I have tried to be stoical. I have looked forward, and have tried never to look back. I have embraced variegated leaves, browning foliage and architectural seed heads... but it hasn't worked. I just miss the flowers. Miss the flowers, the feel of the sun on my back, the buzz of the bees. Each season has its own joys to be sure, but the joys of the seasons where growth is an element, beat the others hands down.
Today, nostalgia rules, and I just want to imagine, for an indulgent moment that I am surrounded by the spires of delphiniums, or running my fingers over the silky smooth petals of a rose. I want to look backwards for a while, and wallow in the nostalgia of the past season.
So I'm going to indulge myself, briefly, and create a virtual garden where all my favourite things are in flower at the same time. So, for a glorious week or two, all the stars of my garden firmament would shine at once. What would I choose ?
Stiff and stately Auriculas , taken from the chilly bare earth of April.
Spires of Delphiniums from the peak of the cottage garden in June.
Tulips from May.
Roses in that first hooray of June...
Alliums fresh with the promise of Spring.
And I can't leave out my lovely lupins...
How amazing if they were all flowering together, then I could enjoy the Camassia at the same time as the peony.
The Hellebore would be flowering with the perennial poppy...
Ant the Snakeshead Fritillary would stand shoulder to shoulder with the iris.
Cosmos , the best annual there is, would definitely be plugging all the gaps in my virtual garden.
And the foxglove would clash beautifully with the hemerocallis.
But it would be like eating a whole box of your favourite chocolates in one sitting.What would there be to look forward to ? A big part of gardening is anticipation, and if everything is blooming at once, then that pleasure is lost.
The winter is long and bleak, and though I am longing for those first shoots to break through in the Spring, I think I much prefer my real garden to the virtual one where all the varied pleasures come at once.
ooh the allium and the fritillary please!
ReplyDeleteThe dreaded Lily Beetle, new to my part of the world, is very partial to Fritillary and devoured the lot last Spring!
DeleteWell I'm loving your virtual garden. I'd like them all too please, in my virtual cool/temperate climate garden. The one that is created in my imagination. Meanwhile, over here, there are more endless blue skies today. Yes and puffy white clouds as well. Gosh darned it! We had a fleeting soft light shower of rain last night, just to tease us, but there's no evidence of it today.
ReplyDeleteHi Bernie. Bliss! Blue skies ! Fluffy white clouds ! Seriously though, I wish you the rain you hope for !
ReplyDeleteHang on in there. The hellebores will be here before you know it!
ReplyDeleteI know, Rusty Duck ! Just get Christmas out of the way ((not in a 'Bah Humbug' way!) and it will be snowdrops before we know it, then hellebores and daffodils... and ... and... ! can't wait!
DeleteAahh, a Garden of Eden? This will give me something to think about...and think about...during the cold months of January!
ReplyDeleteJust discovered your blog via your recent GardenRant entry. I'll enjoy reading more in times to come.
It's hard not to wish for everything to be in bloom all at once. And it's hard not to wish winter away. I guess that's just another lesson in patience from the garden! Lovely pictures. Makes me yearn for spring!
ReplyDeleteHi HolleyGarden, thanks for your comments, patience isn't one of my virtues I'm afraid ... I'm yearning !!
DeleteHi and welcome to you ProfessorRoush, glad you could make it ! I'm afraid we'll have to make do with our virtual Eden until the Spring!
ReplyDelete