Thursday 23 May 2013

Indoor garden viewing

Another episode in the garden story.  Everything is very late.  I have no idea how the Chelsea Flower show gardens managed to get their foxgloves out in time.  Mine are still quite short and green.

Today the irises are at their best.  It is going to rain tonight so this will be the peak, with no messy bits!  It is so cold here today and the garden is not inviting unless viewed through a window with a cup of tea in hand.  It did look pretty, early this morning before work, so I rushed out and took a few photos before the weather closes in again.  I really wished I hadn't put my winter coat in the loft!



In the border I have rather too many poppies.  I can't bear to dig them up and they are slowly taking over.  The forget-me-nots are just finishing and you can see foxgloves dotted about that are still green and stubby.   The two trees are viburnum which is going to get a severe haircut this year, and a pink flowering tree which I think is a hibiscus.  I know it has no manners and comes up everywhere.  I also have very spiky teasels (likewise bad mannered) and Canterbury bells which I love.  I try off and on to grow hollyhocks but they always look so scraggy with rust that I can't appreciate them.  There is a bay tree to the left which was in a pot.  It is now in the border and has started to grow in an alarming manner.  I have an idea they can get pretty large so I will have to have a really generous bay wreath for the front door next Christmas.

This is the border on the other side of the garden.  It is west facing.  I went a bit mad on wallflowers this year.  They have such a lovely perfume and last so long.  When I was little I remember Mum buying them in the autumn in the greengrocers  in muddy bundles.  We have just acquired a brand new greengrocers in the High Street, having been without one for 10 years.  I have great hopes that  he will stock marmalade oranges and wallflowers in due season.

The bundle of sticks is the kindling drying out in a decorative fashion for next year.  Hardly anyone has an open fire now in London, and using wood is carbon neutral as long as you grow more to replace it.  I do use smokeless coal though, to avoid encouraging smog.  I can remember not being able to see across the road on foggy days in the 70s when more people used coal.  Mum came to London from the Welsh borders in 1952 and remembers a true smog.  She said she went to the cinema and couldn't see the film.  All her clothes turned yellow at the edges with the sulphur in the air. Air quality now is much better, or at least, the dirt is less visible!  I must admit I used to find fogs quite exciting on the way to school,  especially crossing the road and losing the the direction of the other side!  I'm rambling, I think it's bedtime!

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