Gold Blends

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Jackie did a great deal of tidying and planting today whilst I carried out a little of the latter.

Landscape bark scattered

We suspected that once the landscape bark in the rose garden began to attract live bird food we would need to sweep the brick path on a regular basis. That time is upon us. Like human babies in highchairs, the carnivorous members of our avian population toss out what they are not partial to.

Our camellias bloom at different times.

Camellia

Whilst this deep red one is at its peak,

Camellias and Japanese maple

a lighter relative fades to meld with the neighbouring Japanese maple;

Daffodils

and these once bright yellow daffodil trumpets have also turned to old gold.

This afternoon I walked to the paddock in Hordle Lane and back.

Rape fieldSky over rape field

Landscape with rape

The golden field visible from our bedroom window

Hedgerow and rape field 1Hawthorn hedge and rape field

blends in the hedgerow with hawthorn

Lichen and rape field

and like-hued lichen.

This evening we dined on pork rib rack coated in barbecue sauce and Jackie’s excellent vegetable rice followed by Black Forest gateau, with which I drank more of the cabernet sauvignon.

 

56 comments

      2. Oh, gosh, that is hysterical, Cynthia. I am still laughing. (Out loud, really.)Derrick, I am going to use the view out of your bedroom window as my screen saver. That is truly…truly…the most beautiful view in the world. I am blown away.

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  4. It’s a great pity that “oilseed rape” has such an unfortunate name. It is such a beautiful plant. The French call it “colza” and it is a much more neutral term.

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  7. Just in case – and egged on by your repartee with the delightful Cynthia – I’ll share what I learned when I lived in your neck of the woods and was enraptured with these wide flung, yellow fields spread over the Downs that I had never seen before. I now tend to call those fields of rape flowers ‘canola fields’ as that is what they end up as I believe. ‘Rape’ is from the Latin ‘rapa’ meaning turnip. apparently the root is edible and good for you, the oil is not.

    Derrick you have captured that camellia in its fleeting state of perfection! Wonderful 🙂

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      1. The oil is certainly used culinarily (unless there’s another plant with the same name, from which they derive it). I reckon that makes it “edible”.

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      2. I seem to recall reading quite some time ago that they named that cooking oil “canola” ( first mass- produced in CANada) as a similar sounding alternative to the other popular oil “mazola”(made from maize in the US).

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  8. It’s cold and dreary here today. Your photos are glorious–I love those bursts of color–and the yellow and yellow-greens of spring are so beautiful.
    Chocolate cake and red wine–perfect!

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  10. It’s good to see your hard work being rewarded with such glorious blooms and we glean the benefit without contribution. Thank you for sharing.

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  11. Beautiful photos, Derrick. My mother had camellias at the home where we grew up. She was quite proud of them, as they are rare around here. I haven’t seen them since she moved. Thanks for the photos of them!

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  15. The Daff you describe as old gold,in colour, is pink, I remember this being hailed as a huge break through, oh, about 20-30 years ago. I travelled to London to the Royal Horticultural Society’s halls in Victoria, to see this Pink daffodil, wee bit of a let down as they have only got the trumpet to be pink, and a sort of shell pink at that. I love it tho’ and once I realised that is was not going to be a whole flower in bright pink, (how wrong would that be!) have always tried to have some in my garden.

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  23. Your gold blends are all beautiful, Derrick 🙂
    But the golden field visible from your bedroom window is fantastic. I love those two photos.
    Hugs

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