The Great Escape!

Of course, I have been dramatic with the title but there are occasions when small interludes can feel like just that, a great escape. We had days of the most miserable weather; days when we not only had incessant rain but rain accompanied by bitingly cold wind. There were days of being confined to the …

Old Clothes!

Acer palmatum ‘Koto-no-ito’ (Golden Old Harp) was at its autumnal best today and caught my eye. At this time of the year especially it is necessary to capture the moment immediately for it may well be gone tomorrow or even later in the day; the light changes so quickly that the moment can vanish in …

Scent Magic!

Isabel Bannerman describes scent wonderfully: Witch hazel has a clean sanatorium smell of pure alcohol and Elastoplast. The crushed gourd-shaped seed pods of Wintersweet, if crushed, smell of dusty cloves, spiced wines and the depths of unused drawers. The rose, ‘Rosarie de l’Hay’ smells of cucumber, tea and laundered tablecloths laid at a table on …

November 1st Garden Walk

We are enjoying a wonderful break in the weather today – yesterday was a day of persistent heavy rain; tomorrow will be a day of persistent heavy rain with strong winds while today is a day of persistent light rain, such a relief! Pfffffffff! Any thoughts of actually going outside and doing some gardening is …

A Wet Day with Beautiful Flowers.

The good weather of earlier in the week has gone. That bright crispness and that sharp coolness in the air have given way to dullness, mistiness, clamminess and a general feeling of misery and no opportunity to garden. Were it tomorrow, November 1st, I could make a timelier quotation of Thomas Hood’s poem, “November” but, …

The Day Comes!

The day comes! We all wish the summer, even the autumn, show to continue in the garden as long as possible and we treasure those plants which bring colour to this late end of the year. However, as the weather becomes worse - and in Ireland this means wetter and wetter - the day comes …

Falling in Love Again

I am the most unmusical of men but lyrics from years past come regularly into my head and are parroted, most likely in an inaccurate form, all day long. This dreadfully annoys my poor wife and would annoy our youngest son all the more were he at home for both are sticklers for accuracy in …