To The Lawn Bed

Yesterday Jackie cleared the bank outside the Back Drive gate, leaving brushwood on the gravel path for attention today;

this morning she worked on removing the stump of a scentless and rarely flowering philadelphus, while

I cleared the Back Drive debris;

and further strengthened the arch spanning the Phantom Path by inserting supporting angle irons that she had recently begun. On this day of sunny intervals it was difficult to walk through the garden without admiring the

Brick Path looking towards the house,

or through the Gothic arch now festooned

with mina lobata.

Later, the Head Gardener completed the task of extracting the philadelphus stump, and that of

a leycesteria in the wrong place;

filling in the holes and covering the gaps with broken pieces of marble which once bore the much abused wood burning stove that we inherited from our vendors, thus completing the

opening of the view from the West Fence to the Lawn Bed. The last nine photographs are Jackie’s.

This afternoon I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2021/08/28/a-knights-tale-23-corporal-punishment/

This evening we dined on Jackie’s spicy pasta arrabbiata; crisp broccoli, and tender green beans, with which she drank Dolomiti Pinot Grigio Blush 2020, and I drank more of the Faugeres.

75 comments

  1. So much constant work in your beautiful garden. I love all your paths. Have you seen phantoms on the Phantom Path? (I hope so.) ?
    Jackie’s photos show such a range of beautiful colors and blooms.

    1. We have a hydrangea called Phantom which looks just like one. It first lived on one side of its eponymous path, but Jackie moved it across because it was in too much shade. It has now recovered, but needs to be pruned in the right way. Thanks ver much, Merril

  2. Jackie and Derrick,
    Such beautiful photos! Love the beautiful new pathway! All of your differing paths are lovely! 🙂 The new marble-geometric-shapes path would be fun to hop from shape to shape! ⚪️ ⬜️ 😀
    The arch is so festive, having “married” with the flowering plants! 🙂
    Jackie,
    I hope you got a nice rest, and a cold drink, after all of your hard work! <3
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

  3. Good morning Derrick (8.50an Sunday here) and your gardening maintenance efforts seem to be always on the go … You two do a marvelous job … I bought some pine bark mulch yesterday, and I am going to attempt to re-pot my orchids, something I’ve not done before, and I’ll have to read up on the procedure ..

  4. That is a massive maintenance drive. I am now quite familiar with various sections of the fondly attended garden. The view from the West Fence is admirable.

  5. What a brilliant job you’ve done in clearing and opening up the views along the paths. You must both be so proud of your garden and everything you’ve achieved.

  6. I think that your garden is possibly at its best right now, just as autumn is beginning. You’ve still got lots to look at which is a sign of some good planning by somebody in the past.

  7. Derrick, so many beautiful distractions as you garden away! I love the names in your garden, The Phantom Path has my mind whirring with possible stories!

  8. Absolutely wonderful! It is good to see that angle iron being put to good use. I think we would call them ‘star droppers’ and they used extensively in fencing paddocks.

  9. This portion of your opening sentence made me smile, and imagine Jackie in a balaclava and a wee note saying “Give me all your money.”

    ‘Yesterday Jackie cleared the bank’

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