Sunday 22 July 2018

Trying to forget Elvis


Bees working like only bees do on a patch of lavender yesterday. In weather like this, I quite often think of Pink Floyd's 'Grantchester Meadows'.

We had a massive bank of lavender on a path which led to a thatched Summer House in the garden of the house I was brought up in (yes, I had a fairly privileged upbringing as far as family homes go).  Its scent always takes me back to the 30 yard walk, deliberately brushing past it to the glass-fronted, wooden shack. We lost the key to the French-window doors one year, and I had to climb in through a leaded side window. Yes, leaded. I have rented rooms smaller than that Summer House in my youth.

Smells, scents and aromas fill hot Summer days like these. The smell inside the Summer House was heavy with warm wood and reeds. The vast attic of the main house was under acres of flat lead which absorbed the heat of the sun and slowly baked the eaves and rafters. Added to this musty aroma was the oily scent of yards of ancient, waxed fly-fishing line, strung up through the rafters to hang in stiff swags like dried spaghetti. It had been left there by the original owner of the house. On top of these was dangerous-smelling, almond hint of chemical woodworm cure which I had injected into the holes as a younger kid, years before.

I have heard that this year has been a very good one for roses (oh no, I have just reminded myself of the ghastly Elvis Costello). The previous Winter and Spring weather has been ideal for roses, which - I am told - find water which is unaccessible to other plants that lack three-foot tap-roots. It has been a while since I buried my nose in a good rose.

19 comments:

  1. I never promised you a rose garden. Trying to forget Lynne Anderson.

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  2. This morning I ran my hand through a wild fennel plant; it smelt OK. As I walked on the aroma became stronger and stronger until I smelt like a walking licorice stick.

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  3. I planted hobeysuckle by the front door twelve years ago. There is nothing like it on a early summers' evening

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  4. I love these videos. I made a video of a beautiful hummingbird hawk moth working in a lavender bush because at the time I didn't know what it was and I kept seeing it but wasn't able to explain it to someone so as to tell me what it was.
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. We now get Hummingbird Hawk Moths as visitors from Europe.

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  5. We used to live in an apartment where I planted a pot of extra vigorous mint ("Mountain Mint") in the ground. It grew to a monstrous size hedge that was as tall as my waist. Every time we mowed the grass near it the strong smell of mint permeated the air. I still wonder about that plant....it may have taken over the whole block by now.

    My favorite summer smell is tomato foliage.

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    1. Lemon verbena is also monstrous and wonderful.

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  6. 🎼 Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray🎼
    Our roses have been lovely this year especially Desdemona ..... the strong Old rose fragrance has hints of almond blossom, cucumber and lemon zest ..... worth burying your nose in ! XXXX

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  7. Freshly cut hay is a summer smell to me, as well. When we visited England (Cotswolds), one thing I was amazed at was the tiny little patch of soil in which gorgeous climbing roses grew. I still don't understand how such beautiful, huge plants can grow in those little squares of soil in between the stones. -Jenn

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    1. Oh yes - the smell of a slightly fermenting haystack brings back wonderful memories for me. It involves a Norwegian girlfriend...

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