Rosa 'New Dawn'

Now, who does not have Rosa 'New Dawn' in his garden??

The garden was fresh and cool early this morning. If we listen to the weatherforecast it is going to be a sizzling day. I guess tonight we will find many dropped pink leaves ....

Rosa 'New Dawn''

'Feeling good' by Nina Simone

Birds flying high you know how I feel

Sun in the sky you know how I feel

Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel

(refrain:)

It's a new dawn

It's a new day

It's a new life

For me

And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea you know how I feel

River running free you know how I feel

Blossom on the tree you know how I feel

(refrain)

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know

Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean

Sleep in…

Midsummer

It was a day of cutting hedges, pulling weeds, raindrops, sunshine, talking to neighbours hanging on to my rake, watching birds, sitting on the door step waiting for my husband as I was locked out, talking to a little boy who was in search of his teacher Tatjana ( who had written in his school book she would be at nr.22 but where was nr. 22??!!) and could not find her, a day of staring at the amazing colours of the nasturtium in flower pots and following the bumble bees who seem to be so plentiful at the moment.
Beauty all around.
I took my compass out last night and checked out where  about the sun sets. It showed 300 degrees NW. Twice a year the sun comes in through our windows on the North - it is forever fascinating and it always takes me by surprise.

Time goes so fast: the blackberries are plentiful in our hedges, the roses flower abundantly, before we know it the trees will drop their leaves .... The elm trees always start in June and I blink when I see it.

Rosa 'Chippendale'

Rosa 'Chippendale'

What's in a name?. Shakespeare wondered. 

Thibaut's fabric 'tea house'

One can find all kinds of information on the labels on the roses for sale: how to plant them, where to plant them, the size, etc. etc., but never an explanation on the label why the rose carries its name. Because of the 'chinoiserie' influences in Thomas Chippendale's furniture it is most likely that this rose is named after him. 

  

It has lovely round buds, the colours vary from apricot to pink. The stems are a little fragile and can hardly carry the heavy filled blooms. It is potted up in a terracotta pot with three lavender plants around it. An experiment, which I enjoy very much looking at when I have my quiet moments on the garden seat. 

Have a seat, read a while and enjoy the roses in our garden!

D-Day Commemoration 2019 - “For your tomorrow we gave our today”

The Shores of Normandy, by Jim Radford (D-Day veteran)

In the cold grey light of the sixth of June, in the year of forty-four,
The Empire Larch sailed out from Poole to join with thousands more.
The largest fleet the world had seen, we sailed in close array,
And we set our course for Normandy at the dawning of the day.

There was not one man in all our crew but knew what lay in store,
For we had waited for that day through five long years of war.
We knew that many would not return, yet all our hearts were true,
For we were bound for Normandy, where we had a job to do.

Now the Empire Larch was a deep-sea tug with a crew of thirty-three,
And I was just the galley-boy on my first trip to sea.
I little thought when I left home of the dreadful sights I'd see,
But I came to manhood on the day that I first saw Normandy.

At the Beach of Gold off Arromanches, 'neath the rockets' deadly glare,
We towed our blockships into place and we built a harbour there.
'Mid shot and shell we built it well, as history does agree,
While brave men died in the swirling tide on the shores of Normandy.

Like the Rodney and the Nelson, there were ships of great renown,
But rescue tugs all did their share as many a ship went down.
We ran our pontoons to the shore within the Mulberry's lee,
And we made safe berth for the tanks and guns that would set all Europe free.

For every hero's name that's known, a thousand died as well.
On stakes and wire their bodies hung, rocked in the ocean swell;
And many a mother wept that day for the sons they loved so well,
Men who cracked a joke and cadged a smoke as they stormed the gates of hell.

As the years pass by, I can still recall the men I saw that day
Who died upon that blood-soaked sand where now sweet children play;
And those of you who were unborn, who've lived in liberty,
Remember those who made it so on the shores of Normandy.

"For your tomorrow we gave our today''

Meet Shakespeare in our garden today

Rosa 'William Shakespeare'

"I suggest that you listen below to Sonnet 54 on YouTube, read by Sir John Gielgud" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQEjl65rXZE

"O how much more doth beauty beauteous seem, 

By that sweet ornament which truth doth give!

The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem 

For that sweet odour which doth in it live. 

The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye 

As the perfumed tincture of the roses, 

Hang on such thorns and play as wantonly 

When summer's breath their masked buds discloses:

But, for their virtue only is their show, 

They live unwoo'd and unrespected fade, 

Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so; 

Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made:

And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,

When that shall fade, my verse distills your truth". 

# W.H. Shakespeare #

Drawing by Pablo Picasso

Shakespeare most certainly inspired many to be creative. When you search internet you come across the most inspiring ways of trying to express what he must have looked like. Pictures with him wearing sunglasses, having tattoos, with lace collars, with long hair, with curly hair, with straight hair, school essays - it is both hilarious and serious. Great fun! So interesting to start reading the sonnets and their meanings in preparation of this post. 

Living in London for a while it was a wonderful experience to attend 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' in Green Park at Solstice. It was surrealistic to sit on white folded chairs, seeing the actors appearing from the shrubs, being part of the decor, airplanes flying over and making the actors waiting to continue until the sound was over, and even - how British - sitting underneath an umbrella in the end because of course it started to rain! It is an everlasting memory.

It was an impulse buy in the garden center (as happens with so many plants once you are there). Rosa 'William Shakespeare' ended up in my shopping cart  because of its extraordinary colours and flowers. It is fascinating and rich in colour. Turning the label it showed the name of this David Austin rose. No doubt it was named after him because of the beauty of his oeuvre.

It smiles at us as we sit in the dining room, it thrives in the morning sun. Who would not enjoy having William Shakespeare in his garden and seeing this at breakfast time?!

Rosa 'Just Joey'

What can one add to the pictures below?

Seeing this rose and smelling the perfume of it is such a joy. You can only be quiet and take in the beauty. Unfolded it is 5 inches wide (18 cm).
It is a very strong rose, sometimes with 6 or 7 buds on one stem, flowering until late December with deep coral colours. This particular rose appeared many a time on this blog before, but every new blossom is such a thrill that I just cannot help posting about it again. Together with Rosa 'Peau Douce' it is the biggest rose in the garden. The name of this one? 'Just Joey', a hybrid tea rose.

It is warm in the garden, 30 C degrees forecasted. How wonderful it will be to spend the day in the shade and have a view on these roses that grow so happily next to our pear trees.

detail of 'Summer' by Jean Paul Cassigneul