Today 
Gardeners' musings
Reasons to be cheerful (Part one)
Posted by: James Alexander-Sinclair, 24 July 2007, 08.38AM
Gardeners (like opposition politicians) quite enjoy a bit of a moan. In the case of politicians then almost any excuse will do: for gardeners it is usually the weather. It's seldom perfect and in recent weeks all of us have had more rain than is strictly necessary. I am writing this while outside the Tatton Park Flower Show, sluiced with yet another torrential downpour.
But rather than whinge I feel the time has come to point out the few cheering things that have come about as a result of the rain (apologies to all those people standing ankle deep in post-flood sludge who probably don't need a smarty-pants pointing at the silver-lining).
Lawns - because it has been well-nigh impossible to get the mower out of the shed, grass has grown much longer than would normally be permitted. Instead of a close-mown lawn I have ended up with a much softer, rather shaggy sort of arrangement. Different grasses, flowering weeds and even a small spinney of suckering Coyote willow (Salix exigua - which, while we are passing, is an extraordinarily lovely tall shrub: similar in temperament and style to Katherine Hepburn in a good mood). The lawn therefore, is interesting, ticks some environmental boxes and has saved a lot of tedious marching up and down. (Although I have to admit that it looks better mown.)
Large-leaved plants - by this time last year many larger-leaved plants were looking as if they had just spent a week pursuing the Foreign Legion across a particularly tricky bit of the sahara. This year rodgersias and ligularias have retained their teenage complexions.
Europe - most of the rest of the continent is frying. I bet the gardeners in Spain or Italy would give almost anything for a rainy day.
Not much to celebrate, but something...
Comments
Kim
25 July 2007, 04.53PM
Roger Twigg
28 July 2007, 07.36PM
Thank you for your comment
Thank you for your comments. All comments will be looked at by a moderator, however, due to the numbers of comments we receive, we can't promise that all will be posted on the site.