Singing

-
Dear reader,



The African head sings
For Spring is here today
Both in leaf and heart

But she can be a fickle season
Her warmth genuine and embracing one minute
Then cold and distant the next

But she has not slipped back into Winter
There is no longer dormancy here
I long for her warm embrace

I long for it.



I have visited my first garden of the year - Slade Garden in Southerndown. Home to NGS  ngs.org.uk County organiser Rosamund Davies.
The garden is formed around a sweeping vista and woodland - a bit grander than my little plot.



We are slowly overcoming the disasters of winter - my son rebuilt the roof of the vine house/greenhouse and the next job is to sow seeds from higgledygarden.com  I know it will be a bit late but hopefully there will be enough plants to both fill gaps and sell at our opening on 2-3 rd June.



Inspired by the magnificent magnolia at Slade - I bought a Magnolia Stellata with the proceeds from a painting I sold, and am now moving it around the garden to find its place.


Spring is here and now unstoppable.

Paul.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Letter to Monty Don 48

-
Image
Dear Monty, I know that despite these rambles being addressed to you, they never reach your eyes or heart, but this question is most certainly directed to you : Can nature be ugly ? I am pondering this question sitting in my cupboard of a 'studio' where I am putting the finishing touches to paintings of  British native orchids, pollinators and butterflies for an exhibition next weekend. Now I believe that you understand perfectly well the response you may get when you make statements on GW - including the one about spent buddleja flowers being 'ugly'. I too have always deadheaded my buddleja for the same reason, and as you said to promote new flower spikes. But this ugliness is an intrinsic part of nature - it sets seed to create the next generation, the flowers last but for a few days. Is this ugliness a kind of acknowledgement of the frailty of 'beauty' .... and the cutting off and tidying away a kind of denial ? ( Perhaps I think too much.) I
Read more

Weariness and the NGS

-
Image
Hello,  I have to admit to a kind of tiredness that comes from somewhere deep inside me. It's a kind of bone deep weariness with my own self, and with what human life has become. Now I'm not saying that I'm depressed, but I'm trying to face the reality of who I am and what the collective 'we' are currently moving through; 'cost of living crisis', wars, famines, dirty politics, corruption. But then those things are always with us, like the realities of illness, separation and loss, but alongside and underneath there remains the living spirit of things. Well here I stand, still alive, still breathing in and out, and yes the garden and this post industrial valley is still singing a lively song. Today its the cuckoo, thrush, raven, buzzard, sparrow, bullfinch and the chirrrup of the blue tit family busy feeding their brood in the nestbox, protesting at our presence sitting under the shade of the umbrella. I believe that singing helps ! I have a friend named
Read more

Monty, where does the road take us ?

-
Image
Monty, I see you have returned to France. Your film reminded me of my visits to Paris as an art student between 1981-83. It is a city that cannot fail to make an impression with its wide open streets, avenues of trees, the river and public gardens. I particularly remember Versailles with its long canal. At that time I was not aware of having a particular interest in gardens, but the gardens at Versailles were astonishing. I saw them in early morning light, when there were not that many people there. I also remember being intrigued by the garden at the Musee Rodin. Strangely for an art student, it was not the sculpture that caught my attention but the garden with pyramid shaped topiary. Perhaps what I was responding to was the sense of order, balance and harmony. It almost feels as though I was meant to visit, and that the encounters I had which were sensually intense, were pre-ordained. There is one incident, which has great significance only to me perhaps, but which was of
Read more