Sunil With the long winter, lack-lustre spring and late arrival of civil weather, the garden has been slow and drawn-out in reaching its annual climax for this year compared to last. This year, things have been late to flower, but seem to have lasted longer. The garden growth has been more sedate and measured rather than the free-for-all that I remember of last year, when it felt that I was constantly on the verge of having border outbreaks. It has been much more tempered this time around.
I would say the garden this summer is on a plateau, as opposed to a peak. Roses and delphiniums are at their best with the clematis and lilies close behind. There’s a much more gentle hand-off of flowering from one set of plants to the next instead of the “wham, bam, thank you ma’am” attitude of last year.
There’s no denying that the poor weather has had a bad impact on the growth and number of flowers but I don’t think I’ve done too badly.
The gradual build up to the plateau instead of the frantic peaking has also had an effect on me. As we get into the long hazy summer days, I’m being much more lazy in the garden than I have been all year, I should dead-head more than I do, should cut the grass more often, should water more and do this, that and the other, but you know what? I can’t be bothered.
The more gentle attitude of the plants has shown me how to have a break and relax a little. Perhaps that’s a terrible admission to make and sometimes, I do feel terribly guilty, but while the sun is here and the air is filled with the perfume of roses, lilies, mock-orange and jasmine, I think I will allow myself to sit and enjoy the garden as oppose to slave in it.
10 comments
Lovely shot of the garden, Sunil….. must get my camera out …..!
Hi Mrs. Mac, thank you, now that I’ve shown you mine, you can get your camera out and show me yours!
What a lovely photo, Sunil! I must admit to preferring the slow, lazy, gentle summers to the all-at-once exciting ones. The pressure to enjoy everything NOW, FAST in the exciting ones seems to defeat the purpose. I’m glad you in the UK are having an actual summer this year and that you’re taking time to enjoy all those glorious fragrances. No guilt allowed!
Hello Stacy, its wonderful to hear from you. We’re enjoying the “normal” summer conditions at the moment, the hot days and still evenings lifts the scent of the lilies up into my bedroom through the open velux and I can occasionally catch them in the air. It really is very lovely.
Love that photograph with the lilies and delphiniums.
Hi Jason, thanks. The delphiniums are finishing, which is why there’s only a shot of blue at the top of each spire. I had to wait for the lilies to open before I took the picture and I nearly missed the delphiniums while hanging around for that to happen.
Gorgeous! If that’s what lazy gardening looks like, I need to do more of it!
Hi Tammy, that shot hides the lazy bit, which is the picking up of dead leaves, trying to revive the brown grass, neatening the border edges, sowings for next year’s plants, weeding and all that jazz. It would be alright if only the upper half of the garden was on view and not the lower.
I’m a very strong believer in spending at least as much time relaxing in and enjoying the garden as working in the garden. What I see in your photos is beautiful, nothing to apologize for or feel guilty about!
Hi Jean, I don’t find it easy to relax in the garden if there are jobs that I can see need doing. I get very uneasy, restless and feel I must do them to before I can justify having a sit down. Luckily there doesn’t seem to be much to do around this time (nothing urgent anyway) so I’ve been able to take a back seat and largely let the garden get on with it.