Both my mum and my grandma inspired my love of flowers and gardening. My grandma (my mum's mum) had a lovely garden where candytuft would self seed in the gravel driveway, and a pink rambling rose climbing over a trellis frame made from branches in the back garden. The flowers I remember in the first house I lived in was a hypericum by the front door - these yellow open flowers were so friendly, and pink phlox, I was interested by the feel of it's spiky leaves and the shape and colour of the petals.
We moved to a different house when I was 6, and my grandpa (dad's dad) planted potatoes in a wee patch at the side of the house. A few years later that area became my garden and I remember planting pansies and primulas mainly, and I recall the whole garden had lots of ferns which I quite liked. There were also 2 red rhododendrons at the top of the back garden, and 2 gorgeous pink ones with really big flowers in the front. The previous owners had apparently had a veg patch in the raised area in the back but it was very overgrown when we moved in, and that area was tidied and new grass was sown.
Over the next few summers I remember going to the numerous garden centres in the local area with my mum to look at plants, and that was something I really enjoyed. I liked perusing the plants lined up by variety on stands and each garden centre had its own vibe. I also liked iconservatory plants like Mind Your Own Business - Duncans sold lovely wee terrariums and had a warm, slightly damp atmosphere which was lovely in the indoor shop, and their outside area was a paved gridwork with a few swings for kids at the end of the greenhouse. It was split over a few levels and there were ramps and steps down and up which was fun for a kid to investigate.
Finlay Clarks had a big glasshouse at the back of the main shop which you entered through big sliding doors, and it had that same damp atmosphere, but I don't think it was so warm presumably with the height of the ceiling. I loved going in there anyway, then just outside there were fish in large tanks as well as a lovely pond with some beautiful koi carp. I think the main feeling from Finlay Clark's especially with the fish pond was that they had, or made, the time to care for these extras which made the place feel more attractive and that you were being encouraged to spend time looking at what they had.
I always felt comfortable in these two places anyway, they were well looked after and nice wee worlds to enter. There was another one called Mairs, close to Hillfoot train station which always had good plants too, but it wasn't quite as formal feeling as the others. It was set just off the main road down a slope and had a decent area laid out with benches full of plants. I think that's where I saw the pink and red double daisies and loved them from first sight.
I loved my wee garden space, I remember digging the ground to break the soil up, laying stepping stones and putting my flowering plants in it. I had some gorgeous lily of the valley which came up every spring, then I would have my primulas in their many bright colours followed by whatever I liked that particular year.
Foxgloves were abundant in that garden They self seeded and I recall seeing white, dark pink and a lighter pink which was always my favourite. There was also a gorgeous sidalcea which I took a chunk when I moved out, and is still doing great, and there was saxifrage and lots of (quite scrappy) yellow flowered seedum.
Right now I'd love to have the space of that house and garden again. There would be a polytunnel, a potting shed, a veg garden, a fruit garden with strawberries and raspberries. I'd put a conservatory on the back of the dining room so I could show off my orchids properly (just looked on Google maps and there looks like an extension has been built, which might be a conservatory). I'd have a bed for dahlias, spring bulbs - tulips or daffodils, gerberas, some old cottage garden flowers like hollyhocks... et cetera et cetera!
Comments
Post a Comment