Tag: gardening
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a broken tulip
“Come quickly,” I said to Tom, “and bring the camera. We’ve got a broken tulip.” “a broken tulip?” “Yes! A broken one! Just check it out!” “Hmm. It certainly looks like a freaky tulip” “It is freaky! In fact, a tulip that has broken in this particular colour combination is actually known as a bizarre.”…
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“Peppermintstick”
Tulip season has arrived – hurrah! I anticipate several happy weeks, in which I savour and enjoy every variety that I carefully chose and planted last November. I have several lasagne-style tulip pots at the front of the house, as well as a sizeable display round the back . . . . . . and…
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helle-bore-us
Warning: this missive contains more helle-boring content! After learning about hellebores and their nectaries I was left wondering at what point, in the history of science, the crucial role these structures played in pollination had been understood. How had early botanists looked at hellebores? How had hellebores been represented in botanical art and illustration? Some…
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Helle-bore
One of the things I love about gardening is the experience it enables of what Buddhists refer to as Beginner’s Mind: I am very much a beginner gardener, and the fact that I inherited my garden means that, over the past two years, I’ve often found myself in a state of confused un-knowing, having to…
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gardening leave
Hello! It’s been a while. As you may have gathered, I have not been well. Some of you will know that I have bipolar disorder and that winter can often be a tricky time. I am aware of this, am used to this, and have a range of strategies in place which (usually) help me…
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