A Fleeting Glimpse

St Swithen graced us with summer sun; the garden responded with rapture!  Bees buzzed busily around the hives, landing precariously laden with multi-coloured pollen sacs. Damp, despondent flowers lifted soggy tissue petals to revitalise under the sun's benevolent rays.

 Through lush foliage a melange of scent seduced us as we brushed along goat track paths.  Just enough to restore our spirits in the search for the Ghost of Summer Past.

Letting Go!

We find ourselves mid-July and the stair-rods are relentless.  Maybe now is the time to let go of expectation,  childhood idylls of a lazy, hazy summer . Despite sadness at dead-heading blooms denied their moment of glory, there is a beauty in the lush vegetation of this Olympic summer garden.  The prehistoric ferns have unravelled their fronds and produce perfect structures to showcase the rain.  I agree, the idea of displaying raindrops is unique, but a garden is organic and we in turn must let go of our conventions of beauty and embrace nature's beauteous bounty; unconditionally!

Soggy Roses

With stems and root- systems fully hydrated this should be prime time for a rose bonanza, but the constant patter of the rain on their flower heads is rotting the petals.  The saturated rose-quartz flower heads of Compte Du Chambord and Gertrude Jekyll are drooping under the weight of the water, their outer leaves disintegrating on the stem. All it would take is a couple of days of July sunshine and they would be able to recuperate.
.
Occasionally today, the clouds have parted for a few minutes, just long enough time to feel the heat of the summer sun that is hiding behind; a tantalising glimpse of what could be.

I wonder what St Swithin has in store for us this Sunday?  The met office forcast one of the driest days for six weeks, if popular folk lore is to be believed our forty days of summer are about to begin.  Ahh... then all in the garden will be rosie!