It was with the deepest sadness that I heard of the death of Elspeth Thompson whose garden writings have been so inspirational and our prayers are with her family at this time.
A robin lands on the branches of a fastigiate beech tree and begins to sing his repertoire to the four corners of the garden, the wind ruffling his throat feathers, but no-one seems to be listening so he flies off again. Later, I see him pretending to be a blue tit, hanging upside down on the peanut holder, keeping his precarious balance with a wild fluttering of his wings but after a while he decides that eating off the floor of the patio is easier after all.
Walking past the pond I notice a blob of frogspawn about the size of a football with little black dots of life not-quite-squirming-yet in the gloop. Two frogs are embracing and they both look up, rather embarrassed, and so I walk on, not wanting to spoil their conjugal delights.
I drove to Bath to visit my eldest son and everywhere there were blazing daffodils, from grandiose displays en masse to a few precious blooms tucked away in the corner of a garden, it seems that the whole world and her auntie have joined forces to dispel the dreary late winter blues with the golden illumination of the humble daffodil.
I love the tree poppies for the brevity and glamour of their flowers but also their buds which burst open with an almost vulgar rude health.
Many have muttered in the past that all eucalyptus should be dug up and posted back to Australia. Certainly their root systems can play merry havoc with underground water pipes. Two lanky specimens grow at the top of the garden and they have been cut down to waist height and they are now leafing up into attractive shrubs. Sadly, no-one noticed that they were providing valuable shade from the early morning sun for the camellias that grow some ten yards behind which are now rather embarrassingly scorched by the early rays of the sun. Oops! The golden rule of arboriculture is that a tree cut down cannot be glued back on and so I guess we will have to live with it!
April begins as March left us with cold rainy weather with just a glimpse of sunshine to give us all hope. The photo above, taken last summer is just a reminder of what it is all about!
Dear Michael, In browsing through newcomers to Blotanical, I happily came across your weblog and have read through some of your previous postings. I have very much enjoyed your writing and find what you have to say both thought provoking and full of sound, practical advice. A winning combination for me.
I share your sadness on the death of Elspeth Thompson, whose writings I too have enjoyed over many years and to die at such an early age is doubly tragic.
I also share your love of tree paeonies which I regard as such elegant, yet exotic plants which always to my mind add an elegance to the garden and can combine so successfully with so many other flowers.
I am subscribing to your future postings in order to keep in touch with your writing and your garden as it progresses through the year.
thank you Edith for your kind comment. i took the time to look at your pages and enjoyed your eloquent writing too. I also love rosa sombreuil and i grow one up a tall obelisk where it obligingly flowers quite low down. Like J i also insist on tying the rose to the wire with twine.
I appreciate dahlias in the garden but they have to be strong, i never have the time to store them overwinter, they get a bucket of leafmould to protect them and if they survive then so be it.
I look forward to reading more of your garden in future
mike
Beautifully penned…I felt as though I were right there with you on your sojourn. 🙂 I’ll be back.
thank you!…
It is always sad to part with something we are familiar with, even with overstayed winter, what’s more with a person whose thoughts has been very inspirational.
~bangchik
thank you for those words Bangchik.