So far the season is a very mean one. There's not nearly as much colour as in previous Springs in this garden. All I have is poppies and alliums. The harsh winter has created countless bare patches which I have so far not filled. I'm still hoping that some of the shrubs may recover and shoot from the root. Even the roses, those stalwarts of my garden, have suffered horribly. An English garden without roses? Unheard of. In less than six weeks' time we are due to open to the public. I hope the visitors will have something to look at. The gardeners among them will understand why I may have little to offer, and commiserate, others might not.
I wonder if my lack of success in the garden this Spring is anything to do with sex, or rather the lack of it. In a 'Miscellany of Garden Wisdom', under 'Folk Tales And Fable' I found the following passage:
Sex, Fertility and Plants.
Indulging in sexual intercourse among crops was a custom which occurred frequently in many places throughout America and Europe. Ritualistic copulation was so performed to increase the fertility of plants.
Sometimes pregnant women were employed to plant seed, the inference being that their own obvious bountifulness would transfer itself to the growing plants. Similarly, pregnant women hugged trees to induce healthy growth.
o-o-o-o-o
The Sun enters the House of Gemini.
The man born under Gemini shall have many wounds. He shall lead an open and reasonable life, he shall receive much money, he will go in unknown places and he will not bide in the place of his Nativity.
His first wife shall not live long, but he shall marry strange women. He shall be bitten of a dog, he shall have a mark of iron or fire. He shall pass the sea, and live an hundred years and ten months.
The woman shall come to honour; but she shall be aggrieved of a false crime. She ought to be wedded at fourteen years, if she shall be chaste and endure all peril; She shall live seventy years and honour God.
As well man as woman shall augment and assemble goods for their successors; but scantly shall they use their own goods, they shall be so avaricious.
The Kalendar of Shepheardes 1604
Both Beloved and I are born under Gemini and I can guarantee that every word of this assessment is true. But I shall make damn sure, that he will marry no stranger woman than me.
So, you were a bride at 14 - you'll need to write a little more on that, I think.
ReplyDeleteNo one will be dallying in the flower beds here - I don't yet have all the nettles pulled.
I wish I had a garden as lovely as yours!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhy Friko, you have wonderful texture in your garden and the splash of color..it will be wonderful...and six week in a garden is a lifetime..
ReplyDeletekeep the faith dear gardener...and the sex thing...why didn't someone tell me this sooner
What are the names of the purple flowers? They look like enormous dandelions.
ReplyDeleteI love the last line of this post. :)
Incredible fun, this post. Love it. I fear my garden may be doomed. But, Hope springs eternal! I think ye olde birth calendars are great. Two sets of Twins. Perhaps it makes an interesting mirror.... :) I trust you will have no problem fulfilling that last line. Thanks for a fun read.
ReplyDeleteWell the poppy and alliums are lovely. I'm sorry your bad winter left so many bald spots though! Interesting folklore about fertility!
ReplyDeleteWell, then, I say, grab beloved and hie thee to the garden!
ReplyDeleteI think you must have been doing SOMETHING for that garden to look so good, Friko... :-)
ReplyDeleteWell, on college campuses in the USA, May 8th is known as "outdoor intercourse day" so perhaps it has its roots in that old custom?
ReplyDeleteEllen's comment made me smile. :)
Friko, I am finally finding time to read your recent posts and will be offering up my comments in reverse chron order.
ReplyDeleteWeather wise your garden shows signs of your neighborhood being far ahead of or spring with its clining chill and insistent rain.
Gemini! Delighted to learn that you are a Geminia, as it joins you to two other Geminis that I do hold dear. I am not too sure how these Geminis fit in with the attributes you mention in this post. All I know is that they are swell folks!
xo
Geminia...possibly you might be one of those as well as being a Gemini. xo
ReplyDeletefriko - i love your little garden pictures. making out in the wild - well there's a few things to take care of but the end result - beautiful gardens, good crops, makes it even more worthwhile. steven
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this. Take it from me, roses are almost indestructable. They are related to brambles. I rest my case. You'll have to get out and frolicking in the garden beds if you want them to flourish. Hope it's warm enough!
ReplyDeleteLoved the bit about Geminis :)
My garden is suffering, too. The winter was, indeed, brutal, and the spring is still very cool here. Then add the drought that we are having now, and it is worse yet. The poor little green babies are having trouble making a come back. I'm hoping for some consistently warm spells to help it recover.
ReplyDeleteSince Spring is late here, plants are off to a slow start in our garden. I will tell my husband about your suggestion on how to ensure it is a bountiful one. Does the sex have to be IN the garden? ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting reading! I'd love to see the rest of it.
ReplyDeleteHello:
ReplyDeleteWell, now, bonking in the borders....that would give the garden visitors something to talk about. And, dare we say, they may just fail to notice any empty spaces!!
It looks to us as if the garden has plenty of interest and, yes, you are wise to wait and see if shrubs which look dead shoot again. In our experience, they often do.
I'm sure the public will love your garden, if these photographs are anything to go by.
ReplyDeleteFriko, I think Beloved would have a hard time finding a woman stranger than you. And I mean that as a compliment.
ReplyDeleteYour Poppies are splendid as are the Alliums. I fear visitors will not understand why your gardens are not as full as they might be unless they garden, but so what!! Perhaps the shrubs will recover a bit by then. Fellow gardeners can appreciate the struggle.
ReplyDeleteMy problem now is everything is green (only) after the spring flush. Our gardens in Washington are best in spring, although June and July see some Phlox and other heat loving flowers appear. Late July, August, and the first part of September are awful.
I hope my pots of annuals deflect the wandering eye. Love the reference to sex in the garden. It always comes back to the Garden of Eden, doesn't it? Dianne
In six weeks' time there will be even more in your beautiful garden so you won't need to give a demonstration in your flower beds . . .
ReplyDeleteI think the old method might be a bit awkward in a garden consisting of pots...
ReplyDeleteYours is lovely.
The poppies and allium will definitely "make do!" Her's something our next door neighbors did for a garden party that is hard to believe: for three days or so befor the affair, landscapers began bringing in and planting full in-bloom flowers and shrubs. They even brought in a large tree and planted it. The place was transformed! (And I'm pretty sure they didn't have sex out there!:)
ReplyDeleteI too am a Gemini,
ReplyDelete"Bloom's Day" born.
Your find spoke to me as well! You alway share value & pleasure herein, friend :)
Warm Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
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Oh my. I had no idea; seems to me that all of that carousing in the garden would just wreck everything!
ReplyDeleteFor now it looks like you have some beautiful poppies and allium, though.
Your garden pictures look beautiful to me. I lost my roses too and they were well established. I've heard that expression all my life and thought it was just a naughty saying..... Hurray, hurray, the first of May, Outdoor mating begins today. Happy to learn it's true. :)
ReplyDeleteDelicious. One of those outdoor things mentioned was an activity I used to enjoy with MFB. Now that the weather is nicely warm, perhaps we can...well, never mind all that.
ReplyDeleteNot particularly fair that the male Gemini benefits from 101 springs while she has only 70. Maybe she's just worn out after being wedded at 14.
As for you, I think 'unique' might be a better word.
What a lovely discovery on a Monday morning! Your blog is a treasure trove and I'll definitely be back to visit again. I'm sending the link to friends who will enjoy it, too.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you buy extra chocolate. :)
You published 15 posts while I was traveling – congratulation. I read them all just now. About your Ben Laden post – I wonder if the US would have found him earlier if Bush had not invaded Iraq first and gone in a country where he was not hiding.
ReplyDeleteYour Mother’s Day tale was funny – I had forgotten Mother’s Day until I translated the menu in the restaurant in Vienna, it said Muttertag. I enjoyed your walk in the beautiful Shropshire hills. It seems that this time on my trip I spent more time outdoors, in parks and gardens, instead of monuments of museums – I enjoyed it much more. The purple flowers in your garden look very pretty. We have nothing in our garden yet. We bought some sweet basil and impatiens which we’ll plant this week. I forgot, one lovely rose is flowering, the McCartney rose, and it has a sweet scent.