There is absolutely nothing to pick in the garden this week, but on our driveway we have the most magnificent bank of lilac. So I gathered lilacs to share my Emma Bridgewater jug with Bowles Mauve, cow parsley, and to loosen things up a bit, a few gentle floaty stems of the grass hairy-brome, Bromopsis samosa.
PS : this little vase is a bit of an afterthought. We have been buffeted with the most horrible strong winds for at least two days and I have been worrying about new leaves and flowers all weekend. The wind has burnt the tender leaves of beech, ripped young ash and sycamore leaves from their branches and reduced the hawthorn blossom to a drift of tiny round white petals along the edge of the drive. I find all this very upsetting, bearing in mind the quiet effort these plants and trees go to to come into leaf and flower. Dotted about our inner and outer gardens are a few different daisy plants, so I picked a few stems to bring them in out of the wind, and to serve as a little tribute to those poor blossoms left outside to fend for themselves against these horrid winds. I also found a rather pretty little pink-tinged white clover.
Wow, the lilacs are fantastic! Really gorgeous indoors and out.
ReplyDeleteThey are amazing aren't they! The best they have been since we moved here, three and half years ago. I was afraid the horrendous winds over the past three days would have wrecked them, as they have so many other blossoms and young leaves, but they have survived remarkably well - thank goodness! A
DeleteThe winds affect me too..and looking at plants and shrubs being damaged, I feel for you. Both your arrangements are delightful. I find your opening line quite oblique...especially when you display two lovely vases. Hope the weather is kind to you in the coming week.
ReplyDeleteThe winds have dropped, although picking up a little again, as I type :o( We have a very tiny garden inside a beautiful sandstone wall. It's about the size of a very big room and I usually refer to it as our inner garden! Outside on the driveway I have planted up a dry garden, on the other side of the garden wall, to attract pollinators and furnish the area a bit! I call that the outer garden! Apart from a few little sweeties, like the bellis daisy, the gardens, both inner and outer, are in that in between phase. The wallflowers, tulips and other bulbs have gone over, and the roses and lavender etc are not yet out. The alliums have lovely big buds but take for ever to break out, and anyway I only have a few and wouldn't be picking them! So for today I raided the lilacs, and the little sweeties were very much an afterthought! Hope your garden survived the winds well! They were really awful! A
DeleteIt was horribly windy here too Amanda especially on Friday - our garden was littered with willow and sycamore branches everywhere. Well done on your rescue job - those little gems must have appreciated it. The lilacs are fabulous and I like the painting behind them on the wall. I have never heard of hairy-brome so am off to find out more about it forthwith.
ReplyDeleteThank you Anna. I love that painting too. It's by Emma Dunbar https://www.emmadunbar.co.uk Quite an early work by her I think. We bought it in the 1980s and she only graduated from West Surrey College of Art in 1984 I think. Her style has changed a bit, but it's colourful and good fun!
DeleteWhat a graceful arrangement you have made the lilac, Amanda, and what a sweet afterthought. We had the winds here too, and It is the first time I recall wind doing damage at this time of year as it has not just been removing leaves. It wasn't even a cold wind... Hope you garden will soon pick itself back up again
ReplyDeleteThank you Cathy. It has been good to spend time today, pottering around in the garden, finally. I can't achieve anything out there when the winds are so strong. We frequently have strong winds here, blasting across from the Pentlands to the west. Very unpleasant really, and they always lower the temperatures! Let's hope for a bit of respite now! A
DeleteYour lilac shrubs are fabulous! I can only imagine the scent - lilacs don't do well here because our winters aren't cold enough. Ceanothus, known as the "California lilac," isn't the same at all. I love your daisy rescues too. We've had some strong winds here too of late but yours sound fierce!
ReplyDeleteThe lilac is quite something this year! And, yes, very lovely scent! The winds have subsided considerably now but still a little blustery. The damage to young shoots is so sad to see. Doubled over and limp. Tender leaves on trees and shrubs are dried out and brown. Makes me sad to see the damage. The lilac, though, has survived remarkably well! Hooray! A
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