‘O Tiger-lily,’ said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, ‘I wish you could talk!’ ‘We can talk,’ said the Tiger-lily: ‘when there’s anybody worth talking to’ (Lewis Carroll)
Didn’t talk to them for long; just asked newly-purchased bulbs (and those being transplanted) to enjoy their new beds and willed them to grow, flower and multiply!
My desire for lilies is fairly recent; being swept away by the perfume of a stargazer the summer before last. Christmas lilies; adore now having them in the garden! ’Time Out’ is a dreamy-looking creamy- white, painted with yellow along the midribs. ‘Shocking’, shades of yellow brushed with red sits alongside the more virginal white ‘Alma Arta’, as a second companion. Adjacent are ‘Muscadet’ white, dotted with pink and just a touch of a blush, ‘Exotica’ promises to be of a more adventurous nature with her pink-on-white-on lemony centre, and as for ‘Nymph’, well, her names speaks for itself with her palest of lemon petals, crimson brushed hearts (worn on her sleeve for all to see and admire!) with a dash of lime green in the centre. Never again will I buy a bag of ‘mixed’ colours, knowing what I do now, that they’ll be (mostly) unadventurous orange. They’ve been moved to bed with almost but-not-quite-white day lilies , ruby red Fountain Cordyline and Lavender Dentata replacing a large, beautifully waving-in-the-wind grass which has taken centre stage for long enough having grown much too big for its position. The drizzling rain, persistent all day should be helping it to settle in a new location.
Thankful for the previous two days of sunshine and almost as much time at home in the garden, other plantings have also been completed; white Nicotiana and violet Trachelium have joined gardenias, roses and heliotrope alongside the verandah. Oriental poppies and a new lavender hybrid ‘With Love’ mingle with David Austin’s Charlotte and ‘Glamis Castle’.
As I wander, once the work is done, a glimpse of Spring appears, the first tulip bud (in July!!), magnolia denudata buds are throwing off their furry jackets and the mid-season camellias are in bloom. The children have phoned, a dear friend’s dad has been laid to rest and after a few fractious days, we’ll all cope with our little life- challenges; our gardens supporting us more than we sometimes realise…
In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. (Abram L. Urban)
All’s well with our world.
