POLLEN PUDDLE

Sorry, sorry, sorry. Have changed the picture. I just couldn't bear to look at the other one although I have added it below. This is a garden seat after the rain left a puddle in it along with a pattern made by the pollen being washed away. It's right in the opposite direction of the first picture. I don't like it, either, but it's one of those days.

First pic: Herb Garden.


This is not the kind of picture I like to take, all cluttered and twiggy. It's the only angle I can use because there is no window where the centre is. It makes me slightly dizzy. I should have done yesterday's flower today because it has plenty of rain droplets on it now.

It is said that Italian pleasure gardens have two colours: light green and dark green. I watched a programme last night on the Italian garden and the presenter mentioned this but said it wasn't true and had himself photographed in front of a patch of tall weedy plants with itty-bitty flowers. Flowers? Hah!

If there is colour in Italian gardens, it is in pots and the colours are blinding. The reason for this is very simple. The soil is not good except in certain regions, such as the Po Valley. The summers can be very hot and entirely without rain. Perennials flower for one week, ten days at the most. The Albertine rose, which I brought from Scotland and which used to flower for over a month in Scotland is gone, zzzt in ten days. Annuals in pots are the thing for summer. They're easier to water than whole patches of land.

There are two words for garden in Italian: giardino is a flower garden; orto is a vegetable garden. I have been converted to ortos. Also, somehow, my eye for flowering plants has changed from soft pastels to eye shattering bright ones.

The above is a herb garden of sorts. It is built on the same piece of rock upon which the house is built. Nothing grew there. So I drew out a rough design and asked the builder to build it up. He followed my imprecise plan so carefully that not all of the sections are equal on either side. Anyway, the soil here is about 18 inches at the deepest. The house is only a few steps back and if you go a step beyond the sundial, you fall onto the road below where a bay hedge runs along the other side.

Our orto is scattered for miles around, wherever there is a decent bit of soil. I've done some deep raised beds and even grow veggies in pots. The herb garden is a shambles at the moment but I will get around to planting more stuff, honest I will.

For the record: + 12 C. Rain. Humidity 88%.