Pottered around Nailsworth today working in a lovely range of gardens. We are a marvellous animal in that no 2 of us would make the same garden: given the same plot of land. I love the variation on the same old English theme.
The Mega Gardener had all the tools on a table in readiness to make up baskets and tubs. This guy has a prize winning garden. Me, I cut the steep banks at the front and back, he does amazing things with summer bedding. I'm not jealous.
Another customer hadn't had her lawn cut for about a month. It was gorgeous. I took quite a few shots. This one gives an impression of how it actually looked.
And this one, below, is more arty.
Up to this point, it had been a sublime day.
AND THEN, THE WORST THING POSSIBLE HAPPENED IN THIS BEAUTIFUL WILD GARDEN
There was a THWACK, THWACK, and that was it . Quite often Slow Worms, and the like, can take a horribly long time to die. Thankfully, this one died n a matter of seconds. I was shaken by it's plight. The incident cast a shadow over the rest of my day.
One of my customers gave me this CACTUS. It was, they thought, their only survivor, following the last winter. They went to re-pot it and discovered all its' roots had come away from the base of the plant.
NOTHING ON THIS PLANET EVER WANTS A BARE BOTTOM!
And that's how I came to have it. Why bother? Easy answer .... most plants will attempt to reproduce if they are near to death. Cacti are no different. I expect it to put out lots of babies that can be left on te plant, to root into it as it liquefies (GORY AINIT?), or they can be cut off and potted up. I'm going to take regular photos to log it's demise and rise.
While I was out the back mucking about with the Cactus, I looked up and was taken by the sun hitting our neighbours' COPPER BEECH glowing hot bright hot.
Over the next few weeks, it will slide from this translucent greeny red into a dense maroon .
It's one of the trees that helps define the centre of Nailsworth, when viewed from one of the surrounding hill tops.
It began to get a bit dusky, though it was still lovely and warm; a rare commodity these last 6 months, so a sauntered to the front of our place for more pottering.
I love the glow of this HOUSE LEEK /SEMPERVIVUM. It almost glows in this dull light. Perfect MOCK TROP plant, bright colour, chunky, waxy flowers, frost hardy, low maintenance. Despite that, this one's by the front door because it's final plus point is its' cheery look, which is so welcoming for us and our visitors
On our staddle stones either side of the front door are old, galvanised buckets; in keeping with the rustic nature of the place. Until the mid 1940's our house was a farm building, a stable, apparently, which is why we try to keep the look village style.. Last year I filled the buckets with climbing NASTURTIUM and a wigwam of metre long bamboo canes. Looked great all summer. This year I've gone for POT MARIGOLDS.
.This one is so well advanced because I managed to keep it going through the winter. I had 4 'keepers' last autumn. This is the only survivor. The one the other side of the door has no flowers yet, but is a good size considering it germinated this year.
I guess I kept moving as a result of the Slow Worm incident; unsettled me.
