apples and pears

It seems hard to believe that the lack of any settled summer weather has already lead us to this point in the garden.

I have been harvesting produce from the allotment for some time, and these trees in the garden, although not quite ready yet, are signaling an unwelcome move into a new season. I’m not ready for autumn yet. Where is the summer?

I have been a bit absent from here recently-I’m spending a great deal of time sewing, rather than sowing. And the main purpose of this post is to direct any of you who do not yet know to VP’s “Virtual Garden” blog where she is hoping to raise oodles of money for the charity, WaterAid.

Pop over, have a look around and admire the view and the recipes and the lovely prizes and if you feel inclined, leave her a donation.

summer fennel

Tall, graceful, with leaves like a tropical birds plumage. This is a lovely plant, rain or shine, adding height and substance to a summer border. Yet despite its height, it is wind and rain resistant and brings me the joy of imagined sunshine as I look out of my kitchen window.

fairy skirts or fairy hats?

If I were a fairy I would want to wear these. But as a hat, or as a skirt? Such a dilemma. I think as a hat would be too twee, so a little skirt made of hyacinth blue chiffon might be just the ticket.

In reality of course, they are just the gorgeous little dancing bells of campanula rotundifolia-the harebell, or bluebell as the Scots call it. There’s plenty of folklore about them, but I especially like the story that says they warn hares of approaching danger. Perhaps that is why they are called harebells.

We found these today growing on the Devil’s Dyke in Cambridgeshire, close to the villages of Reach and Swaffham Prior, in that big flat fen country so very different from our gently rolling hills. It was glorious-the wheat, barley and oats all turned to gold, waiting for the harvest, against grey, white and blue bands of sky.