Can you identify this small white flower?
I am working in the village at the moment. A good job working outside in the sunshine for and old friend. I don’t even need to drive to work so Jalopy snoozes in the drive. Sometimes I cross the road to retrieve a tool from her capacious boot or make a fresh cup of tea to take back to the job. For a few weeks I’ll enjoy the sort of life that I might have led a hundred years ago. Quiet and sedentary. I can hear the gentle buff of the cottage door opening and see the place as others must. I can observe Danny, identify the familiar...
read moreFlowers from the garden: May 2008
I used to leave this post until the end of each month, hoping that there will be more plants in flower. Then I would cram as many different flowers as I could find into a vase. A large mixed bunch is a joy but sometimes a simple combination just works well. When I saw my favourite rose coming into flower and the cornflowers beneath it, I just had to pick them both. A perfect summery pairing. Our Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’ has hovered on the verge of flowering since late January. May is the month when it is at its best and should burst...
read moreSpecies tulips
It was at Carol’s house that I first noticed a Species tulip. At midday the small flower had opened like a star. The leaves indicated that it was a tulip but this was a tulip with a difference. At the end of the day when the sun was going down and I was heading for Jalopy, I took a small diversion to look at it again. The petals had closed. I crept away. I like flowers that change during the day. They seem even more alive. That autumn I bought two packs of Species tulips and planted them in two low stone pots. The squirrel was clearly...
read moreFlowers from the garden: April 2008
“Please ring me when the apple blossom opens.” Years ago, this was my mother’s plea. She always came to stay at the cottage in the spring to paint the apple blossom. She’s a talented water colour artist. In the autumn Mum cooked vast batches of apple puree and filled the freezer with small boxes, so we could enjoy apples throughout the winter months. It seemed a perfect circle. Things have changed since then. It was a weekend cottage for me and my mum stayed during the working week. A perfect dovetail for peple who need...
read moreForget-me-not. Myosotis
Forget-me-nots really come into their own when they self seed. They just don’t seem to work when they are sown and transplanted. They need to find their own place and more often than not appear beside a perfect companion and astonish me. If you don’t have any, scatter some seed around your garden and they should grow. Within a couple of years they will surprise you. They are part of large Boraginaceae family. This includes Pulminaria, Borage, Helitorope and Comfrey to name just a few. Most of this family share the same attribute...
read moreA wonderful combination
Shopping with my mum is fun. Jalopy has a well deserved rest and we venture forth every other weekend in Danny’s company car. With her special badge we can glide into the spaces right beside the supermarket doors. When I spring out of the driver’s seat passers by look angry but when I open the passenger door and they see the waking stick and my mum, they relax. My mum is no dinosaur. It’s the walking stick that’s the green light. And we’re grateful to be able to nose into the easy access bays. After a big shop...
read moreFlowers from the garden : March 2008
About fifteen years ago I found a wayside stand selling large bags of daffodil bulbs for next to nothing. Each spring I had enjoyed the sea of daffodils that bloomed outside the scatter of cottages. I snapped up several bags to plant in the front of the cottage. These are the paler daffodils in the vase. I used my grandmother’s trick for planting bulbs. To give a natural look to her planting schemes she gently threw the bulbs on to the ground and planted them where they fell. A few years later I spotted more daffodil bulbs for sale on...
read moreFlowers from the garden: February 2008
I was thinking about the joy that not buying flowers has given me over the past year. It has forced me to look at the world in an entirely different way. I now treasure the flowers that I grow and enjoy those that are living elsewhere – generally a fleeting glimpse from Jaolpy’s driving seat as we pound towards the job that day. At the moment there are pools of tremulous snowdrops, polyanthus and primroses. The daffodils are opening and it’s only February. Flower spotting on foot is a much more satisfying pursuit. The dogs...
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