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I have just learned that one of the common names of astrantia is Melancholy Gentlemen!   This lovely one is called Hadspen's Blood. I told this to a visitor on an open day (we used to open the garden in the yellow book scheme). She exclaimed Husband's Blood! That's a strange name for a plant! Hadspen was a wonderful garden in Somerset, sadly no longer in existence.
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My neighbour's sunflowers bring a big smile to the faces of passers-by...  Feeling lighter now that I have 14 paintings completed! What could make you live ligher? More from the white area of Jennie's garden..       A lovely detail from Jennie's garden which goes from light in one corner, through all the colours, to dark in the opposite corner. Gorgeous. Suddenly there's a whole new range of plants for picking. Persicaria, montbretia, japanese anemone, agapanthus and eupatorium.  I am enjoying The Proms on Radio Three and the wonderful Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson. I love listening to him talk about his art. When someone commented that he made it look easy, he replied that it is easy. You have to love it, he said. If you love it enough to spend the time required on it, then it becomes easy. What an excellent point. I am looking forward to his concert this Saturday.   It's the time of the Perseids meteor shower, but I saw only one shooting star before the cloud came in from the west. But one star is enough to make a wish on!  Have any of you ever grown this pretty climber ? It is cardiospermum halicacabum or balloon vine or more poetically, Love in a Puff. The tiny flowers produce a large seed pod and the seed is black wth a white heart shape on it. Waiting impatiently - it has been very slow to get going..
..teabreaks in the sun, and this lovely little Mexican daisy, erigeron karvinskianus.  I used to cut the mini-meadow areas before they got to this stage, but every time I open the door, both back and front, little flocks of finches pop up out of the long grass where they are feasting on the seed heads of the wild flowers and the grasses. Delightful! I haven't the heart to cut it yet.  Today's work is to find the exact coplementary colour of the lilac. I use complementary colours a lot for vibrancy and a very 'active' surface to the canvas. Much inspired by Bonnard who wasa a master of this. I've used an iridescent oil paint for the first time. I was worried it might be a bit gimicky or tacky, but it's very subtle and interesting.... I had to roll up the rug in the sitting room for Japanese Snow. The studio isn't big enough.   The big black pots are bursting with bloom. Lime green and lilac petunias and shooting out of the tops nicotiana sylvestris with their gorgeous evening scent. I had forgotten how huge the leaves of this nicotiana are and had to keep cutting them off as they were smothering everything else. How is your garden growing this summer?  They get me out of bed early in the mornng. I can't wait to see what new colours have appeared overnight...everyday miracles!     What gets you out of bed in the mornings?  Sweet peas with dill.  Sweet peas with ammi majus. We are having a spell of wonderful weather, which the Mother of Pearl poppies and I are loving. I hope you are too. I am taking a bit of a blog break while I try and establish a work routine in the studio. It's a long time since I worked full-time! If you are one of the millions who have been working all through the pandemic, keeping the world functioning I want to take this chance to say a huge thank you. THANK YOU SO MUCH.      I grow several kinds and love them all. These are Mother of Pearl, subtle colours and delicate veining..    I love the way the meadows change each year. (They are just areas where I stopped mowing.) Cat's ear, hypochaeris radicata, is dominant this year. The flowers don't open until about 8 o'clock but then the garden is ablaze with their brilliant yellow. More orchids are still appearing, and I have put in wild cornflowers which I grew in plugs So vibrant beside the yellow!.
 Makes me smile every day.   I love he brilliant leaves of the golden hop, humulus lupus aureus against the black walls of the house. It grows quickly to about 10 feet or more every year, and tries to get into the house! You cut it to the ground at the end of summer and the bines are useful for making wreaths. I also grow it on a wigwam of blue painted canes, where this year it has been joined by clematis 'Dark Eyes'. (£1 from the supermarket.)    I sowed this pretty annual in pots but they got straggly and leggy as I didn't pot them on or pinch them out at the right time. However they are flowering profusely n spite of my neglect and I was puszzling how to support them when I remembered some white painted twigs from Christmas. Just tje thing. These are Schizanthus x wisetonensis Dr Badger's Mix from Chiltern Seeds.     I love the unusual colouring of this viola..and the excitement of a trip to a garden centre!   A garden is a lot of hard work, as many of you will know. But so worth it...     I just need a floaty dress instead of the torn at the knee gardening trousers (not a fashion statement!) and the old tee shirt. I am sure I once owned a floaty dress or two... I wonder what happened to them? poetry, as the mini-meadow begins to flower. One wild orchid so far.. 
 As the hardier seedlings gradually go out into the garden, I am beginning to thnk about prettying it up for summer. I like to use earthenware pots as much as possible. I love the proportions of the 'long toms' in the second photograph. I bought them in the supermarket, and the fuchsias I am growing in them. I am missing visiting garden centres but Morrison's have served me very well! I had lunch in there today with a glass of wine and a coffee. Nice. |
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October 2021
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