Sunday 21 June 2009

Birthdays and Plants with reminders......











Well bloggy friends, I missed a day. Still, it was in a good cause as it was the farmer's birthday yesterday and we had friends from The Netherlands for lunch. Then there was so much food left to "eat up" that son and wife came round for dinner in the evening to eat it all with us - so - no time to blog


Today is another busy day getting readyfor our friends to come and stay for a few days, so first of all a picture of the farmer cutting his cake - and then I did a quick trawl round the garden for you.
The exquisite old-fashioned rose - always the first out in my garden - is Gertrude Jeykll and I picked just one of the blooms for the farmer's birthday. It has a faint, delicate smell and is without a doubt my favourite rose. It was bought for me by my friend M, who has a birthday tomorrow - so if you are reading this M just to say that this rose gives me such a lot of pleasure every year - it is always out for your birthday.
The other plants which are out in profusion are the herbaceous geraniums. The blue one, Johnson's Blue, is alive with bees and I managed to get one in the photograph. The pink one is Patricia (also my name of course) and I bought it (because of its name) at a plant sale in The Old Rectory at Coxwold, where the author Laurence Sterne lived when he wrote Tristram Shandy.
I do like plants with reminders in my garden. They make it like a notebook. Have you any plants with reminders in your gardens?

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a glorious rose is the Gertrude Jekyll. It was a favourite of my parents too. I'm very taken with the idea of a flower garden as a notebook. (Shades of a meme in there!)

Dick

Heather said...

Lovely flower photos Weaver, especially your rose. Patricia is my middle name, by the way. I'm glad the farmer had time to enjoy his birthday.

steven said...

weaver i couldn't take my eyes off the farmer's cake!!! what a beauty!! lovely flowers by the way. steven

Dragonstar said...

Your flowers are beautiful. I love the memories linked to plants. I have a honeysuckle that came with me from the island, a willow from a friend, a small hebe to commemorate second son's lady's miscarriage, a pink potentilla for first son's stillborn daughter... There are a few others, and my garden is tiny!

Elizabeth said...

The rose is quite beautiful.
your flower posts are wonderful
still raining here......!

Pondside said...

I too like the idea of plants with reminders in the garden. Over the years, with all the moves, we've planted in a number of gardens. It's nice to see, when we visit one of those places, to see the tree that we planted, or the rose bush that was a mothers day gift, still thriving.
I enjoyed the photos of farming around the world on a previous post. Isn't King's Landing a lovely place? If you're ever back here you'd probably enjoy Upper Canada Village as well - in Morrisburg Ontario.

Welcome To Wilmoth Farms said...

Sounds like the farmer had a good birthday! I love your flower pics...and your header is awesome!

Totalfeckineejit said...

That is a beautiful looking birthday cake , Weaver, did you make it yourself? And glasses of beer how prefectimoso!And I've been meaning to say for a while but didn't mainly through indolence but partly through not knowing how to say it correctly.The correctness may outlive my span ,so I'll say it as best I can.Your blog is marvellous.It reminds me of 'An Edwardian ladies diary' The book.It is like an onbline diary and will hopefuly outlive us all by genrations,And what a cornucopia it will be for those futre generations.It should become part of the school curriculum, a jewelled timepiece of how we are (were)Noy just farming methods, though they are vital, but the general human experience of being alive in your tiny part of this vast cosmos.It is something we should all bear in mind that, hopefully, our blogs will exist in his virtual reality of the internet, for generations to come.And (as in this case) what a treasure trove they might be.How I would love to read the day to daypractices and thoughts of my grandparents, when even a static photograph means so much.

Leenie said...

Your flowers are beauteous! Nice shot of the bee in the blue geranium. I have those --bees and blue geraniums--in my garden as well. Happy Birthday to the farmer.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Happy, happy birthday! May he have the loveliest of days. My Songwriter usually celebrates for a week, so I highly recommend to your Farmer!!

Loren said...

That is, indeed, a beautiful rose. No wonder you look forward to its blooming!

Caroline Gill said...

We visited Coxwold for the first time this Easter. WHAT a magnificent church, with its Stearne memorials etc.

What a lovely time you have all been having. The cake looks delicious!

...And now, roll on Mug Monday!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Do you have a garden Dick? Have you a plant that serves as a reminder in it? hope your helth is good now by the way.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Heather - then you need a Patricia geranium in your garden! Speaking of Heather reminds me that when my son first started infant school he fell madly in love with another little girl in the class. He couldn't remember her name when he came home from school but he said it was "something like grass."

The Weaver of Grass said...

Steven - I did make the farmer a cake but before he could cut it someone else bought him a Tesco birthday cake - so I froze my home made one for another day!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Dragonstar - I am so pleased that you have reminders in your garden too - I think living plants to commemorate someone who is no longer with us is a marvellous idea.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Sorry about your weather Elizabeth _ I am pleased to say it is now quite pleasant here - at least for the coming week.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Pondside - I sincerely hope we come back to Canada again - we have been many times. One area we have not visited in the Yukon and we are looking at that as a possible holiday next year - or Newfoundland.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks Wilmoth - it is good to keep in touch with you.

The Weaver of Grass said...

TFE - you are too kind - how nice of you to say such lovely things about my blog. I do so enjoy writing it every day - it keeps my brain on the go - if there is one thing I refuse to do now that I am "getting on" in years, it is sit by the fire and vegetate. May I say how much I enjoy your sense of humour on your blog too.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks Leenie - blue geraniums are lovely aren't they?

The Weaver of Grass said...

Shall not show him that comment, Pamela - it is hard to get him to celebrate it for one day, let alone a week!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks Loren - I think that rose is absolute perfection.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks Caroline - did you go round the garden at Shandy Hall? Coxwold is such a pretty place isn't it.

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

I love hardy geraniums so many different varieties.
I grew all our oriental poppies from seed and they remind me of the time I had at home when my son was little.
I had time to prick all the seedlings out then!

Kim Palmer said...

Oh, your flowers are gorgeous Patricia. Love all the colour! I enjoyed the trip through the various farms and markets too, makes me want to pick a basket of that fabulous fruit and lie amongst the buttercups to eat it, ah heaven!

Amy said...

Sounds like summer is going well for you, what fun celebrating birthdays. At the moment as you know it's winter for us so I've been dead heading and pruning my iceberg rose and other plants in my garden. Yesterday I got out and weeded around the winter veges.

Crafty Green Poet said...

lovely roses....

I've posted my mugs for Mug Monday:
http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com/2009/06/mug-monday.html - another fun trip round people's crockery collections!

Unknown said...

Hello Weaver,

The blue geranium is beautiful. We loved seeing Coxwold when we were down. Lovely setting. Hope there's some cake left?!

Red Clover said...

Happy Birthday to the Farmer! Beautiful plants. That is the nice thing about being in a place for a long time. You have yearly reminders of things. I have a few reminder plants:
A palm tree from my wedding
A great plant from my Grandma's table after she died
Some flowers that Kip bought me as a surprise

I didn't know your name was Patricia. Very beautiful. I never find anything with my name on it...(Bethany)...so, I'll have to keep my eye out. Maybe Bob could invent something for me...ha ha.

ChrisJ said...

Those blue flowers are just gorgeous. There were masses of them out when we last visited Flamborough two years ago. I came to you via Mrs. Nesbitt and since you live east of the wolds, you will surely know Flamborough Head -- my passion. Hence, Flamblogger.

BT said...

Belated happy birthday Farmer. I love geraniums as they will tolerate most positions and soils. I love that one, Patricia and must seek it out. Johnson's Blue is one of my favourites too. Roses, oh roses, so lovely and perfect.
I have a few plants with memories. My Kafir Lily came from my son and I had originally bought it for him when he was in London! There is also some of it in our Worthing garden. Also my alchemilla mollis came from Derbyshire, then to Worthing, then to Ireland! Much travelled specimens.