As I sit drafting this post bright sun shines, speeding clouds scud; wild wind howls along Christchurch Road sweeping through the garden, rustling the kitchen door curtain and setting tinkling charms jingling.
We are now into our third consecutive day/night of fierce breezes. Tentatively I ventured out to survey the damage and was able to report to the Head Gardener that she was in for a pleasant surprise.
Even the patio chairs had stayed upright, while its planting, and that of the Pond Bed, remained intact. Bigifying the third picture in this gallery will show that the whirling ladybird with the white wings enjoys full gyration whereas her red-winged sister has been somewhat restrained by an amorous verbena bonariensis.
Other views of the Pond Bed are equally encouraging. Dahlias remain strong and a solitary bee was attracted by the hibiscus;
Japanese anemones feature there and elsewhere. The Brick Path in the second picture here needs no current sweeping, although that is not a task we will undertake until the wind drops.
A few trugs have been blown about, although this bright green one remained static whilst being photographed from two separate angles. The first of these two pictures shows an empty brick plinth with the pot that should stand on it having been blown down. The container is a bit chipped and the planting spoiled, but it will no doubt recover.
Of the very few other broken plants we have this pretty, elegant, gladiolus, and the unfortunate Mum in a Million.
The tall red climbing rose in the Oval Bed has bowed enough for me to photograph it head on;
The yellow crocosmia has also dropped a little, but remains intact.
Rose Alan Titchmarsh has drooped a little and a stem of Super Elfin has come adrift from the Gothic arch where
a somewhat aged Doctor Ruppel remains in place.
The weeping birch, the copper beech, and the cordyline Australis, although swaying somewhat, are not shedding too many twigs.
White begonias shaded by the wisteria, and similarly hued petunias in the rose garden still have all their petals.
This final triptych shows the Oval Bed pictured earlier from the corner of Margery’s Bed; nicotiana sylvestris towering over the rest of the Dead End Path planting; and a small owl toppled beside the Shady Path.
All in all we are getting off surprisingly lightly.
This evening we dined on baked gammon; crisp roast potatoes, the sweet variety being soft-centred; piquant cauliflower cheese; crunchy carrots; and tender cabbage, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Saint-Chinian 2017.