Tuesday 30 May 2023

Tranquility

Not everyone loves gardening.   I have always loved pottering in the garden and although I can no longer do anything but look, I still get such a lot from the experience.   It is the sense of tranquility I think; it is a space, however small, where I feel I can forget any worries           about the world and where it is heading - I get enough of that fron reading The Times each day (I do want to know what is happening everywhere but little of it these days fills me with a sense of pleasure).   But if you have the same kind of feelings that I have then please sit down with your morning cup of coffee and whatever you eat with it (kit-kat, tea cake, scone anyone?) and click on John's post today - I have just left it after wandering between the photographs as they increasingly filled me with the same feeling I get from my garden.   Go to 'By Stargoose and Hanglands' on my side bar and see if you agree -it has certainly been the high point of my day as it sit here recovering from Shingles. )

You may think of Red Valerian as a weed (my gardener certainly does) although I read somewhere the other day that it is an important medicinal plant - does anyone know what it is used for?   It is 'out' in my garden, standing up tall and strong against a background of an evergreen hedge and I love it.

And amongst a plethora of self-sown Aquelegia is a new - and very welcome - addition.   It is large flowered and is a very deep purply=blue and I welcome it with open arms and hope it seeds freely - it is the most beautiful colour.

The Alliums are bobbing about in the rather strong (and rather cold) East wind which is blowing in across the North York Moors from the North Sea and as it does so it dries up our soil even more at a time when everything is sorely needing a good drink of pure rain.  My gardener planted twenty three years ago.   Rather than seeding from their dark pink heads they seem to be disappearing (only ten this year) - I suspect field mice are the culprits - alliums are in the onion family so they possibly make good winter food for the Sunday dinner table.  I know where a family of field mice live in a hole in one of my stone walls - I see them now and again - and welcome them.   I don't begrudge them an allium or two (and when I see the alliums in the giant tent at Chelsea I can only think of mine as 'poor relations'.)

Pink rock-roses are everywhere - if there is a rock they will find it and quickly cover it.   And I am not short of rocks - plenty of those apart from the dry stone wall at the top.   If you are familiar with The Yorkshire Dales you will know that dry stone walls abound - walls built over hundreds of years, built with stones dug out of the earth they surround, knocked down by sheep and built up again by dry-stone-wallers or the farmer.   I was talking to a retired farmer the other day who has a daughter who is a professional photographer.   He commented (with puzzlement I suspect) how she had hundreds of photographs she had taken of stones.   'Stones' he said with puzzlement in his voice - as much as to say -when you've seen one you've seen them all.   How differently we see things - the sheep looks at stones and sees a possible escape into the next field if there is a wobbly bit of wall (the grass  is always greener both to a sheep and metaphorically to a lot of humans); the farmer looks at stones weighing up which one fits best in the space in the wall he is rebuilding after the sheep has knocked it down; the photographer with a fascination for stones looks at a stone and sees the beauty in its colour, its shape, the bits of moss growing on it ---.   Perfect example of 'it takes all sorts'.

Don't forget to pop over to 'By Stargoose and Hanglands' will you?

 

24 comments:

Rachel Phillips said...

I looked at John's post yesterday and enjoyed reading about Gooderstone Water Gardens and seeing the photos. John's blog is always a good read for those interested in the wonderful counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

gz said...

John writes a lovely blog..as do you!

I love the dark coloured Aquilegias

Sue in Suffolk said...

What a beautiful garden that would be to visit.

I have Red Valerian appearing in two places - self seeded from somewhere. I'm very pleased to see it as it's so hardy.

Anonymous said...

I am not a fan of gardening, as a matter of fact I hate to garden, but I do like to sit in my ‘wild’ backyard and watch the squirrels in two huge trees behind my yard. I also have bird feeders and enjoy the bird visits and birdsong. My two next door neighbours have lovely English gardens and their endless work shows. I get to enjoy them. So happy that you get to enjoy your garden too. GG

the veg artist said...

I've always know red valerian for use as a herbal tea (which I've never tried and wouldn't recommend from a garden!). Wiki tells us that it is "promoted for insomnia, anxiety, depression, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), menopause symptoms, and headache", so a type of sedative I suppose. I can't keep alliums after the first year either - too wet, I suspect.

Anonymous said...

Hi Pat, I have certainly enjoyed this post. I am not a gardener but I have a strong connection to trees. I have too many stories to share here but my husband and I have saved many trees, one just last week! I am often reminded of the quote "Every tree has its enemy, few have an advocate..." - J.R.R. Tolkien. Thank you for sharing your world with us. Jackie in Georgia USA

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed John's post.
Weave, I love your English stones.
As an artist and interested in textiles, I have embroidered their lichen tones, and have enjoyed drawing many English stone walls, featuring the greys, greens, speckly yellows and white patches.
My favourite medium is layered coloured pencils.
When in England, I did not photograph as many as I'd like. I wore out my husband's patience both in Avebury and him driving me to remote stone circles in the middle of nowhere.
These days I get a lot of my inspiration from 'The People's Friend' magazines for my English fix.
Luckily there are a lot of them in the charity shops, a great 'find' for me. - Pam, Australia.

Susan said...

I love gardening and was introduced to growing by my uncle and father at a very young age. To this day, working the land and watching things grow and thrive gives me great pleasure. Like you, I also like hardy flowering plants that seem to spread on their own. Like your Red Valerian, I have a daisy which grows on a 5-6 ft. tall stalk and has a root like a small carrot and it spreads aggressively. I've learned to mow around the plot of daisies to contain it to one space. Every Fall I have a large oval shape of these yellow daisies swaying in the breeze. I looked at John's blog and it is outstanding. Thank you for the recommendation.

Unknown said...

The Red Valerian isn't the useful herbal one - its horticultural name is centranthus ruber, also comes in pink and white. True valerian - valeriana officinalis - is the one used in herbal medicine, looks very different, used as a sedative and sleep aid, helps with anxiety. Hope that's of help.
SarahM

Ellen D. said...

I enjoy so many blogs from around the world that give me lovely glimpses into worlds I will never see. You do a lovely job of describing your garden today! Thanks, Pat.

Librarian said...

Since I have no garden, my "gardening" is limited to watering the few potted plants I have. But thankfully, I have views of gardens from my windows, and of course during my walks I come past many gardens - some beautiful, some less so. They are always a good indicator of how weather and seasons change throughout the year. Last but not least, there are the beautiful palace grounds in my hometown, always worth a visit (especially at quieter times, certainly not on a sunny Sunday afternoon when I rather leave the place to the busloads of tourists).
Yes, even as a non-gardener, I can enjoy gardens.

Debby said...

He does have the most wonderful pictures over there, doesn't he? I really enjoy tagging along on his outings.

Melinda from Ontario said...

I began digging up the grass to create gardens surrounding my house 24 years ago. I have very little grassy space remaining. Many "weeds" have found their way into my garden and if the bees like them, and they don't try to take up too much space, they get to stay. I have several clumps of goldenrod, (which is a bee favourite), and I never planted a sprig of it. There's something about a large clump of bright yellow goldenrod waving about in the breeze which is both calming and beautiful.

thelma said...

John's walks around the countryside he lives in are outstanding, and his photographic skills captures a soft gentle England. I grew, in my herb days, the real Red Valerian, a tiny plant, but never used it as a herb medicine, though still drink herbal tea, such as chamomile and mint.

Barbara Anne said...

I'm so glad your garden brings you so much joy and that you and your gardener keep it so. What a delightful post, Pat!

John's post about the water garden and the photos are beautiful and I wish that place wasn't so far from me or that I wasn't so far from that lovely garden!

Hugs!

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Thank you so much for your kind words, Pat. You probably won't believe this but while we were walking around I said to my brother Les, "I know one reader who's going to enjoy seeing these pictures". Guess who??

John Going Gently said...

I like valerian , both red and white
My sister has left a bunch on my cottage wall it’s very effective

gmv said...

I looked at and enjoyed John's post today with history and pictures of the pretty garden.

The bike shed said...

I am one of those people who loves to sit in the garden (especially a cottage one) but hasn't the time or inclination to get their hands too dirty in the soil. Thankfully my garden is small and manageable now, and has a wonderful view that I can borrow for free!

Red said...

Some day I would like to see someone building a stone wall. We have no stone walls here. Wooden fenceposts and barbed wire make the fences here.

Sal said...

That was a lovely post. I love Valerian..it grows all over the place down here in South Devon.
And I particularly love old walls. I used to wander around the churchyard where we previously lived as there was a very old, long stone wall there with all sorts growing in it such as masses of different varieties of Sedum or Stonecrop as people call it. It always amazes me how plants can grow in the crevices of walls.

I’d be lost without my garden as it’s my escape and although we’ve recently downsized to a more manageable plot, it’s been quite interesting to see what pops up as the year progresses! We’ve also inherited a tree fern and having never owned one before, I was delighted when I first saw the garden. It’s a real feature and fits in very nicely with the rest of the garden as there are other small ferns dotted around, too.

‘By Stargoose and Hanglands’ is a beautiful blog! I could spend all day reading it!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Glad you enjoyed my brief 'garden tour'. I am not one for neat beds of flowers and I do have my plants so close together that they crowd each other out. that is how \i like it - not much room for weeds but plenty of room for plants in the garden to colonise and fight for space. It doesn't make for tidiness and I am almost ashamed to say I am almost too tidy in the house. But at least there is a contrast there somewhere! Sorry to read from some of you that 'my' Valerian is not the medicinal one - I was using that idea as a 'tool' to discourage my gardener from pulling it up. Giant white poppy seeds have been secretly sewn - my gardener will have a 'duck-fit' when they emerge - poppies, like valerian exist only to be eradicatedGlad those who popped across to see Stargoose's post enjoyed it too.

Thanks everyone.

Unknown said...

Hello, dear Weaver of Grass!

I do so enjoy your blog and must stop in more often--which I can happily do now that I'm retired. I, too, was a teacher, so that explains, at least in part, why I felt like you were a kindred spirit. What age group did you teach, WoG? I taught 7th grade language arts for over twenty years, helping kids learn to love (or at least not hate) reading and writing.

My husband is the gardener in our family. I tell people he has ten green thumbs. My "job" is to sit on the front porch swing and enjoy the fruits of his labors while I read and enjoy a cold beverage and receive compliments by passers by. I feel compelled to always give full credit to my husband.

Daffodils are one of my favorite flowers, and my very favorite of those is narcissus poeticus, a small and delicate jonquil with swept-back creamy outer petals and a tiny center, the size of your little fingernail, outlined in orange. It's a "late bloomer" and waits to make its appearance now, well after all the other brighter and bolder daffodils are spent.

Did you receive your "Summertime"pansies? Pansies are another favorite of mine, although we don't have any in the garden or in pots. Hubby focuses on perennials... Iris are now blooming. My late sister adored iris, and when she passed, we dug up most of her plants and brought them home, where they have thrived and are sweet reminders of my dear sister. With our wet spring, a few daisies are starting to pop, as well. They are such a happy flower, don't you think? We have a hummingbird feeder on the front porch, and later in the summer we'll have more tubular flowers (penstemon and bee balm) that the hummers, as well as other pollinators, will enjoy. There are several other avid gardeners in our neighborhood, so ours is a popular block for resident walkers and visitors, who often stop to take pictures with their phones when the gardens are in their full glory.

So glad you still have flowers to enjoy and can get out with 'Priscilla' to appreciate them up close. You are right to 'stand up tall and straight' as you walk. Important for balance and stability, and, therefore, safety. On your recommendation, I stopped by and visited 'By Stargoose and Hanglands' and thoroughly enjoyed myself! Yet another rabbit hole (among so many!) to go down. I swear I could spend my days reading blogs. It satisfies the voyeur in me...

Cheers!
Jacque in Colorado

Country Cottage said...

Another lovely post.