And Now For Something Completely Different.

Big changes are taking place here in the blooming garden and difficult decisions have had to be made. I haven’t blogged for a long time as I haven’t had the heart to write about the garden knowing that we will be leaving it and as each new bloom opened I knew I was seeing it for the last time. So I found it painful to write about it.

Readers of my blog will remember my son, Bertie’s jetty garden at Pin Mill. Bertie and his lovely Beatrice moved to a beautiful part of south west France two years ago. We visited them and fell in love with the place too. So we have bought an ancient medieval house there – well, to be accurate, we have bought a medieval ruin which has caused family and friends to think we are mad. Perhaps we are. We are Francophiles and have always dreamed of having a home in France and now having our loved ones there is the time to do it. Throwing myself into this project distracted me from the implications for the garden here. After three weeks away during a drought this summer it looked terrible, so leaving it for weeks or more at a time is unthinkable. So I have had to do all the mental and emotional gymnastics required to bring myself to the place where I can leave our lovely home and garden. I never thought this would happen. But the new owners are enthusiastic about the garden so it will continue to be well loved.

Looking for somewhere new in the UK, was disheartening. Throughout the summer here, house prices spiralled and there was a bidding war for any desirable properties. The whole buying and selling process has been long drawn- out and stressful as these things tend to be. But eventually, we were lucky enough to find and secure a house that we think will suit us very well. The garden is quite small and it needs a lot of work to get it as I want it; but that’s OK, I love a project. The front garden will be my winter garden; at the moment it is just gravel. The back garden has just a big, misshapen magnolia, a few ugly conifers and a big clump of Phyllostachys, the invasive sort of bamboo which worries me rather. I love bamboo, but only the nice, well-behaved, clump-forming ones. And there is a Leylandii hedge. And there is a large expanse of decking. So all in all, pretty awful. I will show you photos when we move and all suggestions will be welcome.

So in January we will be leaving here. I shall eventually carry on with my blog. Although the garden we have bought in France and the one we are buying here are not blooming at all, of course, in time they will. It will be different because I have an acre at the moment and I grow loads from seeds and cuttings and I buy whatever takes my fancy, as I have plenty of space. Readers of my blog will know that the garden here is crammed full of plants so that I have gorgeous blooms all year round. I haven’t bought any plants for nearly a year so I have withdrawal symptoms. Prowling round nurseries is my favourite occupation, so I am looking forward to choosing plants for my new garden. I may have to ask for advice, as I have never gardened in a small space before. I suppose you have to be very disciplined and only grow the choicest and the best. Anyway, I shall show you both my new gardens when the time comes, or the spaces where my gardens will be, and will welcome suggestions. I might even give you a peep into my new houses.

In the meantime I am busy as there is so much to see to and endless sorting out and throwing away. I got held up for some weeks because I broke my ankle by cycling too fast down a narrow lane and ending up in a ditch. So instead of packing I have been reclining on a sofa asking the Pianist to peel me grapes. It took him a week to clear out the loft in between grape peeling. Tackling the shed crammed full of a mountain of plant pots was a nightmare, I wrote about the shed here. I have no idea why I thought I might ever need thousands and thousands of plant pots. We had to get a skip for them and all the other mountains of rubbish we seem to have accumulated. And the garage was a horror story too. But getting rid of all your junk is very liberating, I have thrown away clothes that I haven’t worn for twenty years and I am baffled as to why I kept them so long. Piles of greeting cards from loved ones have been ruthlessly discarded. Theatre programmes from long forgotten performances, gardening magazines going back thirty years; it’s endless the stuff I have hoarded. Getting rid of so much ballast is good for the soul, but it takes ages. Packing now takes up all our time and Christmas here is going to be spent walled in by boxes and boxes. We are having endless discussions about each other’s ridiculous hoarding habits. I question his suitcases full of cables and CDs that he cannot play because he has nothing to play them on. He wants to know why I have nearly 400 gardening books and four big boxes of jugs. Between you and me I am a bit puzzled about all those jugs myself. And then I have a serious succulent addiction; the house is disappearing under seas of succulents as it is too cold for them outside. And then I have nightmares about all the plants in the greenhouse; I have no idea how I am going to move all these plants.

Anyway, I will see you all on the other side in my new gardens. Have a wonderful Christmas and a joyful New Year and I am looking forward to catching up with you all once the move has happened.

In the meantime, here are just a few of the wonderful plants that I am very sad to say goodbye to.

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