Greetings friends. I thought I would give you all a break from my woolly sheep saga this week and spend a little time with you in our garden as the sun has been shining for almost a week here in the UK...amazing!
We'll start here where an old wrought iron gate takes us into what we rather grandly refer to as 'the rose garden'. We designed this little space 12 years ago and it is now overflowing with plants that we have put in and others that have invited themselves (self seeded).
The roses are not yet in bloom but the forget-me-nots have given us a sea of blue for the past 2 months and as always aquilegias have popped up all around. As you can see it's a bit of a 'free for all' situation with everything jostling for position.
I'm happy to say our sundial keeps accurate time.
Although not easy to see in the bright sunlight, on the ground around the sundial is the little motto 'Be Mindful of Time'.
So let us indeed be mindful of time, leave the rose garden and head for those scarlet poppies across the lawn.
Lovely as they are, they are rather too garish for my tastes but they put in an appearance each year and always add cheerfulness to the grey stone wall behind.
Now these are the poppies of my choice. The colour reminds me of faded Victorian ball gowns. It's such a shame they only last a few days before the petals drop.
More pink beauties...this is clematis 'Nellie Moser' and the blooms grow to the size of plates.
And here's a job for my husband! This solanum has climbed the house wall so quickly this year that it is now peeping in through the upstairs window.
I'm very fond of this vivid pink rock rose (helianthemum). It pops up each year through the lime-yellow leaves of the euonymus and for a few short weeks makes a brilliant splash by the driveway.
At the end of our terrace we have a curved stone wall and seat which was built many decades ago. The land drops away quite steeply on the other side and for this reason my children named this stone feature 'the battlements'. Needless to say the name has stuck. We think it was originally built as a sort of viewing place for the enjoyment of uninterrupted views across the lake. Sadly those days are long gone because the woodland trees opposite our house have since matured and now mask the view which is a great shame.
Growing out of every crack and crevice on the battlements is this delicate little ivy-leaved toadflax
At the end of a sunny day our honeysuckle fills the evening air with its rich perfume. It is the offspring of an older honeysuckle from my dim and distant past that has treasured memories for me.
This tiny black and white photograph shows me with my baby sister many moons ago in my grandmother's garden. Behind us is my granny's honeysuckle that she was very proud of. After my granny died in the 1970s my mother took a cutting from it which happily rooted and eventually grew into a large bush producing many more offspring over the years. It pleases me a lot to know that the honeysuckle I now tend in my garden is a direct descendant from the very one my granny nurtured all those years ago.
And so it is time to leave the garden as the sun goes down on another day.
As the moon rises over the tree tops, twilight slowly descends.
Until next time,
Eli
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