The Meaning of Life (apart from 42)

For one reason or another I seldom post photos of beds or borders.  Generally the pictures I take are rather disappointing .  What I thought was a mass of colour and texture turns out to be rather dull.  There is little movement, no depth, no heart. So I stick to individual flowers, or new boots and the like. This evening as I sat and watched the 2m teasel outside my front window tango in the wind, depositing the reservoirs held in its leaf axils to the ground beneath, only to be refilled before the next gust, my mind drifted back to earlier this week.

Here is Max’s garden.  In the sunshine.  Full of flowers.  And joy.  Surely that is what it is all about.

Same But Different

Another day of absurd weather at The Farm today.  It was however quite different from yesterday, when mizzle turned to occasional heavy rain then straight back to mizzle.  Today it switched from bright sunshine to head hurting rain in the blink of an eye.  Literally.  There was no hope, unless you happen to be called Usain Bolt, to avoid being caught and drenched before you had time to react.  Actually Mr Bolt would make a very useful member of the team, I wonder what he is up to after his retirement later this year.  Surely there would be no harm in asking…. Anyway, I spent most of the day stewing in my waterproofs and watching the sky.  Oh and barrowing rocks, woodchip and not-quite-rotted-enough manure (separately I hasten to add) to revive an area “adjusted” by the fence builders.  All was most fragrant.  This job was made all the more exciting by Slasher jet washing my primary route as I worked.

Some folk around here were quite happy with the deluges.  When I arrived this morning the present duck residents charged me.  This was in the, frankly insultingly wrong, impression that I was Farmer Tony who always throws a shovel of grain for them.  I was very pleased to see that the newbie, Frank the Aylesbury drake, has been embraced into the family.  For those unsure which one he is, look for the one who is twice the size of everyone else, is white and hopping.

Ducklings

 

The Christening

Jasminum x stephanense

Of all the challenges involved in being a jobbing gardener, the fickle weather is the champion. Torrential rain had been forecast overnight, clearing later.  Last evening I contacted my morning clients and warned them it might be a wash out and we would reschedule.   The new day began and the Met Office were quite right, indeed it was wet and miserable.  When I contacted my esteemed clients they replied that it wasn’t raining where they were and any rain would be racing through to bless the fine folk in the south east.  So off I trundled, no fair weather gardener am I!  As I drove through downpour and deluge, peering through wipers on mega-drive, I guessed they must be in some sort of micro-climate.   It appears not.  “Don’t worry”  I was told “it is scheduled to stop very soon”.  Well it didn’t.  “Ah yes, things have changed, it will have passed through by 11.00”. Nope.  “Right, there as been an adjustment, by 1.00 all be clear”.  Um …..

At lunchtime, having been loaned a complete change of clothing by the lovely lady, it dawned on me what their blogs names should be from this time forwards.  Yes, this is an On The Edge Christening.  I hereby name these wonderful people Mr and Mrs Fish.  In honour of Mr Fish’s outstanding meteorological predictions (admittedly assisted by the Met Office).

Just as I was squelching my way to Mr and Mrs Bun’s house  (where it didn’t stop raining until 2.00pm and the above Jasminum x stephanense was blooming) I spotted something with my beady eye.  A flowering eucalyptus.  Admittedly a rather wet flowering eucalyptus.

eucalyptus

 

Blue is not the only Colour

hydrangea

My friend the Frustrated Gardener recently extolled the virtues of the blue hydrangea in his post True Blue.  I am totally with him on this one, they are an amazing spectacle at this time of year, to be honest I agree with him on most things.  But looking out off of my window this afternoon I spied my ruddy hydrangea, basking in the late sunshine, sadly neglected, planted by others, name unknown, and I thought, “do you know what?  blue is not the only colour.

Cunning Combos – Part Three

Salvia involucrata

It appears that I am the owner of a magic coat.   The moment you put it on it stops raining, as soon as you take it off and leave it a leg stretch away, the downpour resumes.  Amazing.  I would prefer it had some other magical property, maybe invisibility, psychic powers or perhaps the ability to conjure bars of dark chocolate with salted caramel into my pocket on my command.  As it was, I spent a rather sweaty day trying to keep the weather clement.

I kept my coat on long enough to capture this Saliva involucrata and an unnamed day lily making sweet music in the sunshine.  Certainly a very beautiful tune.