summerbridge, on the B6451 four miles south-east of Pateley Bridge. Two gardens open: Orchard House with two acres of garden designed to blend into the surrounding countryside and provide a haven for wildlife with shrub and perennial plantings and a productive fruit and vegetable garden.

Stud Cottage with a colourful cottage garden with a small rockery, vegetable area, orchard, fishpond, herbaceous planting and patio.

Open 1-5pm. Combined admission £3.

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme.

Cobble Cottage, Rudgate, Whixley, off the A59 York-Knaresborough road. Small, constantly changing cottage garden with architectural plants, water garden, containers, secret courtyard garden and new Japanese garden.

Open 12-5pm. Combined admission with Great Ouseburn Gardens below £3.

Great Ouseburn Gardens, turn off the A59 York to Knaresborough road onto the B6265 towards Boroughbridge and follow signs for Great Ouseburn. Two gardens open together with Cobble Cottage above: Cedar Croft with a half-acre garden with mature trees, views over Ousebeck, large herbaceous, mixed shrub and rose borders, summerhouse, terrace with pots and small parterre.

Tinkers Hollow with a one-acre garden with four ponds, waterfall, stream, a diverse range of plants, several pergola walkways connecting perennial and shrub borders and a small folly set in a wild area.

Open 11-5pm. Combined admission with Cobble Cottage £3.

Nawton Tower Garden, details above.

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme.

Jackson's Wold, Sherburn, take the Weatherthorpe road then the right fork to Hesterton Wold. Two-acre garden with mixed borders, old shrub roses, woodland paths leading to further border, lime tree avenue with wild flower meadow and traditional vegetable garden with roses, flowers and box hedging.

Open 1-5pm. Admission £2.50.

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme.

Hunmanby Grange, Wold Newton, 12.5 miles south-east of Scarborough. Three-acre exposed field transformed into a series of gardens planted for year-round colour with seasonal highlights and sheltered from the wind by fences and hedges.

Open 1-5pm. Admission £2.50 adult.

Londesborough Cross, details above.

Gardening TV & Radio

Saturday: 7.15pm, BBC2, RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Alan Titchmarsh looks back at this year's show and the winner of the public's favourite show garden is announced.

Sunday: 9am, Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther, Joe Maiden.

2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time. Matthew Biggs, Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and chairman Eric Robson help gardeners from Birmingham with their horticultural problems. Meanwhile Anne Swithinbank explains how to get a longer flowering season from herbaceous perennials. The gardening weather forecast is at 2.25pm.

2.45pm, R4, Five Gardens Of Spain. In the first of a new series, Susan Marling explores the courtyard gardens of the Alhambra in Granada.

Friday: 8pm, BBC2, How to Be A Gardener Revisited. Alan Titchmarsh brings a pond he created in 2002 up to scratch.

8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World. Monty Don shows how to perennialise' bulbs, Carol refreshes an alpine bed and Joe earths up potatoes.

Saturday, June 3: 8am, Radio York, Gardening Phone-in. With Nigel Harrison, telephone number 0845 300 3000.