Tuesday...( catching up )

In Cornwall last week I decided that it was about time we actually visited the gardens on St Michael’s Mount....

We’re based in Marazion when we’re down there, so always end up going out of town somewhere, and although I have visited the Mount before, and walked over there many times, I’d never seen the gardens; they’re only open 2 days a week through the Summer and I’ve just sort of missed doing it...until now!

There is an amazing path to the Mount called The Causeway, which you walk across when the tide is out...

My son wasn’t keen on coming, but I said he had to, and even he got carried away with taking pictures...

The views and the planting are amazing...

in the grass-topped pill box, the window provides a great picture frame...

( The succulent planting was my favourite thing...)

However, we spent a bit too much time taking pictures and hadn’t realised that the tide had come in...

So although some people were chancing it across The Causeway back to town, we decided to take a boat...

my phone battery had completely died, so my son took this last picture of the chancers emerging, completely soaked from the path now waist-high with sea water!

       

Monday... with lots of Dahlias

After a really great trip away in Cornwall, I was also pleased to get back home to my garden here in Brighton...

Everything seems to have grown massively so the next few days will involve a lot of cutting back.

When I was in Cornwall this time, I popped in to Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens again to buy some more succulents and have a cup of tea.

Dahlias were everywhere, and I love dahlias, much to the chagrin of my mother...

When I turned 30 she asked me what I’d like for my birthday and I said 30 different dahlias...she refused, saying that they were too vulgar!! 

When I was in hospital giving birth to my son, I took a picture of a dahlia, stuck it to the wall and stared at it over many long, difficult hours...and when I was 8 years old we had to paint them at school; I’d never seen them before and was captivated.

So dahlias have always been on the edges of my life, but only this year have I managed to produce more than one flower of my own!

I hadn’t anticipated that completely amazing dahlias would be on every table in the cafe...

...and when I bought a bunch, the woman told me that they were from the National Dahlia Collection just down the road!

I was so excited as I’d never realised that it was so close.

When we got there it was deserted, but I definitely managed to indulge my dahlia love...

There were a few signs of human life, but to be honest it was great to have the place to myself and not feel inhibited with my dahlia frenzy...

When we got back I arranged my bunch, but as we were leaving the next day, I had to take them with me, even though I was stopping off in Warwickshire overnight...

So the dahlias travelled 6 hours in the car, were briefly revived in one of my sister-in-law’s vases overnight, and then had another 3 hours in the car before they landed on The Table in Brighton.

A little worse for wear but still alive, I put them into a vase, picked one of my own from the garden, arranged the not so lucky heads of a couple that had wilted beyond repair...and made a cup of tea!

Wednesday...

Rock Samphire is my new favourite plant...

There’s something about the way it grows that is so beautiful and which sort of seems to echo seaweed.

There are so many fleshy plants here in Cornwall, but not all of them are edible like this one...

When I come to Cornwall, I’m fortunate enough to have a tiny garden to tend to even on holiday...

Although I don’t live here, my partner works down here a lot of the time, so luckily there is someone who can keep an eye on things...

But I do try and plant things which aren’t going to need too much delicate care, as they can get so battered in the wind and rain even behind the garden wall as they’re so close to the sea...

We lost a rosemary in the storms earlier this year, but its absence has created a new spot to work in extra colour and texture...

I planted some nasturtiums last time I was down which have started to appear, so hopefully by the Autumn they’ll be flowering...

( These two seem to yearn for each other from different sides of the wall... )

and I have an old plank where I like to put my collected bits and pieces...

...I love laying out daily finds as I like to really look closely at their colours and textures...

...I was able to catch the early morning sun today and have a potter in my pyjamas with a cup of tea... but am now off to the beach for a swim!