The Shed In Situ

Brick path view This morning, whilst Jackie went shopping, I wandered around the garden waiting for delivery of the garden shed. Clematis Mrs N Thompson and honeysuckleHoneysuckle, calibrachoa, and nasturtuimsNastutium Now that the pink roses on the front trellis have died back, their places have been taken by clematis Mrs N Thompson, honeysuckle, calibrachoa in a hanging basket, and two varieties of trailing nasturtium. Butterfly - Marbled white on verbena bonarensa

A marbled white butterfly, swayed on a wind-blown verbena bonarensis

Rose - ballerina

The Ballerina now dances freely at the cleared entrance to the rose garden.

Succulent

Ground cover, like that provided by this unnamed succulent, is important,

Hanging baskets on kitchen wall

but it is hanging baskets that lift a garden.

Hanging baskets from brick path

Here is a view from the brick path.

Antirrhinum trailing

This trailing antirrhinum sits nicely above the patch of grass,

Petunias in hanging basket

and these petunias lead us to The Head Gardener’s Walk,

Heligan Path through hanging basket

as others, enlivening the dead Snake Bark Maple, overlook the Heligan Path and beyond.

Orange and red symphony

Sometimes, as with this symphony in orange and red, serendipity intervenes. The orange sunburst beneath the cut plastic container is a clever little device with a thread that fits two litre supermarket water bottles, thus keeping a supply flowing for two days.

Petunias and shed

As can be seen from this later shot of The Head Gardener’s Walk petunias, Jackie’s shed was delivered and erected this afternoon.

Two splendid Wimbledon tennis matches were televised this afternoon. I watched them both. Serena Williams took just over an hour beat her sister Venus in straight sets. This was closer than the score looks. Andy Murray then had to battle it out for three hours and more, with Ivo Karlovic, to win a four set match. Murray is by no means a small man, but, slugging it out with the six foot eleven Croatian must be the tennis equivalent of a boxing contest with the giant Italian, Primo Carnera, of the 1930s.

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This evening we dined on Jackie’s superb sausage casserole (recipe); creamy mashed potato; and crisp carrots, cabbage, and cauliflower. In celebration of her new shed, Jackie drank one of the small bottles of P. Desroches & Cie Brut Champagne Alison had given us. I drank Teroldego Rotaliano superiore riserva,2011.

44 comments

  1. Sounds like a lovely day! Your garden is beautiful too! How much rainfall do you usually get? I have to be so spendthrift with my water usage so getting my once vacant lot to be a lush garden like yours is taking a long time. It’s getting there though. Cheers!

    1. Thanks James. This is England. We never know how much rain we are going to get. After three years of almost consistent rain with severe flooding, we have now had two summers with very little. It is due to rain all day tomorrow 🙂

      1. You should see me when San Diego gets a few drops. I’m running outside like a fool dancing around as if I’ve never seen water before. This drought is turning me into a mad gardener.

  2. Wow. It would take a brave (or silly?) soul to go up against a boxer that much larger!

    I’m so inspired by your and Jackie’s garden!

    1. Many thanks, Ashley. Actually, I’m not a boxing fan, but Carnera was still around during my childhood. He wasn’t really a good boxer, although he was world champion for a couple of years. Perhaps he didn’t need to be. They called him ‘The Ambling Alp’

      1. Intimidating size, but I think I can’t imagine him being quick. Haha.

        Was the tennis match more fun to watch?

  3. Beautiful pics Derrick. The garden is looking awesome! So nice to see as winter is biting here and even the grass hibernates! 🙂

  4. Very beautiful! You and Jackie are a very talented couple. How wonderful that she creates these idyllic settings and a master photographer is on call to share them with the world:)

  5. I agree with Cynthia above: a wonderful wonderful garden. But keep Jackie out of her shed: every bloke needs a shed for his stuff… and I would have trouble pronouncing P. Desroches & Cie Brut Champagne and Teroldego Rotaliano superiore riserva even before I started to imbibe.

    1. Sorry Bruce, but that is (albeit unusually) MY shed. Derrick WILL be required to knock and wait. Should he feel the need, there is a shed that is only slightly leaky at the bottom of the garden.

  6. Your walks through the garden are something I look forward too Derrick – today you captured wonderful angles and nice little surprises along with way.

  7. That garden just keeps on getting more lush and beautiful by the day! The shed went up quickly – I’m a little surprised you weren’t there shooting every step! The photo of the giant boxer and his little opponent made me laugh – I probably shouldn’t have,- it was involuntary……. 🙂

    1. Thank you Pauline. I was tempted to poke the camera at the lads every few minutes, but the tennis was on. As for the boxing picture, although Carnera was far bigger than his genuine opponents, I reckon they must have set up a flyweight to pose with him.

  8. Looking more like a botanic garden every day…those flowers brightened up this dismal day in Sydney. It’s cold and wet. Not complaining; we need the rain and I have a good excuse to hibernate.

  9. Wow. Your photos are so beautiful and day must have been enjoyable. It was refreshing to see Your sunny photos just today, because it is raining here just now.

  10. Hmmm, Karlovic versus Murray, doesn’t seem to be the same as Primo Carnera versus the other guy in the ring! Reminds me of David and Goliath, and I suspect a different ending? 🙂
    I hadn’t heard of the Italian before, though I’m not a boxing fan.

    Go Murray! Go Serena!

    1. I’m sure they just got a little man in to pose with him. The big man wasn’t very mobile. I only heard of him because he was still around in my childhood in the 1940s and ’50s

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