Pinning Gertrude Down

...and two excellent books

I finally went out to tie in the roses. In the rain. Drips trickling down my neck. This is something I’ve been staring out of the window and longing to do for about four weeks, but as you know if you live in the UK like me, it’s been raining for, well, four weeks.

In the end I just got bundled up and did it. Rose pruning is the only gardening activity that I actually bother to dress for because I live in a series of very lovely cashmere sweaters during the winter months, and I am ridiculously fond of all of them. Thorns and treasured cashmere don’t mix very well, and neither do thorns and anoraks. So I use an old Barbour that belongs to Rotter.

I use this coat so much in the winter that he got me my own Barbour, but I never wear that one because it’s my size; a Barbour really does need to be oversized in order to work its magic of keeping you warm, dry and protected from thorns. This particular Barbour also has a really cosy corduroy collar that can be fastened at the cheek against the elements, and it also has perfectly positioned side pockets up high that you can just rest your hands in, as well as the huge patch pockets that will easily swallow a thick paperback or a giant pair of headphones, and it also has a colossal back pocket that runs the full width of the back panel, in which you could probably carry a small dog or a baby, or several umbrellas, or a spare pair of shoes if you wanted to. In short, it is the perfect coat, not just for pruning roses but for all things wintery. It is called a ‘Classic Beaufort’ (link here)

But the roses….I put these in the year before last and this is the first training I’ve done on them. I wound the long prickly stems of my Gertrude Jekyll around five metal posts that I put in a rough circle. I tied the stems in with string, bending them down as far as possible to create the beginnings of a framework that I’m hoping will turn into a domed column of sorts. The process sets off a series of chemical events that make the plant produce more flowering shoots; I talked about it here (free to read) on my post for The Garden Collective. There is rather more to do with my climbing Cecile Brunner which is going absolutely mad over a pergola, but things were too slippery and wet to attempt that at the same time.

Despite the rain, the entire afternoon was scented with sarcococca which is absolutely blooming its socks off right now. The sweetness is even better inside, and I’ve cut masses of it for the house. Heaven.

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I need to tell you about this book. Finally read it. It’s now up there in my top five best books EVER. (Not that I read enough fiction to be any sort of authority on what’s good.

I know how incredibly well-read and brilliant most of you are, so this book is possibly very old news for you, but if for some reason it has passed you by (as it did me) then I urge you to read it. Joyful, uplifting, funny, clever and, for me, the perfect reminder that whatever hand we are dealt, our line of play is our decision alone. Rostov consistently chooses grace, curiosity, humour and exquisite good manners. Let’s all be a bit more Rostov.

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Tiny bulbs are appearing. This, for me, is the best bit…the snowdrops and the irises popping. Ann-Marie Powell puts it:

“The garden unfolds like a letter from an old friend, revealing its news bit by bit - each paragraph offering fresh surprises as tales are shared at their own pace, making you excited to read what comes next.”

This book is brilliant and not just because the writing is wonderful. I love it because it is so practical. She is such a great communicator and this new work is like having her right next to you in the garden - and who wouldn’t want that?

Enough

Back soon with something about chocolate I think.

x Laetitia

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