Gardening.....

Throughout my life I've swung this way and that with various interests, although Morris Dancing is not one that has so far hit my sphere of activity.

Gardening though has very much been part and parcel of my life ever since I became big enough to wield a trowel with a certain amount of alacrity. As a child I used to collect wild flowers and try and sell them to my parents neighbours - who fortunately were kind enough to press half a sixpence into my palm for a semi wilted bunch of bluebells. Obviously just a ruse to get me to stop door stepping them in a menacing fashion.

I find it intriguing though that no matter what else has gone on in my life, gardening has always bobbled along just under the surface. Yet these days, it is now pushing shoots through the surface and being a big part of my life.

This is due to Julie, partly at least. See disturbing photo above - Julie's wellington's in relaxed mode mid gardening...... doesn't every man receive a romantic photo like this from his lady friend, with the caption... I'm thinking of you ????

Weekends in Wiltshire are now accompanied by the plaintiff dervishing of said lady gardener in the greenhouse, surveying her 1000+ plug plants, now apparently referred to as plug-plus plants, as they grow and are nurtured into their finest luxuriant foliage and floribunda display ready for hanging basket and pot plant creation. Hard work but once the baskets are filled and delivered a sense of great satisfaction.

But weekends are not always about plug plants. Last Saturday found both of us in another part of Wiltshire where Julie has a client with a goodly sized garden offering views over a white chalk horse on a hillside. Until a fortnight ago this garden in a remote hamlet resembled a hay meadow. I said I'd help and so following my second visit there (the first being a fortnight ago) this Saturday, after 3 or so hours of manic mowing and hedge trimming the garden is beginning to look like a garden again. A sense of real satisfaction doing work like this. I find it satisfying not only for myself to be outdoors, but as the lady in question is well into her 90's, I like to think a little of what we did helping restore her garden will give her something pleasing to look at while quaffing her G&T and telling her interesting stories about the war years spent abroad.

So after a busy old week at work, spending all that time working outdoors, the scent of new mown grass mixed with petrol, it is a real tonic, and rejuvenates Quicksilvers soul. Sadly I didn't take any photographs of what occurred on Saturday, but as we are both heading to Malvern Spring Gardening show next Saturday. I'll post a photo from 2008, one of my favourite gardens seen there.

So this posting, whilst being not that earth shattering, is what I hope to be the beginning of a series of posting about gardening, along with wildlife and art, walking and Wiltshire. Although after Saturday's gardening maelstrom of excitement, we went on a car tour of west Wiltshire and headed into north Dorset, where I relived some nice memories too, ably assisted by a delicious Dorset Cream Tea!

I may post a photo of the plug plants soon..... Julie may need to avert her eyes for a while. It'll be too much for her!!

And here you go, as a postscript, not half an hour ago this evening I received the above photo from Julie to illustrate the blog. Taken a few weeks ago...... I'll explain all soon... save to say they're much bigger now !! I just need to lie down quietly somewhere first and recover before doing so!