CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM. REPEAT IF REQUIRED. THERE ARE NO HIDDEN OWLS TODAY, HOWEVER…..
Well, I did cut the grass, and wander round the garden, but that was along time ago. The rest of the day was spent preparing my finances for my very efficient accountant. Had I done even a modicum of filing any time during the last seven months, the task may have been a little more exciting. But I didn’t. So it wasn’t.
Jackie, however, may have found her own awesome effort, rather more satisfying.
She spent the whole day resuscitating a small section of the Dragon Bed. This involved the usual method of improving the soil with compost; finger-fishing for thousands of tiny allium bulbs; prising out buried lumps of stone which now form the access path you see here; and planting new residents.
We have also been clearing the Palm Bed; enough to allow a glimpse of a hidden peony.
The inherited clematis on the Shady Path is doing well,
as is the rose Special Anniversary, in the Rose Garden where
Festive Jewel begins a bid to compete with the fluorescent heucheras.
I swear that wherever there is a breeze we can hear the jingling of Spanish doubloons.
The red mimuluses in the hanging basket slung here, not only survived the mild winter, but also self-seeded in the camouflaged blue painted Butler sink below.
The viburnum plicatum becomes daily more glorious.
This is a view from the Shady Bed towards the Waterboy;
and another across the Phantom Path, leading to the revived yellow-leaved tree, on which, when we arrived, only the bottom right hand branch bore foliage.
As we sat in the Rose Garden with our pre-dinner drinks I reflected from my chair on what it would look like when all these plants were in full bloom.
Now, boring as my day mostly was, it did have one major benefit. Jackie has painstakingly written her plant labels in black permanent marker. Unfortunately this is not proof against the wind and the rain. My files are all labelled with a Dymo Marker, which I thought would be longer lasting. So I showed her how to work it, and she was away.
Mister Chatty Man, proprietor of Hordle Chinese Take Away, provided our dinner this evening. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Reserve des Tuguets madiran 2012.