in the pink

The garden is rewarding us hugely at the moment, despite the incredibly dry season. Spring always seems to be very much about blue and yellow. Early summer in our garden brings a lot of pink in all its forms.

The roses are being remarkable

The paeony is just about holding its own

Then there are actual "pinks" starting to fade a little with lack of water

In geographical mood there is the deep magenta of knautia macedonica

and the wonderful gladiolus byzantinus by the pond, being admired by the little water boy - I love the way it sings with the blue of the geranium

More magenta from the lychnis, which always threatens to take over, but which was, apparently, my father's favourite plant so I allow it free reign in memory of him

and the self seeded opium poppy with its sculptural seedheads, much loved by the bees 

There are, of course, other colours out there, but I thought you'd enjoy a bit of pink

The weather has been incredibly dry, no rain for about a month, though there might be some in the next couple of days. Because we have the pond and several other drinking stations dotted about, we have had continuous activity from our local birds including this delicate little goldcrest taking an early morning bath

and the goldfinch who pours out his glorious rippling song from the top of the spruce

I was lucky enough to catch s flash of blue as the jay took off for the peanut feeder - a quicker shutter speed would have helped!

and there has been a lot of scampering under the garden seats by these two squirrels - now I wonder what that's all about!

I hope you have enjoyed a little snippet of garden colour from this hot and dry corner of the Sussex coast

Transition

The garden is evolving from the wonders of daffodils and tulips, primroses and other spring delights that were here a few weeks ago.

and robins are singing their courting songs, hanging around in the morning waiting for the Man to provide their breakfast, often within a few feet of his busy hands

It is in one of my favourite phases just now, where the maple, ceanothus and rhododendron create the most ravishing sequence of colours,

The forget me nots are in their final phase of flowering, challenging me to delay puling them out because there are still a few blooms, but also being rather thuggish about drowning out everything else with their ticklish furred leaves

the garden seat beckons, and the little water boy is guarding the pond with its conical cover very carefully. 

cornflower sparkle against the lime green of euphorbia

maple leaves and their flower sprigs catch the slanting sunlight

and in the front garden granny’s bonnets are nodding their heads as the sun sinks in the sky, 

and the iris are creating fleur-de-lis of light against the fence.

What joy

Japan's beauty

It has been a while since I wrote. In the between time I have been away on a great adventure, long awaited and much anticipated: two weeks on a textile tour of Japan. I must confess to some trepidation beforehand; a long flight, potential for being fed "squiggly things" (I am a food coward), potential for offending the Japanese folk through misunderstanding. All nonsense of course, the trip was just marvelous, and included a large and inspiring amount of textile related visits and workshops. It also included two breathtaking gardens; one at the Adachi Museum of Art in Yasugi, and the second, the Korakuen Gardens in Okayama.

The first are advertised as a "living Japanese painting" and indeed they were. They are viewing gardens, rather than ones to stroll through. One walked through the museum of art finding numerous points in the journey to stop and take in the perfection and pristine presentation of these wonderful arrangements of trees, moss, water and gravel, finely crafted gateways and borrowed landscapes. I confess to enjoying the gardens a great deal more than the art on the walls!

The following day we visited Okayama Castle. 

Before climbing the hill to the castle itself, we spent far too short a time in the beautiful Korakuen Gardens just below, where we were allowed to stroll, stop and wonder. After an initial query about the lack of green, we were told that the golden brown of the grass was quite normal in early spring, and not the result of a dry winter, simply the way Japanese grass grows. Again, there was such harmony in the arrangement of carefully manicured trees, bridges, lanterns and water. The reflections doubled the pleasure of the view and of course, there were the flickering bodies of gold and silver koi moving beneath the ripples, one rather gorgeous terrapin and the stately, swaying trunks of bamboo. 

All too soon we were called away to visit the castle. A few members stayed in the gardens and I was almost sorry I hadn't done the same. While a marvelous trip, there were too few moments to just stand and reflect, so I am perhaps getting more pleasure from revisiting in my photographs than I did while I was there. I hope you enjoy then too.