Flowers for the house...
Gladioli and Dahlia
What's the nicest garden activity to do first thing in the morning? Wander around picking flowers for the house. So many to choose from, though (alas) some of the mid-summer lovelies (like the Shasta daisies) are a bit stinky.
But oh dear me - there's a downside. Unless one has a specified cutting garden, one quickly finds oneself struggling past over-grown greenery, pushing through paths that are blocked, neatly stepping over flopped dahlias, noticing roses that need dead-heading, and so on.
The wise one sticks to the task, comes inside and arranges the flowers, trying not to think about all that other stuff. Blast!
Arriving inside the house, immediately the very much amateur flower-arranger (i.e. me) is full of questions. Are dahlias and summer phloxes sweet-smelling enough to be put in a vase in the bathroom? Or will the bathroom smell like the drains are blocked? Aargh! Remembering some interesting nose-experiences after adding bronze fennel to my flower arrangements.
Summer Phlox
This morning I've gone for colour themes and visual impact, ignoring any unusual fragrances. The bathroom is pink - mainly flopped over gladioli and spiky dahlias, phlox, and a huge cluster of Kate Shepard roses. The hallway is orange-yellow : Ligularia flowers, Red Hot Pokers, Shasta daises (too bad that they smell like cat pee), the last of the Alstroemerias, and some leek seed-heads. The living area is red roses (mainly Crimson Cascade) - not nice to have funny smells in here. The dogs do enough of that!
Another question - are hydrangeas supposed to last in a vase? Because the ones I pick never, ever do. Aha! Something to do with the cuts in their stems healing over (I just asked Ms Google). My garden hydrangeas are looking just gorgeous, and if I pick any for the house I'd like them to keep on doing just that.
Blue Hydrangeas
The plan...
OK. So here's the plan : wander again through the flowery Hump garden, but this time leave the scissors behind. Take wheelbarrow, secateurs (rose dead-heads), hand diggers (weeds), pieces of bamboo and string (floppy dahlias), and hoe (paths).
A bit later...
Home from a quick cafe coffee with a friend. Have bought (silly me) a room freshener called 'French Rose' to compete with the Shastas. Unfortunately my living room now smells like a well-cleaned public rest-room.
The Hump Garden is in full sun until later, so have cleared one barrow load of mess from the shady path between the dog kennels instead. Alas, it is now getting hotter and hotter. Might have to be an indoors jigsaw and play-the-piano day.
A bit later still...
Have decided that doing a bit of everything in half-hour bursts is the answer. So the hoses are on, watering the fence-line pittosporums, and I'll shift them every half hour, as well as trimming and dumping one barrowful of mess. Later if I feel too garden-lazy I will go into the water race and trim some edge ferns etc. Will also enjoy some half-hour bursts of jigsaw and piano playing (great excitement - a lovely cellist has joined my chamber music group). I will also do a bit of eating (apricots) and drinking (water).