Reading in installments

Ranunculus

While in England on my April vacation, I had the opportunity to pop into some book shops for a browse. There was a charming one on the high street in Broadway where I purchased Katherine Swift's The Moreville Year  a collection of columns that she'd written for The Times. Swift takes her readers on a year long journey through her garden in Shropshire, describing all the work and enjoyment that goes with its creation and maintenance.

Anemone

One of the key things I wanted to do while in England, besides drink tea and eat scones, was to visit the gardens. My sister took me to visit several of the local National Trust Houses and Gardens in the Midlands area where she lives. One especially lovely property was Charlecote Park where they have their very own Garden Center. It was there that I spied a couple of the plant varieties that Swift featured in her writing. The ranunculus are not that popular in my area as we have much harsher winters here in New England for their liking. The anemones however can be found around here and I have since purchased some for my garden.

The best part of Swift's book is the fact that it is a collection of articles allowing for one to sit and read a bit at a time; a couple before bed or over a morning cup of coffee. Best yet is reading while sitting out on the patio over looking the kitchen garden with a glass of chilled wine after a long day of work (the paying job or the garden chores). I do so love to work in my garden, but I also love to read about other people's gardens and there are plenty of books in my collection and I'm so happy to add Katherine Swift's to the shelf.

Ever feel like you're tied up in knots

Charlecote Park: Warwick CV35 9ER, UK

The library had a spring book display with the whimsical name of: The Cover Was Green, and from it I chose Geoff Nicholson's A Knot Garden.(By the way this link does not show the cover of the paperback edition that I got at the library.) This is a mystery story centering on the death of Richard Wisden a garden designer and minor TV celebrity. The biggest challenge in reading this story was that ever changing first person narration. A collection of characters who each tell their stories all interconnect to form the "knot" of the plot. Imagine a time when you have tried to pull apart a tangled necklace chain or wayward ball of yarn and just when you think you have got the right part to pull and unravel the whole mess you discover that you seem further from the solution than when you started. No spoilers here except to say that by the end all is revealed.

Knot garden as viewed
from the dining room.

I had the opportunity to visit in Warwickshire county at the end of April and visited the National Trust property of Charlecote Park. There in the rear of the property on the edge of the river Avon was a beautiful knot garden as pictured here glimpsed out of the dining room window. The grounds were lovely and everything was blooming. A far cry from the slow start to spring back home in New England.

Primroses in a container garden
lining the entryway. 

Thatched cottage outbuilding.