I reckon it's summer...
Yellow Irises
I reckon it's summer. It's suddenly time for no socks, compulsory sunhat, sunblock, and retreating inside in the middle of the day. Maybe mad dogs go out in the midday sun but Englishwomen - well, born-in-England gardeners - certainly don't. Think of their English rose complexions!
Monday 12th November
There's no need to run my little stream anymore - I'm happy with its flowing potential. So I'm watering around its course, so the Wattle Woods look greener and more pleasant.
And I've poured water into the chook container in front of my chooks, so their bird brains will register. Otherwise they suddenly decide they're thirsty and bust through the fence to reach the water race. Luscious new green shoots of my plants and iris flowers nearby battle for chook attention. 'Eat me! No, eat me! No, eat me - I'm yellow!'
So I'll lurk inside for another half an hour, slap on yet another layer of sunblock, and then return to shift the hoses. And I'll finish what I've started - weeding the water race edge.
Snoozing Cats
Tuesday 13th November
Tt's raining and I'm inside with hot coffee. I am surrounded by snoozing cats, and the dog has that wonderful damp clean doggy smell. My garden looks beautiful - while I was at choir practice the kindest man in the world mowed all the house lawns.
I have been good. I've tidied up the Welcome Garden - first impressions, first impressions. I've dug circles in the grass around the Driveway Lawn trees. I've collected another two barrowfuls of rubbish to burn. The hoses are on. I've picked some coral peonies for the house - they fade so strangely, ending up creamy pink.
Great News - I am a Mother of the Bride!
Daughter of Moosey has just got quietly married in Sri Lanka to the Moosey House Guest, who returns to New Zealand in two days' time with a surfboard of extreme length. Wow - I have a proper son-in-law! This is exciting news, and I'd like to say that it's jolly well about time, too! I wonder if proper Australian sons-in-law can be encouraged to do manly things about the garden?
Australian-Bred Geranium
Wednesday 14th November
Brilliant! It's been raining decently for twenty hours, and all my gardens and lawns have had a good watering. With my breakfast eggs and cup of tea I've been reading an annoying book called '1001 Gardens You Must See Before You Die'. That title is a bit harsh for us older lady-gardeners who live slightly 'on the edge'. I'd have preferred 'Before You Stop' I think!
Purple and Lilac Iris
By-Passing Giverny
Feeling thus aggrieved I decided to by-pass Monet's Giverny and England's Sissinghurst and look for New Zealand and Australian gardens. But the jolly pages wouldn't lay flat - no well-bred reader squashes the spine of a library book. I would find an interesting garden, and whoosh! It would flick over before I could digest.
Design Idea?
But how's this for a design idea for a garden pamphlet to charm the pants off busloads of visitors? Oops - I realise that the design is supposed to apply to the garden itself...
A garden in France advertises itself as 20th and 21st century renaissance - that's a good trick for starters, since lots of people are terribly impressed with the word 'renaissance' without knowing what it means.
Nine separate gardens awaken the souls of the visitors (nice phrase). They are a circuit, in the following order: Elegance, the Senses, Silence, Intelligence, the Sciences, Improbability, Abundance, Exuberance, and last but not least Romance. Ha! Oddly, according to the blurb, at least three of these gardens have box hedging. I guess box hedges can be intelligent and scientific - certainly they're elegant...
Tree Men and Sons-In-Law
Enough distractions. I have a car and a bedroom to organise for my new son-in-law. Did I mention that I've recently acquired a proper one? Hee hee... Today's garden plans have changed slightly. My two tree men are now coming on next week's Wednesday, because of the rain (fair enough) and the southerly wind, which would have blown the felled tree trunks the wrong way.
Euphorbia with Coprosma
But when it stops raining, and it will, I need to continue my great clean-up for the visiting ladies' choir. I see that the pergola rose Crespucule will be in beautiful full flower when they come. The blooms are the same colours as my ginger gardening cats. Nice!