On 8-Apr-09, at 7:40 AM, David Ritchie wrote:
And how was the gardening in the old sod?
Well, to be honest, the 'old sod' in this case wasn't very old - the friend's home is part of a relatively new set of row houses. But it does have a very small walled garden with possibilities .... There's now a flowering cherry, crab apple, passion flowers, ivy and a clematis (the latter three adorning the walls), a climbing rose with trellis, etc., etc. But much time was spent visiting other gardens, including the relatively new Kew arboretum at Castle Howard
http://www.kewatch.co.uk/index.html and the Royal Horticultural society's northern garden at Harlow Carr http://www.rhs.org.uk/whatson/gardens/harlowcarr/index.aspI must further admit that one of the best things about the holiday was coming back to a garden that had advanced another 10 days into vernal splendour (without having missed anything) - and sunny days with +20º (Celsius = approx. 70º Fahrenheit) temperatures. Daffodils, primulas, and Omphalodes (sorry for the mix of scientific and vernacular names - I don't know them all in English) are in full splendour, the many variegated tulips planted in the Fall have started blooming today, and (among much else) the Fritillaria meleagris and F. imperialis are showing great promise ....
Chris Bruce, in Kiel, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------------- To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html