Grateful for our Garden.

 It’s time to restore the balance of things and look at our garden from a different, more positive perspective than the ‘gruelling’ one. Certainly, we cannot absent ourselves from it for too long as regular watering is mandatory. But then neither would we want to stay away as it’s now, in summer both garden and efforts come into their own. 

Comparing them with how they were in the previous post, our tomato plants have climbed their frame and are producing ripened fruit. The taste, especially of the cherry tomatoes, is sweet/acidic like a flavour bomb. I may add a little oil and salt to them but you really need no dressing. Just have them, freshly picked and washed, as finger food in a bowl accompanying your main dish – perfect!

                                                  

The first time I saw this blue plant it was cascading from an Athenian balcony. Though its name, plumbago, resembles a painful back condition, the plant is really luxuriant and beautiful, its rich green leaves and pale blue flowers reminding me of misty scenes of the Highlands. It thrives in our sunshine but, despite being a member of the jasmine family, it has no aroma.

                                            

That cannot be said of our next flower in focus, the honeysuckle or holy vine, as it’s known in Greek. It can run riot in the garden and has done so on several of our walls, but my heart always gladdens to see its first blooms. Just a sprig or two with a rose bud is ideal: its tendrils form artistic shapes within a floral arrangement while the blossoms bring their delicate fragrance into the house.

                                             

The aroma award, however, has to go to what is called here the nightflower. These grow vigorously and need regular pruning or they really will take over the air and space of other plants so discipline is de rigeur. In the cool of the evening as the sun sets and the atmosphere cools, we see their red and yellow flowers open – sometimes they are red/yellow speckled. In parts of the garden where they have formed a bank of blooms their scent is truly intoxicating. I would love to have a distillation of that bottled – now that would be quite something. Nightflower Nostalgia could give Chanel Number Five a run for its money!                                        

 The rose is the queen of any garden. In our climate the flowers bloom and fade quickly and often don’t have the fragrance that roses back home do but what an elegant, dignified bloom!

                                            

And I have to say that we are not the only ones at work in the garden. Our clever Mr Mao, aka Mr Mouser, is a great wee hunter. He has a special call to announce his success in such sorties. His catch is duly deposited at the feet of his beloved master, then hastily reclaimed as his hot trophy supper.

                                        

                 

We really are the beneficiaries of nature’s bounty!

Gruelling Gardening

While most folks will take a break and go somewhere over the summer months, at this time of the year we are firmly ensconced in our garden – and not on our recliners! There are always day-to-day jobs like clipping, weeding, trimming edges and with the heat and constant watering, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with such chores.

                                         

Our gates – the outer one and the one leading to the field – had each been ‘fortified’ with a sheet of iron. This was mainly to block the vision of our dogs who, not actually seeing the sheep flock past, didn’t feel it such an intrusion and didn’t go quite so crazy. We dismantled those sheets and the gates are now much lighter to operate.

                                           

Some neighbourly help, such as arranging for the delivery of materials for cement laying, has its rewards. Once the cement-work is done, the left-overs can always be put to good use. Here  we refresh what was a crumbling ramp.

                                            

There is, of course, the seasonal task of cleaning the pool. This year that was delayed by regular rain squalls but, thankfully, we eventually completed that chore as well.

                                              

This entails not only power-hosing and brushing down all the tiles with chlorine and water, but cleaning some rather filthy filters and fixtures. ☹

                                                      

Things don’t end at the planting stage of tomatoes. They need weeding, shoots tweaked to encourage production, and support. We are prone to high winds here and, as the plants become weighted with fruit, they need more support. Z devises a tepee-type construction on which the plants readily scramble up. Then the piece de resistance, old CDs are suspended from the frame to deter marauding birds. They really glint in sunshine and moonlight and make dainty, delicate sounds as they touch the canes.  His very own son et lumiere creation.

                                                            

And it has to be said he is creative. There is always a new project being considered or actually in progress. It’s just that he seems to have misconstrued what it means ‘to have green fingers’! 😊