I love the way the petals show off such dainty spots, an artist's challenge if ever I saw one.
So what has Spring got to offer? Lighter evenings and warmer days for a start. Mr A has not been able to work in his much loved garden lately and I've not been able to sit on my swing seat and watch him work! We used to have in depth discussions each Spring about which vegetables to grow for that year's harvest but not any more. Vegetables need such a lot of attention and it's time for a new tradition. We will discuss which flowers to order, plug plants to take the risk out of the seed sowing, and we will fill those beds with a mass of colour. There's too much grey out there.
Spring means that everything is beginning again, birds building nests, flowers preparing to dazzle but it's not all about looking forward. All that new life is tinged with sadness. It's so hard to accept that this Spring my sister won't be planting out her pots. My sister, who died last June, lived in an upstairs flat in Lyme Regis. She had no garden but the path beside her front door was packed each summer with all manner of flowers tumbling over the sides of pots. She spent hours each evening dead-heading and watering... until two years ago when her health deteriorated. I have a rose bush in our garden that she bought me for one of my big birthdays. It has the most amazing flowers every year and I have always sent her a photo of the first full bloom. This year I hope you will indulge me because I would like to post this year's rose photo on my blog. Like I said, it's time for new traditions.
It really is good to know that spring is on its way, Ros. The weather here has been by turns very cold, but dry an bright to grey, mild and wet. I prefer warm and bright myself, like you. My garden is desperate for a clean up but I haven't had the courage to get out there yet. Soon, I hope, and I also hope you get to sit on your swing, discuss vegetables and plants with your husband in philosophical depth. I shall look forward to seeing roses and more from your sister's gift. I didn't know she lived in Lyme Regis. I was at school there. It's such a pretty town.
ReplyDeleteMy sister loved Lyme Regis even though there was no supermarket, no doctor, no railway link and only one bus a day. I tried talking her into moving to Leicester when her health deteriorated but she refused to leave her beloved Lyme!
DeleteI always (used to) say that you can five or ten minutes during the day to sit out in the garden with a hot drink. So far this year there have been days when it has been impossible to do so.
ReplyDeleteDo post a picture of the rose when it blooms given to you by your late sister. I have many plants in my garden given to me by friends who have passed on which evoke fond memories.
They say it's going to be sunny but cold tomorrow. Maybe I'll get that 5 minute hot drink experience! We too have plants that friends and family have given us over the years. There's something very special in a gift of a plant.
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