Another ridiculously perfect day yesterday. Everyone grouses about the UK's weather, and justifiably so. I always think of a line in a song by the Sundays:
England, my country
The home of the free
Such miserable weather...
But on the occasions when England has nice weather, it's really nice.
I spent the whole day in the garden. I planted all the jimsonweed seeds in small pots, after having soaked them for 24 hours as directed. I had so many seeds I also stuck some directly into the ground out in the garden, so I have no idea what's going to happen. We may be overrun by jimsonweed.
I also planted nasturtium seeds that I'd saved from last year. And I think those are the last of my seeds -- fingers crossed.
I noticed that the irises are blooming next to the camellia bush (above). Just as I took that picture, a bee zoomed into the frame and crawled between the petals to get at the nectar down in the throat of the flower. Can you see it? I'd never thought about bees pollinating irises, but there you go.
One of our brook thistles has bloomed...
...and so has this white flower, surrounded by blue forget-me-nots and Mexican feathergrass. For the life of me I can't remember what it's called.
Olga couldn't resist the opportunity to pose next to more flowers, in this case the Calceolaria I bought at Homebase a couple of weeks ago.
Last night we had our friends Gordon and Donna over for dinner. Dave made fish en papillote and we talked about all the world's problems and solved every single one.
And today is a bank holiday, so we're off work! More garden lounging for me!
I must say that I love our unpredictable English weather. You never know what you are going to get. The unexpected nature of it keeps you on your toes. By the way, we have far less rain here than Florida does or Thailand or Brazil. The weather keeps England green and beautiful and the general freshness makes it easier for us to think, to create and to work.
ReplyDeleteAnd actually, the continuation of that Sundays lyric is:
DeleteBut England's as happy as England can be
Why cry?
There's no question that all the rain makes England a great place to garden. And having been in plenty of Florida "toad-stranglers" I know what you mean about the quantity of water -- it's less here, but more persistent, if that makes sense.
Enjoy the day off, especially now that all the world's problems have been solved. Thank you all SO much!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! Our solution is to invite aliens to come to Earth and teach us how to get along. (Assuming they know.)
DeleteOh crap, Steve, the solution is to have us ALL TAUGHT something? Yeah, that'll go over like a lead balloon. I wish you hadn't told me the specifics. I'm back to being depressed!
DeleteLOL
DeleteI had never heard of Jimsonweed. but after looking it up, ...I know it as Datura. It is very pretty! Thank you for sorting out the World's problems, I shall sleep soundly now!!
ReplyDeleteYes -- datura! In the states it's called jimsonweed, which is thought to come from the name Jamestown, one of our first colonial settlements. (Or so I read somewhere.)
DeleteHalcyon - such a great word I think - a period of idyl; it feels like that this weekend as the sun shines and we get together as a family
ReplyDeleteIt does feel like that -- perfect and sunny and dreamy.
DeleteWe have cooler days right now, and a couple of friends coming for a dinner on the deck. Should be a nice relaxing time ... I may pull an Olga and lay down in the sun!
ReplyDeleteSounds great! Can you all eat from a reclining position? It would be very Ancient Rome.
DeleteOur mornings right now are perfection- cool and clear as can be. And then the heat cranks up and the sun feels like an oven blast.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading a tiny bit about jimson weed, I'm not sure I'd want it in my yard. Of course here it would take over and that would be that.
I'm not sure even aliens could teach humans how to behave. But I suppose we could give it a shot.
Yeah, it's possible I'm unleashing a monster by encouraging the jimsonweed, but it's so pretty! (I've done the same with the teasels and the burdock.)
DeleteLove seeing the flowers there and glad to know the weather has been warm and sunshiny.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will share the problem solving answers you came up with. We definitely need them now!
I'm sure they were mostly the result of the wine we consumed and not really solutions at all!
DeleteThank heaven someone is on the job - The world thanks you and your dinner companions.
ReplyDeleteWe've got this!!
DeleteLovely shots!
ReplyDeleteOur world needs help - we are in an awful mess.
Honestly, I'm not sure we're in any worse mess than we've ever been. Problems come and go and there's never a perfect time.
DeleteLove your garden pix. John of Going Gently has been enjoying nice weather too, over in Wales.
ReplyDeleteIt really is probably the best time of year weather-wise.
Deletelook at all those buds on your camillia! and that white flower is pretty amongst the forget me nots. I don't recognise it. I should have been out in the yard yesterday, it was a good day for it but just couldn't face dousing myself with mosquito repellent.
ReplyDeleteThat camellia always produces a load of flowers, but unfortunately they're white and they quickly turn brown. I'd rather have a pink camellia, but c'est la vie. I didn't plant it.
DeleteOh if only you and your friends could solve all the world's problems! Great set of photos of gorgeous flowers from your garden. Olga looks like she's quite happy to soak up some of that sun.
ReplyDeleteShe LOVES this weather.
DeleteI sometimes wish I'd never sown nasturtium seeds. They come up self-seeded year after year and if you don't pull most of them out they smother everything. They're not supposed to be hardy, but the seeds are.
ReplyDeleteOurs self-seed too, but they don't seem to take over quite that much. We have very clayey soil and it's not ideal for many plants.
DeleteEngland's weather is so much better than ours! All about perspective i guess.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's ridiculous that I complain about it. I honestly don't mind the rain -- it's the chill that gets to me after a while. It's nice to be in a warm period.
DeleteThink the white flower is convulvulus. Enjoying your garden reports. Thanks for putting the world to rights!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is! I remembered after I posted! We call it silverbush.
DeleteI had to look up jimsonweed and it's some powerful stuff! Apparently some soldiers in the 1600s ate it as salad and spent eleven days in "altered mental states":
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium (go to Etymology and common names)
A bit of a kick to it, it would seem :)
Yeah, it is a hallucinogen and the seed packet was prominently marked POISONOUS. We won't be ingesting it, I promise. :)
DeleteI love all the flower photos - you've gotten a lot done in your garden! Olga, of course, is the perfect model.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I talk about working in the garden, it mostly takes care of itself. I just tweak it here and there!
DeleteThanks for solving the world's problems. It needed a good sorting.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. We shall all live in peace and prosperity henceforth.
Delete