A recent post from Sandra had me reaching for my copy of
I will simply refer you to Sandra’s review and say that I enjoyed this short book in my 1977 paperback edition.
Taking regular rests, today I was mostly occupied with irrigation and decapitation of garden plants,
More lilies are blooming on the patio;
we have a peripatetic plethora of hemerocallis, incorrectly called day lilies.
The last of these faces this small clematis climbing the trellis in the front garden,
and stands beside this fuchsia Delta’s Sarah.
Most hanging baskets contain petunias and trailing lobelias.
Bees were particularly attracted to geranium palmatums and yellow saxifrages.
In the Rose Garden, Just Joey has matured, and Alan Titchmarsh stands proud.
Both are visible in these images also including a red carpet rose and Love Knot.
Rosa Gallica has shed a tear over a Deep Secret.
We can drink in the beauty of Hot Chocolate.
Lady Emma Hamilton and Absolutely Fabulous converse with Crown Princess Margareta in the background;
and red valerian introduces
the deep red potted geranium at the edge of the Oval Path.
WordPress took note of my paperback’s title and flushed out everything that followed as soon as I had completed this post, so I was forced to do it all again. Grrrrr.
This evening I dined on Jackie’s glorious chicken jalfrezi; pilau rice; and onion bahji, with which I drank Peroni.
It’s a good thing you’re taking care of the garden!! You have some very precious specimens blooming out there! And left you pre-made dinners – how lucky can you get?! 🙂
🙂 Thanks a lot, GP
It must be easy to relax with a garden like that to beautify your day.
Be well my friend.
Thanks very much, Drew. I couldn’t comment on your recent post, but wanted to say there is no pressure to view my posts – although I am, of course, pleased when you do.
Always my pleasure to read your Derrick. I wuld never want to lose touch with your blog. The beauty of your garden always inspires me.
🙂
More glorious photos of your lovely garden.
Thanks very much, Sheree
Thank you for the relaxing stroll through your beautiful garden. I admire you for your love of beauty and the consistent hard work that makes it possible. And I applaud you for your knowledge about your plants.
Thanks very much, Nicki. All knowledge passed on my the Head Gardener 🙂
Happy Birthday! Decapitating flower heads and reading a lighter Woolfe sounds as good a way to spend the day as any.
……for the 7th 🙂 Had a mild panic attack as I misread the calendar this morning …..
🙂
Thanks so much, my friend X
So…today is your birthday? Happy birthday, Derrick! I’m glad you spent it in your happy place. 🙂
Sorry for misleading you Jill – it’s the 7th. In the half light ‘1’ and ‘7’ look horribly similar 😀
LOL! No problem…we’ll just keep celebrating until the 7th. 🙂
🙂
Thanks very much, Jill. You will know by now that it is not for a few days yet 🙂
WordPress does some strange things. 🙂
A Happy Birthday to you, Derrick! Looks like a lovely, flower-filled summer day in England was served up for you along with Jackie’s delicious food!
Thanks very much, Lavinia. Pauline misread her calendar – birthday not until 7th 🙂
Wishing you a wonderful July 7th!
🙂
Happy Birthday.
Wonderful you’re taking care of the garden it is Devine.
Thanks very much, Cinnamon. Birthday not until 7th 🙂
Oh ok, well I’ll tell you again on the 7th haha. ?
🙂
Derrick, those Delta’s Sarah are to die for! I also liked the photo you posted previously of Hawkshead. It is one fuschia I’ve never been able to grow. I’ve had many cuttings that have done well initially but they’ve never lasted long.
That is a shame. We have neutral soil and have two of those in the garden. One, we inherited
Oh, I’ve just seen some birthday wishes …. so Happy Birthday Derrick!
?????
I expect you have seen that it’s the 7th, too, Lesley. Thanks, anyway 🙂
Never mind Derrick, I’m all for a repeat party! ??
🙂
Apologies for misleading all your caring readers Derrick – look at it as an unintended test to see who’s paying attention 🙂
We’ll do it all again next week <3
LOL
Thanks very much, Pauline. I got the card a few days ago, but won’t open it until the day XX
🙂
🙂 🙂
By chance, I too drank Peroni this evening. Luckily, I didn’t have to write my post twice. That was bad luck.
Thanks for that, Tootlepedal. It would have been even worse for your with 92 pictures
My the garden is looking so beautiful 🙂 Thanks for sharing it with us!
Thanks very much, M.B.
Except for the longer snout of the English spaniels that dog looks very much like my Coco now does with the encroaching years
Thanks a lot, Brian
Rosa Gallica has shed a tear over a Deep Secret. – just lovey.
Everything is stunning. Jackie will be glad to read that you are caring so well for her babies.
Very many thanks, Jodie. I am pleased you liked that
You were a poet in another life, I bet.
While I was studying for my A Level English my excellent teacher encouraged me to write poetry. That probably qualifies as another life. Thanks very much Jodie.
Ah, isn’t it amazing what a bit of encouragement can do? Bravo to that teacher.
Gardens are gardens and flowers are flowers, but they need excruciating schedules of maintenance to bloom in such exuberance, and that is the point up to which it is possible for ordinary gardeners. To make them come alive and begin whispering, communicating, frolicking and romancing with each other, one needs powerful incantations of a wizard like you. Your diction and style are inimitably exquisite and startling:
Rosa Gallica has shed a tear over a Deep Secret…
So very many thanks, Uma, for your most eloquent comments – fully understanding my observations
I wonder what WordPress has against the word ‘Flush’??
I hope my comment won’t be flushed when i say that your Hot Chocolate has a most beautiful rouge flush about it that borders on it being a blushing rose? 🙂
Fine pictures of a fine garden on a fine Summer’s day – lovely to see.
Very many thanks for the lush comments, Bob
groa.. 😉
🙂
Grr on WordPress! Sometimes it is frustrating! 🙁
It’s almost impossible to pick a favorite of your flower photos…but I will say, today, your roses, your fuchsia, and your lilies just brought the biggest smiles to my face and my heart! 🙂
How are you doing today, Derrick?
HUGS for all and hope Jackie is having a marvelous time! 🙂
Thanks very much, Carolyn. I am well recovered today. X
I feel like re-reading the book 🙂
Your garden is amazing, and the Head Gardener deserves all the best praises.
Very many thanks, Inese
Orange day lilies grow everywhere in this part of the world. They’re almost like weeds. The grow in ditches at the side of the road and in abandoned lots among the rubble. I love them for their survivor instincts.
They wander all over our garden
Your walking, crying, drinking flowers are beautiful (and your commentary made me chuckle).
WP gremlins can be so much trouble!
Very many thanks, Merril
Derrick, you probably grow weary of me saying this, but a walk through your garden (and perchance a quiet trip through the countryside) each morning brightens my mood for the entire day. I can never thank you enough for allowing me to tag along on your journey.
How Ould I possibly grow weary of such pleasing comments, Jerry? Thanks very much
Grrrr is right. And while the cat’s away, the mouse he…works. And what a glorious garden to tend!
Very many thanks, Laurie
Thanks for taking the time to re-create your post for us, Derrick. I love love love your garden, and it seems that almost every time of year is a good time to find something special there, but summer wins. The dark lilies are wonderful, and I have a soft spot for clematis. But those roses. Wow. My fave is Hot Chocolate, as well as your clever introductions to them all.
Thank you very much indeed, Crystal
Oh dear, Derrick, I saw the title and beginning of this post and feared it was reading Flush that had caused the ‘Grrrr’. And in a way it was! Sorry about that! 🙂 Beautiful shots as always and on another note, I was surprised to learn that day lilies and hemerocallis are not one and the same ?
Name nothwithstanding, I like the idea of a peripatetic plethora of them!
Thank you very much, Sandra. Obviously I wanted to keep people guessing, but I’m sorry to have alarmed you 🙂
Ha! Not a problem at all! A thoroughly enjoyable post as ever, especially considering that you had to write it twice! 🙂
🙂
Grrrr, indeed!
Thanks a lot, Leslie
Flush is one of my favorites. I would love to see a copy with Vanessa’s drawings. Your garden looks so lush and healthy. It is only July, and my garden is already looking hot and tired. Like me!!
Thanks very much, Cheryl. It is a bit hot, but cooler now
WP has a mind of its own, which doesn’t always coincide with our minds, unfortunately. Oh well, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio…”
Until I saw your glorious colorful lilies, Derrick, I’ve always thought of lilies being only white, and thus somewhat funereal. Perhaps, reading Remarque’s Three Comrades as a teenager had something to do with it. I am glad your photos have changed this perception.
Still, the roses are Kings and Queens of the garden! My compliments to Head Gardener, as always.
Very many thanks, Dolly. I am grateful that the system works at all
Certainly, as we all are, I am sure. Very welcome, Derrick
An abundance of blooms! Thank you for sharing them with us.
And thank you for appreciating them, LL/PS