Peter Dowdall: How to plan ahead for summer in the garden

Peter Dowdall presents his post-Scaraveen survival guide for gardeners as they plan ahead for summer

Alliums such as these will be well able to tolerate and frosts and the worst of what the scaraveen can throw at them but some more tender plants may need attention. Pictures: iStock

May, that wonderful time of the year when the early promise of springtime in the garden progresses at breakneck speed into growth and beauty. The energy which has been simmering beneath the soil now bursts forth through every up-to-now-dormant node and flower bud.

May 15 means that summer can now properly begin as the Scaraveen is over on this date. Anglicised from the Irish expression “garbhshíon na gcuach”, Scaraveen is the name given to this period of transition between spring and summer.