A sneaky weed

DSC02189Happy May Day. I don’t have any of the traditional muguet (lily of the valley) which people collect in bouquets to give on this day but I did pick my first bunch of roses.

I will be away for 12 days and I do hope there will be roses still upon my return. Their perfume is wafting madly beside me on the train to London as I type.

I love the scent of these Gertrude Jeykll roses. They are not only highly perfumed, that’s to be expected from a well bred David Austin English rose; but it’s that mysterious and complicated warm damp scent you get from floppy blooms. There is nothing tight and elegant about these roses. They are fat and chaotic and an utter delight. terrace bank weeded

I dreaded leaving this morning. The weather was all scudding clouds and blazing sunshine and Artur was fussing. Does he know I have to leave? I don’t think so. but he did misbehave a bit this morning as I did an emergency sowing of extra cosmos seeds.

One moment begging attention and a lap; the next biting and running off. But returning a minute later as if he hadn’t remembered.  Jean Daniel thinks he is suffering a bit of dementia. Aren’t we all?

terrace bank detailI finished my chores and actually had an extra hour in my day for a sneaky weed. I swear these weeds in the terrace bank behind the potting shed have grown a foot in a week. Luckily the soil is so soft with these gusts of rain, that you can yank them out in a trice.

I filled bag after bag of monster weeds and the bank looked tamed in no time. The sacks of mulch are ready and waiting for the next visit so I can do some good and cover up the soil. Otherwise I’ll be yanking more weeds out next month.

I am so pleased with the successful look of the barn garden – all mounded santolinas and tight but large plants billowing and swirling that I want to repeat the same process with this part of the garden.  But I’m doing it from cuttings; so it will take time. potager 1st may

I must remember to take santolina cuttings nexts trip. I nipped down to the potager to take some herbs for London – and stand back and admire the space. it does look good and there’s not that much in it yet. That reminds me; I need to text Elodie to tell her that the automatic watering system isn’t doing its job. yet. So hopefully she will get a bit of watering next week. And on that note of mild anxiety about leaving small seedlings in the potager and small plants in the potager, I will sign off. This weekend it will be busman’s holiday in my sister in law’s garden in Northumberland.