tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post1081176970741156782..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Maytime rus in urbeDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-51705324083522232812015-05-18T22:40:03.422+01:002015-05-18T22:40:03.422+01:00Correction about to be made, thanks to the real ex...Correction about to be made, thanks to the real expert. I am a novice with a very partial knowledge; Deborah is a genius in garden creation as well as sculpture, as readers of this blog will know. And they will know more when I get round to a p(a)eonycentric blog entry next but one or so.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-88335207212545799132015-05-18T22:37:41.466+01:002015-05-18T22:37:41.466+01:00Lovely poppy at the end of previous post is Papave...Lovely poppy at the end of previous post is Papaver commosum. I have one only in our garden, just coming out. I was hoping to have lots, from plants last year. You can buy the seeds of variety ‘Ladybird’ quite easily. We saw them growing wild everywhere in Turkey and they are quite variable. Some are just black and red; at Xanthos they had a wide white surround to the black spots. Very garish.<br /><br />I approve your choice of ‘Buckeye Belle’ paeony. Sadly, something ate the buds of mine this year...or maybe they rotted. Anyway, they’ve gone. Gardening is a bit of a waiting game.Deborahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-46236025529659852402015-05-18T09:30:31.188+01:002015-05-18T09:30:31.188+01:00Sue - King Roger tomorrow night. I'm waiting t...Sue - King Roger tomorrow night. I'm waiting to be convinced that it's a masterpiece - heard it in concert a couple of decades back and found the scoring intoxicating, the substance not quite. But be good to see it staged. Hope you get the Livescreening of Pirates of Penzance too (the same night). Extraordinary talk session with the great and ever so slightly scary Mike Leigh.<br /><br />PS - the latest 'identify' has spot-the-pasta-or-noodles including a tomatosaucystewything which may or may not have pasta in it. But I ticked and am now not a robot.<br /><br />newleafsite, I am so relieved and happy to see you back - not for myself, but because I always want to know how you are. If I 'did' Facebook I'd know - but I shan't, so too bad.<br /><br />I've actually not heard Merrie England all the way through, if you remember a song from it was my pa's only musical love. Is this the new series of RuPaul's Drag Race to which you refer? Can't wait...the diplo-mate insisted on re-watching all five series to date and it was still insructive as well as good comfort telly.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-87260714838685254232015-05-17T15:55:29.110+01:002015-05-17T15:55:29.110+01:00Hello, David! I have been enjoying your photos for...Hello, David! I have been enjoying your photos for several days now, resolute in the calm knowledge that no words from me could possibly add to what you have shown. The ferns alone could appear in a post without caption, just to be admired! But I write to send a greeting, after not commenting for so long, but reading, and often thinking of you. Some days, I regret that you are holding out against Facebook, such as earlier this month, when I celebrated May over there by posting from "Merrie England," by German, which I learned of from you. Other days, I recognize that I might only be sending you a series of messages after weekly viewing of RuPaul, mostly Can you believe who got eliminated?! And, Oh no she betta don't! (This last, hoping that I'm using it appropriately, given my history of misusing slang.) So, just hello from me, and I love this perfect post, and I'm still reading and enjoying! -- ElizabethAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-51814083755966167042015-05-17T02:52:04.348+01:002015-05-17T02:52:04.348+01:00David: I'm so relieved I'm not the only on...David: I'm so relieved I'm not the only one to have trouble recognizing hamburgers on screen. Meanwhile, as spring comes on little by ever so little here, I come back from time to time to take in these wondrous blooms! Have you, by the by, seen the ROH Król Roger? I've had a small, tantalizing glimpse and hope soon to see the whole on the little screen, courtesy the new Opera Platform initiative.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-15947343357345440872015-05-14T13:41:35.946+01:002015-05-14T13:41:35.946+01:00We're getting erratic temperatures here too. B...We're getting erratic temperatures here too. But 'ne'er cast a clout 'til May is out' often applies. <br /><br />Ah yes, our treasured network of rights of way, something I shouldn't be surprised if our present Tories decimate if the behaviour of their followers (ie Clarkson on the Isle of Man) is anything to go by. It was brought home forcibly to me that we have that and you have either National Parks or 'Don't Walk' in Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit (an excellent writer, though as we found somewhat to our cost at the ICA a rather dreary and jargon-laden speaker).<br /><br />On the code thing, Sue, I've been baffled by some of the 'tick all the boxes where this - a hamburger, a road sign - is shown' and failed several tests. Just got a very dim number, which was almost a relief.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-88838672156470245342015-05-14T13:37:02.356+01:002015-05-14T13:37:02.356+01:00David N: Oh, my, that's quite a memory!
Davi...David N: Oh, my, that's quite a memory! <br /><br />David D: Yes, there are many here, too, who like to tell that tall tale (though every now and then it is true). Overall, David N is right, we do get true spring weather where we are, though in recent years it's become much more unpredictable. For example, this year, we'd turned the heat off, we thought for good, and were enjoying birdsong through the open windows, then the temperature spiked, and we reluctantly turned on the A/C a couple days. Now, this morning, its was 47 degrees F this AM, so I did put the heat back on (the Edu-Mate wouldn't have done this, she having been brought up without central heating), but I'll likely turn it back down soon!<br /><br />What I miss most here that you have in England are the wonderful rights-of-way. We do have lovely places to walk, but nothing like your ability to stride across the countryside and see the glory of spring in all its forms. And walking down those lovely country lanes with the flowering hedgerows was and is a favorite memory of English spring. Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-79137245390487114462015-05-14T11:35:41.362+01:002015-05-14T11:35:41.362+01:00Catriona - very helpful. Hope the Meconopses will ...Catriona - very helpful. Hope the Meconopses will still be thriving at the end of the month when, now that we can't get any affordable flights to our friend Debbie's 50th birthday party in Berlin, Perthshire is looking like a distinct possibility.<br /><br />Susan - the English damp. Ah, I remember well a Christmastime excursion to take up a now-deceased acquaintance's 'holiday cottage' between Tintagel and Boscastle. It was a shack with slugs crawling up the inside porch walls. We slept by a roaring fireside, enjoyed a day and a half of brilliant sunshine and then the rains set in for 10 days. We abandoned it early.<br /><br />David, it seems that the Hudson Valley DOES get true spring. Though Ottawa and Sydney apparently don't.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-7942135485959674012015-05-13T09:27:34.899+01:002015-05-13T09:27:34.899+01:00I once stayed at Princeton ( the first time I saw ...I once stayed at Princeton ( the first time I saw bottles of wine in a shop - in London wine when ordered had to be sourced from a remote cellar). On the Friday evening my hostess turned off the central heating. On the Monday morning she turned on the air-conditioning. "That" she said "was the American Spring"David Damanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409591480349323761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-5457460622927033542015-05-13T00:42:06.706+01:002015-05-13T00:42:06.706+01:00Ah, we have had MANY a springtime in England--it u...Ah, we have had MANY a springtime in England--it used to be that the Edu-Mate had 2 weeks off in late March, so we had time to travel abroad. One of many, many high points was the flowering hedgerows in Devon. At the other end of the spectrum was trying to cook on an Aga stove and learning about how much colder it seems to be than the actual temperature would indicate when the weather is damp. (PS: I suspect you've experienced this, but the blogger verification has reached new extremes. Just now I had to pick out which photographs are ice creams!Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-35318698190674252462015-05-12T13:17:05.512+01:002015-05-12T13:17:05.512+01:00NOW!
http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Branklyn-Garde...NOW!<br />http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Branklyn-Garden/Events/Catrionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-63134887124869471602015-05-12T12:15:25.369+01:002015-05-12T12:15:25.369+01:00No, it was Stella and David Rankin at Kevock Garde...No, it was Stella and David Rankin at Kevock Garden (www.kevockgarden.co.uk). But you make me hungry to visit Branklyn Garden. Friends Caroline and Alan live not far away, and it's time we paid them a visit. Can you remember when should be peak time for Meconopsis?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-38414349228382442015-05-12T12:00:45.825+01:002015-05-12T12:00:45.825+01:00It wouldn't have been Ian Christie, from Kirri...It wouldn't have been Ian Christie, from Kirriemuir, would it? <br />He specialises in meconopsis and alpines, and quite a few Perthshire gardens, as you will know, received early batches of meconopsis seed. I have never asked, but I have often wondered if there lie the origins of some of his varieties.<br />For a great meconopsis experience, there is little to beat Branklyn Garden, on the slopes of Kinnoull Hill, in Perth. In a good year, one is walking through meconopsis standing so tall the flowers are at eye-level. Catrionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-47279128937000967332015-05-12T11:27:45.761+01:002015-05-12T11:27:45.761+01:00Right, people-watching is always good at Chelsea i...Right, people-watching is always good at Chelsea if you can stand back from the crowd and not get crushed in it (I suspect that's got much worse recently, and the garden 'ornaments' made out of twisted metal must have increased tenfold). And I agree about the marquee, where I was seduced by a Scots nursery specialising in Alpines and Meconopsis (though I didn't mail-order anything from them in the end).<br /><br />Anyway the diplo-mate told me all about the Chelsea Flower Show Fringe, an independent organisation the launch of which he attended yesterday evening. Some very good local projects, extending to Hammersmith etc, in the offing there.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-70853680180976800702015-05-12T11:04:10.893+01:002015-05-12T11:04:10.893+01:00Oh, Chelsea had its moments - not least the people...Oh, Chelsea had its moments - not least the people-watching! I was always highly entertained by the well-groomed women going round the show on the Tuesday in twos or threes, who then, about 4pm, were accompanied by men in suits who had clearly arrived from the office with the cheque book to pay for all the plants, garden furniture &c which the women had chosen earlier in the day.<br />Besides, the marquee was always better than the show gardens, for most of which 'pretentious' as a description is quite inadequate. I remember one year that the real oohs and aahs were expressed about a green hillside with a burn tumbling over rocks between rhododendrons and azaleas. The crowd sighed and remarked on how restful it was, how refreshing and peaceful. The judges, TV presenters and gardening writers ignored it, preferring something made of steel and plastic.Catrionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-1317380517642013252015-05-11T19:24:38.442+01:002015-05-11T19:24:38.442+01:00Sue, thank you - and you must visit here in spring...Sue, thank you - and you must visit here in springtime, if school holidays allow. <br /><br />No, Catriona, I didn't know about the woodland garden in Bushy Park, a place I haven't visited since childhood. I know Savile Garden well, though - it's one of the few places down here where the exquisite blue Himalayan poppy Meconopsis thrives. Its best home in the UK, at least of those I've seen, is fabulous Dawyck in the Tweed valley.<br /><br />I hope something real made up for the Chelsea Flower Show, which I really hated on my only visit. Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-831235186262663412015-05-11T12:06:03.633+01:002015-05-11T12:06:03.633+01:00When my sister stayed in Kingston, Kingston Gate w...When my sister stayed in Kingston, Kingston Gate was at the end of her (long) road, and we regularly visited Isabella. However, have you been to the similar woodland garden in Bushy Park? <br />Both were part of coming down to London for the Chelsea Flower Show, which was the parents' annual trip south, which also took in the Savile Garden for the rhododendrons.Catrionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-47692864262776356082015-05-11T03:04:39.098+01:002015-05-11T03:04:39.098+01:00David: You and the Diplo-Mate have a standing invi...David: You and the Diplo-Mate have a standing invitation to visit our bit of rus in rus at any time.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-45356413084814132052015-05-10T18:37:07.324+01:002015-05-10T18:37:07.324+01:00Caught more unfurling fronds back at the Physic th...Caught more unfurling fronds back at the Physic this afternoon, having walked there via the equally fabulous Brompton Cemetery: Dicksonia antartica, with incipients the size and appearance of violin scrolls.<br /><br />I long to see Innisfree: from your photos, I imagine it's the (former) wildness of the Isabella Plantation hugely multiplied.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-3264666801660503942015-05-10T14:08:38.585+01:002015-05-10T14:08:38.585+01:00Well, as you might imagine, I'm only too glad ...Well, as you might imagine, I'm only too glad to revisit the Chelsea Physic Garden, if only virtually this time, to see spring unfurl. We had our first walk in Innisfree yesterday, and it's interesting, always, to see the differences between here and where you are. The daffs here are mostly finished, except the late ones, to give an idea. I love those unfurling fronds, and your pictures capture them so well. I was also taken with the Judas tree's blossoms growing straight out of the tree. I've seen something like that here, in Central Park, and wondered what the tree might be. Happy spring!Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-31305170090054297052015-05-10T00:24:15.409+01:002015-05-10T00:24:15.409+01:00Well, Will, I hope Pegatha can get to the Chelsea ...Well, Will, I hope Pegatha can get to the Chelsea Physic Garden, London's no longer best kept secret and probably my favourite outdoor space (as the National Gallery, for what's in it, remains my favourite building). <br /><br />We are lucky in the long processional, from snowdrops through daffodils and magnolias, and now on to cherry and fruit trees, bluebells, tulips, wisteria etc. Roses next.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-78270276828132445972015-05-09T23:48:18.886+01:002015-05-09T23:48:18.886+01:00My colleague Pegatha was leaving today for England...My colleague Pegatha was leaving today for England - she said she needed to see Spring. Sadly here in Ottawa we go from Winter to Summer almost immediately with three or four days given over to "Spring". Your post gave me a taste of spring that I so sorely needed. 1000 grazie.Willymhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03652532356102638621noreply@blogger.com