Down at the coast:
sun, sea and sand
Ain’t life just grand?
Where do I like most?
East or West?
Home is Best.
“The kiss of the sun for pardon,
the song of the birds for mirth.
One is closer to God in a garden
than anywhere else on Earth.”
(Dorothy Frances Gurney)
Having spent the past week in Cornwall, where we did actually get quite a bit of rain at the beginning of our holiday, I wasn’t surprised that my garden had grown somewhat by the time I got home. Not only had it grown high, it had also spread out more.
After arriving home late last night I went out in my pajamas first thing this morning to inspect what had happened in my garden while I was away, and was soon hacking things back and deadheading. I filled three big buckets with my trimmings and tipped them into my garden wheelie bin along with a load of snails that were inhabiting my deadheading pot and the dead Knopfia spikes.
Some of the flowers that were in full bloom before I went away had finished, some additional flowers had appeared. Clematis Dr Ruppel had lost all its upper flowers and there were only a few at the bottom. Rhododendron Mason had finished completely. Some Peony flowers had been and gone and some more were coming out. Johnson’s Blue Geraniums had finished their first flush. The first Valerian flowers were forming seed heads, being followed by more flowers further down their stems. Knopfia spikes were mostly finished, whereas the Foxgloves had grown taller but lost a lot of their flowers.
However, to compensate, the patio roses were out, summer Jasmine was in flower with very highly scented Sweet Peas out nearby. Honeysuckle was in full bloom as was purple Loosestrife. The mauve Hebe had come out too. The Pansies in the log-roll borders and planter had gone crazy and some Pinks were in flower. The one Pink that had been in flower for quite some before I went away had died. Fuchsia Genii was looking at her best, although the other Fuchsia did not seem to have changed much except that it seemed bigger. Fennel had grown way above the two Fuchsia plants. The log roll borders seemed a lot fuller than they were when I went away, until I pulled up one plant that I had wondered whether it was a flower or a weed. Whether it was a flower or a weed I didn’t like it, so I pulled it out leaving a significant gap. With all the new colour the bees had been having a ball while I was away, and the blackbird that has built her nest in the Winter Jasmine outside my patio doors was most annoyed to find us in her garden again.
With the Lilac and the Rhododendron now finished flowering it was good that I had purchased an Agapanthus before I went away to put some colour in that area of my vision. Acer Negundo Flamingo had now developed a pink tinge to her leaves. Meanwhile it was quite obvious from the petals at the base of the Cistus plant that I had missed her daily prolific show, although she was still flowering away merrily.
Having a holiday towards the end of June is the wrong time for my garden. Then again, any time is probably the wrong time because there is always something happening. It was so lovely to be in Cornwall with my dog able to run around free in the entire garden consisting of grass, patio and a few mature shrubs that didn’t matter if they lost a few twigs at dog height, and at one point I was thinking about selling up and moving to Cornwall. But it is good to come back to my garden. Maybe I could take my garden to Cornwall?
My Garden Transformation 