Tomorrow we will be hosting our late summer jazz-in-the-garden party but I fear that the various heatwaves have taken their toll and we have very little flower left.
Ten days ago, as you can see, the cosmos were still flowering as were the penstemon, the antirrhinums, the roses and the geranium Rozannes. Now all that remain are a few roses, the ever faithful Rozannes – and the white geranium and bacopa hanging basket that finally gave up trying to hang anywhere as there was nowhere suitable and took up residence on the patio table.
And, of course, the completely unstopable non-stop begonias! Squashed into pots on the relatively shady garage patio they have flourished, but out in the border they obviously felt much too exposed and have all but withered away. (Also note a tiny sample of our massive crop of Bramley cooking apples…. It has been an incredible year for fruit and my freezers are bulging with stewed apples, just from the windfalls.)
Meanwhile, round in the growing garden tomatoes are dropping almost as fast as the apples and the courgettes (or whatever it is that they are) seem determined to make it to the other side of Hampstead Heath.
(For more details see the Growing Garden site.)
And before we move away from flowers, are these not the most magnificent dahlia blossoms you have seen outside Chelsea Flower show?
A good friend with a truly stunning garden here in Highgate has 20 plus massive pots them…. Each pot more brimming with blossoms than the last. I have so much admiration for her as I fear I do not have the patience for dahlias which really are the Princesses of the flower world. They require year round bringing in and bringout, potting and re-potting, protection from slugs and spiders and earwigs, exctly the right kind of food – and even when you have lavished all that care on them, are quite likely to throw a hissy fit and refuse to flower!
Moving on….
Guiseppe Penone at the Serpentine Gallery
If, before next Sunday (7th September) you just happen to find yourself somewhere near Kensington Gardens, do make half an hour to visit the Serpentine Gallery and Guiseppe Penone’s Thoughts in Roots exhibition.
I was passing a few days ago on my way to a Prom and had ten minutes to spare so popped in. (The Serpentine exhibitions are always worth seeing – and they are both compact and, delightfully, free so popping in is a realistic option.) Penone’s work in gallery is fascinating enough – focusing on the artist’s lifelong ‘exploration of the relationship between humans and nature’ – especially trees. But his tree and rock sculptures in the park are absolutely breathtaking.
They are immensely tall, as you can see from the size of the visitor looking at them, and their rocks perch in their branches like adventurous children. I find it hard to believe that those rocks were not secured somehow but, if so, I could not see where.
Their companion held no rocks but drove a long golden spiked branch straight up into the sky.
So worth a visit.
And finally – The Well Gardened Mind
A few weeks ago I went to a fascinating ‘conversation’ at the Design Museum between Monty Don and the garden designer Tom Stuart Smith during which they mentioned, in passing, the Stuart Smith’s Serge Hill Project in Hertfordshire. The aim of the project is to develop a community and eductional garden drawing on Sue’s work as a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author of The Well Gardened Mind – ‘a book that investigates the origins of gardening and its power to transform our lives’.
Because what they are doing is sort of what we are trying to do, on a very much smaller scale with our growing garden, I was interested so ordered a copy of the book from the trusty World of Books. It was, as you can see, a Sunday Times best seller in 2020 and has now been published in 17 countries – and I am not surprised.
In a powerful combination of contemporary neuroscience, psychoanalysis and brilliant storytelling, The Well Gardened Mind investigates the magic that many gardeners have known for years – working with nature can radically transform our health, wellbeing and confidence…… a glorious book of science, insight and anecdote that shows how our understanding of nature and its restorative powers is only just beginning to flower.
And it really is. If you at all interested in either mental health or gardening, it will reward your time in reading it.
A very overdue update on the 2025 garden