It's a Jungle Out There

It's getting a little crazy out there in the garden. This inula grew from seed at the corner of our patio, and in past years it was fairly small, but now we have to squeeze past it! We have several other garden bottlenecks, too -- where plants have grown so big they're hard to get around. We'll need to start carrying a machete.

(The parent inula is in the background, behind the bamboo poles -- supports for our sweet peas -- and the banana tree. As you can see, it's immense. It grows to about eight feet high.)

The UK's coronavirus reopening continues apace. Boris has declared that we're now expected to maintain a distance of one meter or more, rather than two meters, from our fellow citizens. Of course this is mainly for economic reasons, because a lot of restaurants and other businesses said they could never survive with a two-meter social distancing rule. A host of establishments -- including restaurants, bars, pubs, hairdressers and museums -- will reopen as of July 4. Just as Dave is finally getting used to his shaggy hair!

Given Dave's immune-suppressing medication, I suspect we'll continue much as we already have been, staying home as much as possible. At least until we see how the reopening goes and whether (or should I say how much) the infection rates creep upward.

Tattoo parlors, unfortunately, will remain closed. Guess I have to wait to get my "I (heart) Boris" tattoo.

(In case you're new to this blog: Yes, that is a joke.)

Did you see that someone paid to have a "white lives matter" banner flown over a football game in Lancashire? I just do not know what's wrong with people. It's caused outrage among the team members and the public, and police are investigating. Seems to me whatever advertising company agreed to fly that banner ought to bear some of the liability. There's a strange intersection in Britain between some football fans and right-wing ultra-nationalist politics, not to mention petty thuggery. Sometimes political demonstrations take place under the sponsorship of "football lads" or some equally innocuous term, and what it really means is potentially violent and often drunk right-wingers. It's very strange. In America we have plenty of right-wing lunatics but they don't make sports part of their group identity.

Anyway, let's look at a few more garden pics.

Here's a hoverfly on a dahlia. The dahlia blossoms are interesting because they start out an intense, deep pink but slowly fade to a lighter color. Dave and I continue to debate whether they're pink or orange.

Some little black bug on one of our geraniums.

A close-up of our bear's breeches (acanthus). The flowers look like molluscs, don't they?

Land o' pansies!

And finally, a colorful little iridescent fly on our Chinese lantern.