Rain!

A rainy morning here in London, FINALLY. We've had a bit of rain in the last week or so but up until now we've had such a dry spring that any moisture is still a relief. All the plants seem to be breathing a sigh. Doesn't the tree fern look good? It has bounced back really well after its near-death experience this winter.

Here's an overview of the garden, taken yesterday afternoon, just to show you how things are looking now. The roses are blooming pretty well, which is always a pleasure, and they look much better than in previous years when they were afflicted with black spot. The pruning and feeding we've been doing has helped, I think.

Yesterday evening I came home, poured a glass of wine and went to sit on the bench in the back of the garden, and this was the company I had (above). Annoying, isn't she? For some reason she will not let Dave or I sit on the bench in peace. This wasn't always the case, and we don't really know what she wants. She knows she gets a treat when we go inside, so it's possible she's trying to say, GIVE ME MY TREAT! If she were younger I'd say she wants to play with her Kong, but she doesn't chase the ol' Kong much anymore.

Here's my most recent plant rescue story. A few days ago I went down to the parcel room at school, a space off the loading bay where deliveries are stored. I saw a sealed box on the counter labeled "LIVE PLANTS." Now, this box had no name on it -- it was addressed only to the school in general. I left it there a day or two thinking someone would claim it, but when I checked a few days later it was still sitting there.

I took it to the mailroom and asked if there was a way to tell who it was for, and there wasn't. So I decided to open the package, whereupon four sadly yellowed and leggy seedlings were revealed (above). I bet they've been sitting in that box in utter darkness for at least a week if not longer. They're Queen Anne's Lace (Ammi majus).

On a hunch I e-mailed the science teachers in the Lower School, because they have a patio space where the kids plant and grow things, and sure enough the seedlings were theirs. The teachers had already left for the day so I watered the plants and put them out on the patio in a sheltered place, where hopefully they will benefit from the rain and cloudy conditions over this long weekend before being planted on Tuesday. Queen Anne's Lace is pretty weedy, so hopefully they'll survive and maybe the kids will learn from this inadvertent science experiment. As one of the teachers said, "Go photosynthesis!"